Print Industry Looks Ahead with Cautious Optimism
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June 2014 | Volume 35 | Issue 6 | Rs 40 Surveywww.pressinstitute.in RINDA Journal of the Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development PRINT INDUSTRY LOOKS AHEAD WITH CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM In its outlook for 2014-15, Koenig & Bauer (KBA) refers to increased risks for the global economy resulting from the crisis in the Ukraine, reduced growth in China and the negative currency effects in key threshold countries. The company anticipates that advanced economies, such as the USA and the Euro Zone, will take on a greater role in terms of growth. Nevertheless, the strong euro is a competitive disadvantage for German press manufacturers compared to Japanese and other competitors from outside the EU in Asian markets and countries with a weak currency. KBA is realigning its traditional offset business to “a significantly smaller and structurally fundamentally changed press market environment”. Picture shows the highly automated KBA Commander CT, a leader in high-end newspaper printing. FROM THE EDITOR ‘Why am I doing what I am doing?’ Give employees the ‘big picture’ A few days before Tamil Nadu went to the polls in General Elections 2014, the Press Institute of India conducted a discussion on the role of the media in the elections. One of the participants was T.S. Krishnamurthy, former chief election commissioner of India. Towards the end of the programme, one of the young reporters present came up to me and enquired who the speaker was. When I mentioned Krishnamurthy’s name, he seemed a trifle nonplussed and went on to ask me who Krishnamurthy was. To my response – how did he not know a former chief election commissioner and that too, from his own home state – his nonchalant reply was that he had only recently joined the newspaper (part of a leading national news publishing house). The incident set me thinking. Is even basic general knowledge coming at a premium these days? A reporter or a journalist is supposed to have a fairly broad understanding of life around. Are youngsters not reading enough these days. Have social media and selfies left little time for anything worthwhile? How do you encourage people to read, how do you motivate staff and bring them up to speed with developments? How do you impress upon them that journalism is a sort of calling and that it entails a social responsibility? I remember visiting The Times of India press in Kandivali, suburban Mumbai, a few years ago. I was doing a story for the WAN-IFRA Magazine. While taking me around parts of the plant, Sanat Hazra, the technical director, stressed that the plant employees were encouraged to innovate and take risks, and adequately trained to handle contingencies and become effective managers. The quest for quality and the effort to maintain quality standards were evident from posters and messages pinned on boards. A list of values on display in the reception area proclaimed that employees were taught to have mutual respect for each other. ‘Think beyond traditional boundaries’ and ‘Recognise and appreciate people for giving good ideas’ were some of the values inculcated. When I asked him whether there was a philosophy that drove the team, Hazra said you have to go through the mission statement and keep talking to people all the time. Everybody is part of the problem-solution team, part of the success story, according to him. “Employees then really see their value, what they are contributing to the newspaper. You have to create a culture of innovation and generate new ideas; and then effectively execute these ideas to generate new products and services for our customers… Responsibility is not only the manager’s, it has to be pushed all the way down to the person unloading the roll. A huge task that takes time, but it gives results.” The most important thing, Hazra pointed out, was to give employees the big picture and get them to ask ‘why am I doing what I am doing’. “A person pushing the roll should know what impact it has on the operation, or why the floor has to be cleaned. Once you make people understand, they do a wonderful job.” How true! But these things seem far easier to implement on the shop floor than in a newsroom. Sashi Nair [email protected] June 2014 RIND Survey 1 RIND Survey June 2014 | Volume 35 | Issue 6 Manorama invests in fi ve direct printing lines 4 Going green: the Hokandara success story 6 Do not write off print yet 8 ‘You have to jeopardise yourself’: 11 Eugen Russ, managing director, Russmedia 10 tips to help you reach the young 14 Three news trends worth watching in 2014 18 Industry Updates 22 Other News 36 Events Calendar 43 CORRECTION: In the previous issue of RIND Survey, we had featured Gerard van der Weijden, a Dutchman in Belgium who, aft er years of working for the nati onal Dutch Newspapers in C o n t e s Educati on Programme, is now associated with several ‘young reader’ projects all over the world. The introducti on to the arti cle had menti oned that he had studied the eff ects of ‘forced reading’, basing his fi ndings on prisoners who spent most of their ti me reading, that he found when they came out of prison “their original levels were not back”, and that forced reading hadn’t really helped. Gerard has writt en in to say that this is incorrect and that forced reading does help. What he had actually meant was that when the men arrived in prison, they were, for example, at reading level 5; when they left prison, their reading level had risen to 8 (because there was not much else to do except to read). We apologise for the error. Cover page photo: Koenig & Bauer 2 RIND Survey June 2014 BUYS 5 NEWSGRIP AND 10 NEWSSTACK MACHINES FROM MULLER MARTINI Manorama invests in five direct printing lines Malayala Manorama, one of India’s leading the company, which was established 126 years ago, newspaper publishers, is modernising and is installing five double-width Diamond Spirit SA newspaper rotary presses from Mitsubishi with a expanding its printing capacity with new maximum production speed of 75000 copies per generation presses and mailrooms. Five hour, and printing capacity of 40 broadsheet pages, identical direct printing lines from Muller Martini at its three printing plants at Kozhikode, Kottayam will ensure a speedy production process from and Kollam in Kerala. “Printed newspapers continue to be the main source the printing press to the ramp at its three plants of our company's revenue and that will remain the in Kozhikode, Kottayam and Kollam (all located case for the foreseeable future,” says chief editor in Kerala) Mammen Mathew, explaining the major investment. he Malayala Manorama daily with a circulation New generation NewsGrip close to 2.3 million copies, is the flagship of In order to convey the newspapers smoothly from the Indian publishing company with the same the printing press to the ramp, Malayala Manorama T opted for a total of five identical direct printing lines name, which also publishes more than 40 periodicals/ magazines, runs television channels, FM radio stations from Muller Martini for the three sites – two each in and internet portals. To enhance its printing capacity, Kottayam and Kollam and one in Kozhikode. The Photos: Muller Martini Mammen Mathew (left), editor-in-chief, Malayala Manorama, and Roland Bangerter, regional director of Muller Martini Asia-Pacific, sign the contract for the five direct printing lines. 4 RIND Survey June 2014 compensating stackers, Solema belts, a Sitma bundle fi lm wrapper with cross strapping, manual application of pre-printed top sheets and a control system for bundle production. Mathew explains that Malayala Manorama opted for the solution from Muller Martini due to fi nancial and technical reasons. “We calculated the total cost of ownership of all the proposals we received and Muller Martini stood fi rst. The maximum speed of 90000 cycles per hour for the mailroom exceeds that of our new printing press by 15000 copies. That means the mailroom systems are not producing at their limit, Malayala Manorama is printed in a daily run of 2.3 million copies. It is one of India’s largest circulated dailies. which lowers maintenance costs and increases their economic life-time.” centerpieces of the state-of-the-art mailroom systems In addition to the good after-sales support by Muller are the latest generation NewsGrip conveyor chains, Martini India, the feedback given by another Indian each with a receiving and delivery station. They not Muller Martini customer also spoke well of the new only have a new control system, but also feature solution, Mathew states: “I enquired at The Hindu new guide sections, are easier to maintain and have a about their experiences with the Muller Martini longer economic life-time. In addition, the fi ve lines, systems there and heard only positive reviews from which will come on-stream between December 2014 them.” and December 2015, each include two NewsStack World Young Reader prizes break new ground The World Young Reader Prize, which annually honours news publishers who succeed in engaging the young, has launched several new categories to refl ect the changing media habits and needs of young people, the evolving media environment and the new players who can help in the eff ort. “These prizes make known the excellent but oft en hidden work that news publishers are doing to assure a new audience of literate, civic minded citi zens who care about, and can contribute to, excellent journalism,” says Larry Kilman, secretary general of WAN-IFRA.