Newspapers of India

The print media plays an important role in shaping public opinion. Somehow a perception has been built that the media is the conveyor of the truth and most people find it as a trustworthy source of news and an institution that stands by the common people. It is therefore called the "fourth estate". While the TV media has become an object of ridicule for a lot of people, the print media is still supposed to report "true facts" in an impartial manner. 

However, things get more complicated than that, many interests shape the worldview a newspaper projects and these in turn shape the opinion of their readers. It is not my case that newspapers be impartial in their opinion. Yes, we would expect news to be reported objectively, but an opinion by nature is subjective. What is a newspaper which does not have an opinion of the world and society - it would just seem like a dumb person? How can an institution run by journalists - people with an intellectual bent of mind, and who move around with those in power - not do a critical analysis of the world that they report and form a worldview? 

The right thing to do is to recognize this enriching diversity of opinion that exists, and be exposed to many  streams of thought rather than limiting ourselves to one. For years, it was the one newspaper that we subscribed to that would shape our thoughts, but with the Web we have at our disposal many alternative streams of thought. While I grew up reading a single newspaper, in the last few years, having access to these multiple sources of news and opinion has made me think of issues with a much broader perspective.  This post in an attempt to put together my opinion about the various streams of thought in the Indian national print media. 

So, let me have me take on the primary newspaper/magazines in India, which I follow with varying degrees of regularity. Of course, all these are English language media, which unfortunately is one of the biggest lacunae in my coverage. I hope to broaden my reading to at least a couple of regional languages  in the near future.

The Indian Express: The Indian Express has a glorious history in upholding a fiercely independent media. It stood up to Indira Gandhi's regime during the Emergency and exposed corruption in the highest echelons of power in the Bofors case, Dhirubhai Ambani, etc. having been led by stalwarts like Ramnath Goenka and Arun Shourie It had a reputation of being strongly anti-establishment and on economic matters it supports free markets. Socially, it is a liberal centrist paper. However, over the years the anti-establishment sting seems to have gone out of the Express and it is now pretty favourable to the Congress and especially Manmohan Singh in its editorials. Yet, its oped is still the richest in terms  of the diversity of opinion from all cross sections of ideologies. I still think it is the most comprehensive paper in terms of getting a view of national politics.

The New Indian Express: Its the less known sister group of the Indian Express, formed from the south Indian editions after the split in the paper's ownership. However, it seems to have inherited some of the anti-establishment spirit of the united Indian Express group. It seems to be nationalist, somewhat center-of-the right in its leanings. There are some good satirical columnists in the New Indian Express - V Sudarshan, Gnani Shankar, and Aditya Sinha (who is now with the DNA newspaper).

The Hindu: The venerable newspaper from Chennai, which is highly respected for its opinion even in the North. It believes in a greater purpose in its journalism and has built its image in that way. So you could consider it to be a "serious" if somewhat boring paper. Its leanings are generally left wing and liberal. However, at the same time there is a lot of respect and coverage for Indian arts and culture in the paper.

The Times of India: I do not know much about the history of ToI, and it is undoubtedly the largest selling English language newspaper in India (and the world?). Yet, it is difficult to have any respect for the ToI, because it doesn't really have any views of its own. Its views are shaped by what the consumer  wants and its marketing managers seem to have more influence than its editors. You could classify it as an free-market supporting, liberal paper - but it doesn't matter. The Times shouldn't be taken too seriously. Unfortunately, it has a large following.

The Daily Pioneer: Unbashedly pro-BJP and probably the most right wing and nationalist of Indian papers, this paper is edited by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra. So, for a perspective of right wing opinion this is the paper to read.

There are magazines and many online sites that present different points of view. More about them in some future post.

(PS)
On a lighter node, don't miss the newspaper wars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXLsi_Vmtw4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Eb-waHx-00&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxz4WvGG7uA&feature=related