Changes wrought by the Times

IN Opinion | 25/04/2013

Dipped in Witriol

Robert Knight was the first real editor of the Times of India (ToI) and someone we could, without exaggeration, describe as truly gutsy. An Englishman, he was sharply critical of the establishment (read the British Raj) and the treatment it meted out to Indians. During the 1857 Mutiny, he was the only editor of an English paper coming out of India to focus not just on ‘native brutality’ but boldly say that the Uprising was caused by the shoddy and insensitive management of the army by the British. Knight, throughout his journalistic career, campaigned doggedly for better infrastructure and more investments for the public good, not just in the cities but also in rural India. His biographer, Edwin Hirschmann, describes him as someone with ‘ingrained sympathy for the disadvantaged’. In short, he was the kind of editor who may have found it hard to find favour with the brand managers of the Times Group Circa 2013 which boasts of faceless editors who are neither seen or heard (except of course Arnab Goswami of Times Now!).

That apart, after his demise in 1892 Knight was apparently allowed passage through the pearly gates. And in heaven, in the Year of the Lord 1896, he launched The Celestial Times, which he edits till today. One is happy to learn that he hath done in heaven as he did on earth – not bowing to the whims and fancies of the gods. In fact 117 years of persuasion has not convinced him to include the spiritual promotional feature Listening Tree in the Sunday Celestial Times. Neither has he bowed to requests to incorporate a weekly travel supplement – Descent – which focuses on destinations on earth where one can have a ‘God time’.

On the occasion of the Times of India celebrating 175 years in the business, Knight gave a rare interview in his chambers to a cherub with socialist leanings. Of course, one cannot vouch for the fact that the former ToI editor did indeed speak out, but transcripts of the interaction were faxed to select addresses on earth requesting ‘maximum coverage’. So, without much ado it is over to Mr Knight – let him do the talking:

Cherub: Mr Knight, how do you react to The Times of India’s recent announcement that the paper completes 175 years in the business this year?

Knight: Well, it certainly is a milestone. But when I looked at random copies of the paper I felt the same as I did when I first saw a copy of its early avatar – The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. Things have not quite changed. It’s still commerce I guess although the printing has vastly improved since the 1840-50s. But the similarity between the two papers cannot be missed.  The front page of the old Bombay Times just had ads – notices etc – on its front page. The modern day ToI (I read five issues every decade) often has several pages of advertising upfront making it difficult to quickly get to the first page of news which may also have ads running across it. It can be very confusing.

But, I must hasten to add, this is happening in other papers too. So why blame the Times? Because I’m told that the ToI sets the trend which others follow. Why, taking a cue from the Times on earth, our marketing chaps in heaven did some smooth talking and almost made me agree to print a weekly travel and leisure supplement called Descent. At our first meeting I foolishly thought they meant a few pages which would provide space for dissent – you know, the alternative view and all that. And the fellows didn’t even tell me I was getting it all wrong!  I only realised what they were up to when I saw the list of stories for the first issue – it was all about pub crawling in Gurgaon, sunbathing in Tahiti and descending on earth to have, what they called, ‘a blast’. I simply could not have allowed such a thing in a paper I am editing!           

Cherub: What are your other observations about the modern-day ToI?

Knight: This is something that Girilal Jain – he is much younger than I – observed. He said the earlier editors of the paper and its sister publications were known to readers, today they have been deliberately made into unknown entities. He even prophetically added that the old school Eds will soon be an endangered species. Since I looked surprised he asked me to conduct a survey among readers of Times Group publications to ascertain if his basic premise about faceless editors was true. The results of a poll by the survey agency ‘Out for the Count’ were quite revealing. Of the 612 readers polled, 90 per cent did not know any editor by name; the remaining 10 per cent had permanently left ‘don’t know, can’t say’ messages on their answering machines.

Well, I did a little research of my own since pollsters, even in heaven, cannot be trusted with figures. So I called the information service Ask Me and I was told that the editor of the ToI or Economic Times did not figure in their list of important people. “Why ask me, ask them,” the girl at the other end of the line said irritably when I persisted. Almost as if to get rid of me she gave me a number for the Times in Bombay (now Mumbai). I dialled it and someone said he did not know of any editor and that he could connect me to editorial or, if it was something important, to one of the brand managers. When I identified myself as Robert Knight, I was asked if I was representing the Kolkata Knight Riders (a cricket team, I later gathered). When I said I was once the editor of the Times he banged the phone down with this parting shot: “Who cares for editors, leave alone an ex-editor. Man, you’re history! ”

Finally I had to go to Yahoo Answers and put up the query as to who are the editors of the ToI and the Economic Times. I did finally get an answer from someone who refused to reveal his/her identity.  

Cherub: Well other than the Ed becoming faceless, do you notice any other change that you would like to share with readers?

Knight: Well, I owe this one too to Giri (Jain) since he reads the ToI regularly. He noticed that with the editor becoming faceless, the edit page has also lost its prominence. In fact, one has to plough through the paper to even find it. There was a time when the page had some sanctity but not any more. One could call it the sign of the times when surveys have revealed that city supplements and dumbed down editorial content interest the reader more than well crafted and thoughtful edits.

Cherub: Mr Knight what about paid news...?

Knight: Well, this business has spread almost everywhere. Even at the Celestial there is immense pressure to go the Times way. I reckon some of the gods too have gone crazy and want their parties and sermons covered. But I have been opposing it although their minions in marketing have been moving heaven and earth to get some paid coverage. I always tell them to approach papers on terra firma since they cover almost anything (even the opening of a birthday present) provided one pays for it.  But there are times when real news becomes so big that it pushes the trivia out and takes centrestage despite the pleas of the brand managers. One wishes this happens more often.   

Cherub: Finally, what would you like the ToI to look like when it turns 200 in 2038?

Knight: The ToI reflects happy times, sad times, changing times and now the times dominated by advertising and marketing. One hopes that in the future the ads move towards the end of the paper and the news comes first. No news upfront, one understands, is good news and very good money. But some sacrifices have to be made. Let the paper also reflect the plight of India’s rural poor even though they may not be sexy enough for the brand managers... But before I conclude, I must point out that all I say may have no relevance a quarter of a century later. One can’t be sure if any paper will remain in its present form or if some new technology transforms the very concept of news presentation. The editor could well be a robot programmed by marketing. You see, on earth they are living in rapidly changing times...