A
new English newspaper debuting in India is always good news for print
journalists, it will create a buzz in the air for some days or weeks
until the dust settles down. Hyderabad gets its latest English newspaper
- Telangana Today.
Even as a student of journalism way back in 1992, I used to go to ridiculous lengths to read good copy and great journalism. Those days, most of the avuncular English newspapers like The Statesman, The Times of India, Free Press Journal and The Hindustan Times used to arrive in Hyderabad in the afternoon. Hyderabadi readers usually had few choices then - it had to be the venerable The Hindu or the irresistable Deccan Chronicle or the poorly- read but respected Indian Express (even now, I am told its circulation is lesser than the number of new Rs.500 notes!). After the split in Express, we now have The New Indian Express which is the more right-wing in views. Then came a paper - Newstime -which tried to set new standards in English journalism with columns by stalwarts like Kuldeep Nayyar etc. It had a different edit page and op-ed page with long middle that now bears resemblance to The Financial Times, London which still carries 900-word commentaries by redoubtable columnists around the world.
Newstime died out after many years and got mysteriously closed down which I never understood: why the press baron who never lost money in any business did not keep the faith with a newspaper like Newstime? With time, it would have endured as a viable voice for sane minds. Hyderabad also had an eveninger called Citizen's Evening which had seen better days during an era where "breaking news" was unthinkable. An assassination, a curfew, a military coup - these were the reasons to buy that newspaper besides the S.S.C or Intermediate Exam results. For many years, I supported the paper boys who thronged the Khairatabad Cross Roads with my precious small change because I did not like a paper-selling boy to look forlorn after a hard day. That paper shut too.
So were two other newspapers which came with much fanfare - AP Times and Postnoon. Of the two, AP Times ran for a longer tenure with a harvest of best talent handpicked by one Mr Nayar who had his beginnings in Deccan Chronicle and later built Newstime brand. Most of today's veteran journalists hailed from the groups of writers who worked in Hindu,DC, Newstime and APTimes. Postnoon tried to re-set the afternon newspaper reading habit a'la a Mumbai train traveller but despite promising content and glitzy range of coverage, the newspaper folded up - it was one of a Film Star's less-celebrated failures as a business venture. There were a handful of other newspapers which were talked about in the last decade with promise of a grand launch but we never saw them come out. Or some came like The Metro India but failed to fire. The Times of India finally entered Hyderabad as a morning newspaper but quickly lost the intellectual firepower that it once commanded; few pages scintillate but many pages titliate today and most news items still look like advertorials including the trophy pieces on celebrities .The Hans India was the last new newspaper before Telangana Today which came with proper homework. It still reads good with a mix of interesting news and feature articles and rigorous writing - but the readership as evidenced by the quantum of advertising splashed on its pages looks abegging. If there is a zero-sum game in real life, you can see it in action in the English newspapers HERE. Most households in Hyderabad still get either one English or one vernacular newspaper every day - so the battle for that singular choice continues and is usually won by the DC or the Hindu or the Times. Unless your house is a bastion of multiple newspapers ( we get two vernacular, three English newspapers and all but one business newspaper ), there is little room for a second English newspaper in today's world of news apps and in-shorts. Thats the scene in Hyderabad.
But hope never dies for Hyderabadi entrepreneurs and green shoots appear at the turn of every decade. This is good news for those who like to see and nurture alternative viewpoints on local and world affairs. On first impressions, Telangana Today has made right beginnings with a 16 page mainsheet and a tabloid pullout that resembles the DC - which should insinuate whom it is planning to target. The newspaper is off-white, and has an elegant sheriff font with visually-rich appeal. It resembles a mix of DNA, Mint and Hindustan Times . What I liked In TT is the positive spin to most of the news items and the succinct mention of disturbing bits of news. But we have to observe how the content shapes up in the first few months. The attention span of a new reader is shrinking and it will be a test of TT to reconfigure what will set them apart in a city where dislodging decades-old newspapers is not easy. In many ways, this is how most newspapers start off in early days until the news editor succumbs to the cynicism that surrounds us. Whenever I see a bright new newspaper, I remember the old age: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I hope Telangana Today turns out to be better and make a difference to make our new State come out better than when we inherited it. Good luck to Telangana Today, today and for all tomorrows.
#TelanganaToday #NewspapersInHyderabad #HyderabadNewspapers
Even as a student of journalism way back in 1992, I used to go to ridiculous lengths to read good copy and great journalism. Those days, most of the avuncular English newspapers like The Statesman, The Times of India, Free Press Journal and The Hindustan Times used to arrive in Hyderabad in the afternoon. Hyderabadi readers usually had few choices then - it had to be the venerable The Hindu or the irresistable Deccan Chronicle or the poorly- read but respected Indian Express (even now, I am told its circulation is lesser than the number of new Rs.500 notes!). After the split in Express, we now have The New Indian Express which is the more right-wing in views. Then came a paper - Newstime -which tried to set new standards in English journalism with columns by stalwarts like Kuldeep Nayyar etc. It had a different edit page and op-ed page with long middle that now bears resemblance to The Financial Times, London which still carries 900-word commentaries by redoubtable columnists around the world.
Newstime died out after many years and got mysteriously closed down which I never understood: why the press baron who never lost money in any business did not keep the faith with a newspaper like Newstime? With time, it would have endured as a viable voice for sane minds. Hyderabad also had an eveninger called Citizen's Evening which had seen better days during an era where "breaking news" was unthinkable. An assassination, a curfew, a military coup - these were the reasons to buy that newspaper besides the S.S.C or Intermediate Exam results. For many years, I supported the paper boys who thronged the Khairatabad Cross Roads with my precious small change because I did not like a paper-selling boy to look forlorn after a hard day. That paper shut too.
So were two other newspapers which came with much fanfare - AP Times and Postnoon. Of the two, AP Times ran for a longer tenure with a harvest of best talent handpicked by one Mr Nayar who had his beginnings in Deccan Chronicle and later built Newstime brand. Most of today's veteran journalists hailed from the groups of writers who worked in Hindu,DC, Newstime and APTimes. Postnoon tried to re-set the afternon newspaper reading habit a'la a Mumbai train traveller but despite promising content and glitzy range of coverage, the newspaper folded up - it was one of a Film Star's less-celebrated failures as a business venture. There were a handful of other newspapers which were talked about in the last decade with promise of a grand launch but we never saw them come out. Or some came like The Metro India but failed to fire. The Times of India finally entered Hyderabad as a morning newspaper but quickly lost the intellectual firepower that it once commanded; few pages scintillate but many pages titliate today and most news items still look like advertorials including the trophy pieces on celebrities .The Hans India was the last new newspaper before Telangana Today which came with proper homework. It still reads good with a mix of interesting news and feature articles and rigorous writing - but the readership as evidenced by the quantum of advertising splashed on its pages looks abegging. If there is a zero-sum game in real life, you can see it in action in the English newspapers HERE. Most households in Hyderabad still get either one English or one vernacular newspaper every day - so the battle for that singular choice continues and is usually won by the DC or the Hindu or the Times. Unless your house is a bastion of multiple newspapers ( we get two vernacular, three English newspapers and all but one business newspaper ), there is little room for a second English newspaper in today's world of news apps and in-shorts. Thats the scene in Hyderabad.
But hope never dies for Hyderabadi entrepreneurs and green shoots appear at the turn of every decade. This is good news for those who like to see and nurture alternative viewpoints on local and world affairs. On first impressions, Telangana Today has made right beginnings with a 16 page mainsheet and a tabloid pullout that resembles the DC - which should insinuate whom it is planning to target. The newspaper is off-white, and has an elegant sheriff font with visually-rich appeal. It resembles a mix of DNA, Mint and Hindustan Times . What I liked In TT is the positive spin to most of the news items and the succinct mention of disturbing bits of news. But we have to observe how the content shapes up in the first few months. The attention span of a new reader is shrinking and it will be a test of TT to reconfigure what will set them apart in a city where dislodging decades-old newspapers is not easy. In many ways, this is how most newspapers start off in early days until the news editor succumbs to the cynicism that surrounds us. Whenever I see a bright new newspaper, I remember the old age: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I hope Telangana Today turns out to be better and make a difference to make our new State come out better than when we inherited it. Good luck to Telangana Today, today and for all tomorrows.
#TelanganaToday #NewspapersInHyderabad #HyderabadNewspapers
