Express scores over DNA and TOI

BY S R KHELKOODKAR| IN Opinion | 06/04/2009

FROM THE STANDS

S R Khelkoodkar

India once again asserted its dominance over New Zealand in the test series being held in the Kiwi nation.  India was 51 for one at stumps on the second day after bowling out the Kiwis for only 197 in their second innings. Zaheer Khan was in the thick of things with his devastating five wicket haul for only 65 runs.  Bhajji the Turbanator was at his stingy best with an economy of 3 for 43 after bowling 23 consecutive overs.  And to cap it all, Dhoni played a vital role as keeper, taking six catches. All in all, a great team effort, and it should be lauded as such, right?

But there were other things in the news in Sports World as well. Your favourite champion and mine, Roger Federer, was again beaten, this time by Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open. Not an important tournament you say? Yes, it’s not one of the top four tennis tournaments, but the way Federer was beaten is what is important. Did anyone expect the man so praised for his icy calm to crack in the way he did during his match with Djokovic, throwing his racket down in frustration? I don’t think so. Nadal can beat him, that the world has seen, but Federer is still Number 2, and so a loss to Djokovic was possible, but not expected.

The third event of note was in the world of Formula One. Braun GP, the new team on the starting block, has got the rest of the F1 teams, especially the giants, reeling. Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes don’t seem to have a clue how to respond to the new team. Braun GP won the first race of the season with a first and second place, and the team has secured pole position in the qualifying for the second race, at Malaysia.

Anyway, one of the stories is about the Indian cricket team doing very well, so it should be covered well. The other two stories are about giants in their respective fields being bested by a rival in Federer’s case and minnows in Ferrari and McLaren’s case. They too should be covered well since they mark the end of an era, I feel. Let us see how our newspapers dealt with these stories.

Zaheer Khan was the focus of the India-NZ test, and the Indian Express presented the story in that way. With a large photograph of him celebrating, the match report was written with the pacer at the focus. It was well-written and racy, something the Express is known for, at least its sports writing. Right next to the article was the match scorecard as it stood at stumps. Another convenience to the reader, another point for the Express.

‘King Khan’ was the headline of the DNA report of the match, and they made him the king of the sports page. With yet another photograph of Zaheer celebrating (there were so many), DNA carried a full match report lauding Zaheer, Bhajji and Dhoni, but giving all the facts, and the NZ players a fair hearing. It was a very good piece, and along with the scorecard that was provided, it gave a complete picture of the match.

The Times of India did much the same, with a large photo of Zaheer, a report on the match and a scorecard. The cricket was covered well in all three papers, considering the relative significance of the story.    

The Indian Express gave Formula One a full page, not the doings of Braun GP, though, but the future of Force India, Vijay Mallya’s venture into Formula One. Intelligently done, I feel. Formula One is a growing field of interest in India, and there is talk of a F1 course in Delhi. It is fascinating, to those interested, that a new team is toppling the big boys, but the Indian Express was right that such a story would not appeal to everybody just yet.  To bring take the story to everybody, they had to bring in the Indian element. Enter Force India. They reported on the qualifying session as well, on the second sports page, bringing more to the story than was expected. Well done, IE, this shows that you’re quick on your feet.

DNA followed a more conventional approach with a complete report on the qualifying session on the second sports page. There wasn’t much to criticize about the report, it told the reader everything they would want to know about the session and the how the season has been progressing. But it was boringly done. It didn’t set DNA apart from the rest, like the Indian Express story did. Some imagination is needed at DNA, I think. The Times of India also followed the straight and narrow path of reporting in this case, giving a basic report on the session.

The Indian Express outdid its rivals this time, and should continue its good work. The other two papers should learn to think on their feet, and not be boring about these things.

 Federer’s match received very little coverage in the Indian Express, though. Maybe this was down to editorial choice, but I feel that it was a significant point in the career of the champion and should have been covered as such. The IE had only one small photo of Djokovic celebrating his victory. The match report was the caption of the photo. Alongside this was a tiny story about John McEnroe offering help to Federer. There was simply no analysis or statistics. The story was too small. Bad move on IE’s part.

DNA gave the match much more coverage. With a headline of ‘Djokovic rolls over Federer’, it gave a full match report with all the happenings of the match, including Federer losing his normally-unassailable calm and flinging his racket to the ground. This is good news sense, I feel. As I have said before, this is an important time in Federer’s career, maybe a make-or-break time, and it should be given news space.

‘Djokovic  topples Federer’ was how the TOI headline went, along with a report on the match and a photo of Federer and the remains of his racket. I think from a page layout sense that this was the key to the story. A reader would definitely read a story that has a picture like that, and in the end, a newspaper has to sell its news.

All three events were given reasonable coverage, with some papers doing better in some sports, while others presented a different story in a much better way. Good show.