Indian Print Media’s In A Quandary For Its Inability To Charge More For News
As Indian media houses mercilessly cut salaries and jobs amid the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m replugging a post that I had authored in 2014 when the situation seemed relatively placid. The usual disclaimer holds true: Certain journalists, media houses and public personalities that I held in high esteem then have, in my opinion, fallen off the perch.
Corporate treaties and paid news may be among the malaises afflicting Indian media, print in particular. Ken Auletta, in a riveting piece for The New Yorker, titled Citizens Jain, laid bare the phenomena that have consumed the fourth estate in the world’s second-most populous nation — and is a must read for every Indian journalist worth their salt.
Indian print media however, faces a bigger and unlikely adversary: the price-conscious reader. Readers who makes no distinction between content and price and wouldn’t bat an eyelid before switching to publication if it costs a rupee less. Thanks to them, newspapers dread the prospect of raising prices, fearing that it may drive subscribers away to competitors — even if it means facing an existential crisis, day-in, day-out.
Even a high-school economics student would point out that if the selling price of your product isn’t even a third of manufacturing cost, rest assured of bankruptcy.
When the editor of the news portal Firstpost, R Jagannathan, in a recent interview to Newslaundry’s Madhu Trehan, stated that, barring a particular media group, no other media house isn’t making money he wasn’t pulling a prank. What he may have left unsaid is operating a media organisation in India is akin to maintaining the proverbial white elephant. This is despite the fact that India is one among the only two nations (China being the other) having growth potential for the print media.
Surprised? Well, chew on these figures. On average, it costs anywhere between Rs 18–30 to print a single copy of a newspaper of around 20 pages each; the selling price rarely exceeds Rs 10. Prices of newsprint, which is mostly imported, have moved upwards; so have operating costs from printing presses to distribution channels and staff salaries to name a few.
But, dear reader, have you ever wondered why do you get newspapers delivered to your doorstep at such a low cost?
This massive capital gulf has to be bridged with advertisements and a host of cost-cutting measures, if your daily is to even keep up with its day-to-day expenses, leave alone making a profit. And that, folks, opens a Pandora’s Box to any publication.
Newspaper advertisements can be categorised into government and private ads, with any newspaper requiring a healthy mix of the two. While government ads — tenders, notifications and those that accompany launch of special schemes or special occasions — in principle, involve minimal groundwork from marketing teams, they also generate lesser income. What may be of interest is the process of its allotment. In principle, government publicity departments set aside a sizeable percentage of their budget to an English and regional language newspaper each having maximum circulation (the intent is to reach out to a wide audience); the remainder is shared with others.
The process can, however, be tweaked at the whims and fancies of the ruling establishment. Gestures such as toeing the line of the government and turning a blind eye to its blunders can help ensure a permanent entry in its good books. The first casualty in such instances is the paper’s independence and stance.
Alternately the powers-that-be can arm-twist anyone critical of them. This is achieved by withholding advertisements to a particular newspaper — a gesture that can have debilitating effects on the latter. This is exactly what the erstwhile UPA-II regime did to Mumbai-headquartered DNA. Its then editor, Aditya Sinha, wrote in an editorial of how central government ads to the daily were stopped without any notice for ten days. Its executives and editors, in an audience with then minister Ambika Soni, were asked to “introspect” on their coverage, he wrote. Following the ‘warning’, the ad-flow resumed. It is that easy to bring a reputed newspaper brand to its knees. The DNA, which is now a website and a propaganda rag for the ruling BJP, was once a respectable newspaper for its fierce outlook and exposes, competing with the anti-establishment pros like The Hindu and The Indian Express. For those media outlets that buckle down to the government’s pressure, a quid-pro-quo, in the form of “publicity material for positive coverage”, is signed.
Insurance for the publication and the ruling dispensation could never have gotten easier. To those in doubt over whether we’re a banana republic, this should serve as clarification.
Dear reader, wake up and smell the coffee — we no longer live in the pre-1971 era when the Indian Express (undivided) went on the warpath with Indira Gandhi for her dictatorial tendencies, faced her wrath and emerged gloriously. Which is why to even suggest that we can expect a similar confrontational tone from the media today can be delusional.
As for private advertisements, they have heralded a new phase in the dynamics of publicity, giving birth to terms such as “sky-bus”, “jacket” or “cover-page” ads — depending on their position on the front page, which might cringe an old-school journalist. The front-page once occupied the sacrosanct status of THE ad-free page. As a thumb-rule, winning over private ads depends solely on marketing heft — and the disintegration of the “Chinese wall” between editorial staff and marketing teams of newspapers.
The obstinate focus on balance-sheets comprises a little-known trend that’s fast catching up: that of forcing journalists to source advertisments. A trend that has been largely restricted to suburban centres and smaller towns, this is an inevitable ticket to hell for the scribes. Their everyday contacts need to be put to use to win publicity material, often at cut-throat prices. With the bargaining power now in the side of the advertisers, they seek perks, one of which is paying for the ads in installments. Default on the part of the advertiser will be recovered from the journalist’s near-minimal salaries, driving them to penury. Needless to say, journalism is the biggest loser.
Ever wondered why the subject of circulation figures is painted with a perennial nebulous tinge? Most publications don’t want to print additional copies for fear of burgeoning expenses. When revenues plateau, they’d rather cut back on the number copies. Circulation indices are generally the domain of market leaders. While media houses would certainly not admit it in public (as it would drive advertisers away) terms get invented to explain the same in a round-about manner, and inject a positive feel to it. Examples include “The fastest growing publication in the 18–25 age group/tier-II cities etc.”
The moral for readers is in developing the willingness to pay more for their daily paper. In doing so, there is a strong opportunity for the print media to improve its quality and become independent.
Thankfully, there have been international precedents to emulate.
Western publications like Wall Street Journal or The New York Times have faced no difficulties in charging a premium to their readers. Yes, their circulation figures may only be a fraction of their Indian counterparts; but the fact they’re institutions of influence can’t be questioned. They have staved off criticism every time their subscription charges went up, even as a wave of digitisation swept the region, forcing various publications to shut shop.
So, dear reader, when your newspaper effects a price hike, don’t grumble. It may be their last-ditch attempt at survival — or remaining independent.
Postscript: Everyone’s moving online as that’s perhaps where the latest battlefield for eyeballs is. News websites like Scroll.in, The Caravan, The Wire, The Ken and PARI have challenged the traditional order with their trailblazing reportage. This trend comes even as the Narendra Modi government brooks no dissent by the media and has converted many outlets into his cheerleaders, by force or by lucre. Yet, some oases remain, largely unaffected by the authoritarian leader. If Indian democracy is to thrive, they should too.
We can expect a truly independent media the day every publishing house depends only on its subscribers for funding.
