"IS YOUR NEWSPAPER MAKING YOU DUMB?"This may be one of the lines used in The Hindu's advertisement campaign, but each one of us must ask ourselves the same question. With the emergence of facilities like online news, sms alerts, etc the print media, once considered the most prominent source of news, faces tough competition. A few years back the race was between news channels and the print media. Owing to the self-degrading tactics used by news channels to increase the TRP, the print media was never really under any kind of threat.
The scenario is quite different now. There are many factors which must be taken into account.The ease with which a common man can now get news by sms alerts, emails or by simply surfing the net. Thanks to some enthusiasts even social networking has become a major source of providing news. But these are all minor factors. The major factor is the degrading standard of newspapers and tabloids. One may correctly assume that when facing stiff competition the print media might focus on improving its standards in order to maintain its circulation. On the contrary the standard keeps on going downhill.
When I was a kid I had formed a notion that The Hindu is a newspaper for scholars, Hindustan Times is for kids, and The Times of India is for people like me who like some spice along with the news. I won't be exaggerating in saying that TOI was my favourite newspaper. It may sound childish now but the newspaper had some good articles in addition to the celebrity gossip, the usual "masala" news and two pages of cricket columns.
I would like to list out a few noteworthy columns at this point.:-
Mindsport by Mukul Sharma: a treat for anyone who craves for mental stimulation
Erratica by Bachi Karkaria: one column which I religiously followed
Jug-al-bandi by Jug Suraiya: a very witty column
Jugular vein once again by Jug Suraiya
Speaking Tree
Geek-speak
Apart from these, occasional articles by Chetan Bhagat, Shobha De and Shashi Tharoor were also appreciable.
Some of the above columns have been stopped altogether, while some appear only in Sunday Times and that too not on a regular basis. Another factor that jumps to my mind is that World News column now comprises only half a page while the local news of the state occupies 4 pages. Even that half page has news about broken relationships of Hollywood actors, extra-marital affairs of foreign diplomats, or any other scandalous data. The sports column focuses on cricket even more, now that India has won the world cup. TOI was once a newspaper which had bit of masala but now it is a masala paper with just a pinch of news.
Other newspapers like, Telegraph, Deccan Herald, Indian Express, etc are no better than TOI. The only newspaper that stands out is The Hindu. The only drawback is its limited availability especially in small towns, where either you can't get it or you get it 2 days late.
I personally love reading a newspaper early morning, rather than getting news from any other media and I wish that either TOI improves its standard or The Hindu increases its circulation. Because reading TOI these days is injurious to health!
