Letter to the Hoot—competition is good for readers

IN Opinion | 04/09/2005

So far, these newspapers have not sacrificed their credibility to get the eyeballs. Good for the readers.

Dear Editor,

Mumbai, thankfully, is no more an one-newspaper city, thanks to the entry of Hindustan Times and Daily news & Analysis (DNA).

Together, they have put Times of India, for long the only newspaper with a reach after the sad decline of the Indian Express` circulation on notice. Their advent has made things happen in the TOI and it has been for the good of the readers.

Times always thought that what it purveyed was news and did little to change it from a `product like soap` to a newspaper. The very threat of HT and DNA’s announced plans forced the launch of its new title - the Mumbai Mirror. That the Times has been forced to distribute it free is another story; it is clear it stood no chance, either in content or purpose, against the two new titles.

The other day, I heard a senior journalist with the Times say that `at last, the Times has begun to respect the readers and the journalists who worked for it; hitherto, they thought these two did not count.` How true! There is wider coverage, more backgrounders and it has started to focus on the people. However, there appears to be a marketing game plan in its distribution of the Mirror free with the Times - force the reader to spend all the time with the newspaper and restrain him from reaching out for the other titles.

The HT appears to have settled down to an easy tenor of reporting though, except for the common editorials and advertisements, the Delhi and Mumbai editions defer. They are centric to each city. In the bargain, page for page, it competes for the attention of readers who would necessarily have to come from the Times` clutches. Going by the figures put out by both --- HT in the first three days of two lakh copies and recently, the DNA of a print run of up to 2.95 lakh copies --- these two have managed to expand the market. It is anybodies guess if the figures put out is paid circulation or garnered through free giveaways.

As a reader, I find that HT has brought its experience of running a newspaper and also fighting the TOI in New Delhi to Mumbai but the DNA is still grappling with the task of designing the newspaper. It has some way to go before it shapes itself. 

With the two newspapers coming almost simultaneously to the town, and their arrival coinciding with the July deluge, the three cornered contest for the readers` attention gave the coverage a remarkable edge which made the Government of the day squirm. If that is what a multi-newspaper city can get, let there be more of such combative newspapers. So far, these newspapers have not sacrificed their credibility to get the eyeballs. Good for the readers.

Mahesh Vijapurkar

Mumbai

mvijapurkar@gmail.com