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The news paper boom has also been accompanied by the trends many of which are to be welcomed and desirable and several which are undesirable and portend ill for the future of Indian society. The press has become both a principal agency in fighting the forces which are threatening to erode the foundation on which our social structure is based and on instrument in the hands of those promoting these forces for their selfish ends.
The emergence of big news papers business houses running major papers, opposed to the earlier position when only big industrial houses owned important news papers as a side. This has inevitably imposed stiff competition on the local papers and affected their circulation and business.
The district news papers have no doubt, come up in a big way but the multiple editions of some of the big news papers have undoubtedly caused problems to them and to the existing medium and small papers in the area. But in the process of competition and the struggle for survival, the multiple editions have often been countered by other multiple editions.
The times of India sought to launch its Hindi daily, the Navbharat times, in several centers like Jaipur, Lucknow and Patna, apart from the metropolitan cities of Delhi and Bombay where the paper was first started. Likewise the times of India and the Indian express started editions of their English papers in different places.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Endau become a major-multiple edition Telugu paper and resisted the inroads of the much stronger Indian express with its Telugu counterpart, Andhra Prabha and the Hindu. Some other group also came into prominence like the Andra jyothi and Udayam in Andhra Pradesh but the English daily of the Enadu group, News time did not make much way.
Recent developments in news paper
Over the period, many changes have taken place in the news papers. They have many changes and filled with advertisements. Today journalism has become one of the prosperous professions. Some of the news paper houses in India are among the most affluent industries.
The number of news papers has risen sharply and profits have also boomed. The journalists’ range of coverage of news and their items remains increasingly limited to the wired world of computer and telephone. This leaves agriculture ignored by the national news papers, except for occasional sponsored features. The race for advertisements revenue is also eroding news coverage.
Today’s news papers are being criticized for serving the consumers and not the readers. The press today is facing various pressures such as technological, financial, and professional and so on, which affect its credibility. Some of well established news papers still resist pressures and temptations. They still show concern for credibility and society. Another change in the press is the gender revolution. Many women journalists are either employed in the press or they work as freelance journalist. Many of them come with academic background and qualifications in journalism.
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