September 4, 1954 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY The Press in

HE Press Commission has dis- the Indian language papers. While such, areas of the English dailies. T cussed in Part I of its report, English and the major Indian lan­ The circulation of English news­ released last week, a number of guages claim 320 papers with a papers in the urban areas is higher highly controversial questions co|i- circulation of over 25 lakhs, there than that of any in. the Indian nected with the press in this coun­ are nine dailies in minor Indian language, " the only exception be­ try and in particular with certain languages such as Sindhi, Manipuri, ing Bengali which commands a recent developments. Among its etc, having a combined circulation higher circulation in the eastern recommendations there are many of 15 thousand and one Chinese cities of India than the English which will not go unchallenged and having a circulation of papers". , The Commission finds others about the utility of which 500. See Table I. that two-thirds of the circulation there will be considerable disagree­ The largest number of papers is of all English papers is concentrat­ ment. But the data which the published in Bombay State. Of the ed in the larger cities and towns, Commission has collected in the 69 dailies here, eight an; published and the corresponding proportion course of its work are in themselves in English and the rest in different of Indian language is very interesting and useful. It is Indian languages. In contrast, two-fifths. possible to reconstruct a picture of Assam. Pepsu and Manipur publish Naturally enough, the Commis­ the Indian press, though still some­ only two dailies each, of which sion does not consider the " concen­ what diffuse, and vague in detail Assam has one published in English. tration of the Press in the metro­ from the mass of information col­ Of the total, nearly 90 papers are politan cities a desirable feature, lected by the Commission, some of published in the four Metropolitan however inevitable it was in the it for the first time. The second centres of Delhi, Bombay, Madras early stages of development ". The volume of the report of the Com­ and Calcutta. Of these, 21 are explanation for this concentration mission is to consist of a history of E n g l i s h language publications, is found in the fact that " spending Indian journalism written by Shii while 27 are . The other is concentrated more and more in J Natarajan, Editor of , language papers are mainly pub­ the major cities and there is a pau­ who functioned as a member of the lished in places other than these city of advertisements for papers Commission for some time in the metropolitan cities. This applies to circulating mainly in the rural earlier stage in place of Shri A 1) Urdu dailies too, 43 of which are areas ." The Commission also finds Mani. p u b I i s h e d in non-metropolitan that " the great advantages pos­ It is apparent from the report centres. sessed by the metropolitan press has that very little information about The place from which a daily is tended to draw away from the dis­ the Press is regularly collected and published may not be the most im­ tricts the talent that might have maintained. The Commission had portant consideration, and " it gone to the development of a local difficulty in obtaining lists of the would have been quite satisfactory press ". The Commission has itself journals being published in the if. even though papers are publish­ made some recommendations on country, daily newspapers not ex­ ed mainly in the larger cities, their how a more balanced development cepted. The lists supplied by State circulation had been spread widely of the press can be brought about Governments were found to include over the whole country ". After many journals which had long examining the figures of newspaper ceased publication or winch had circulation in urban centres of over n e v e r commenced publication, one lakh population, the Commis­ though the necessary declarations sion finds that more than half of had been made before the appro­ all the copies of daily newspapers priate authority. Commenting on are sold in such cities and towns. this, the Commission says, " If State Yet these cities and towns account Governments, after one year of in­ for a population of only about 2.5 tensive pressure, from us, are un­ crores or seven per cent of the total able to furnish up-to-date lists even population of the country. " On of dailies, the accuracy of the lists the basis of 4.8 persons per family of weeklies and periodicals can well there are 53 lakhs of households, be imagined." among whom only 13½ lakhs of In view of the importance of copies of newspapers are sold or dailies and the relative availability roughly one copy for every four of information about them, the households." But there are many Commission devotes considerable households which take in more than attention to them. There are 330 a daily, sometimes more than one daily newspapers in this country in English or in the mother-tongue, but all languages, having a total circu­ more often one in English and the lation of a little over 25 lakhs. Of other in the mother-tongue for the these. 41 dailies with a. circulation women of the house. The coverage of 6.97 lakhs, the highest in any of households is reduced to that language, are in English. The extent, though this may be offset largest number of dailies are pub­ by the habit of sharing newspapers, lished a (76), and these the extent of which cannot be esti­ have a combined circulation of 3.79 mated. Nearly 4.7 lakhs of the lakhs which is the highest among total circulation of newspapers in 990 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 4, 1954 as between urban and rural areas, Obviously if literacy increased, there some of the expansion may have In recent years, there has been a would be still greater scope for ex­ taken place at its expense. It,is rapid growth, in the umber and pansion of circulation. possible also that some expansion circulation of daily newspapers in Apart from want of literacy and may have taken place at the ex­ the country, both in English the interest in news and events, an pense of the Indian language Indian languages This has been important obstacle to expansion of papers, which, though usually assisted by the starting or new papers circulation appears to be the rela­ cheaper, have a more limited news and the expansion of circulation in tively high price of newspapers in service at their command. The re- the former Princely Slates, " where comparison with the incomes of the duction in the price of the English freedom of the Press did not, in the people. " Convincing proof, if newspapers is quite likely to have past, come anywhere near to that proof were needed, of the scope for induced some people to change over in the rest of the country". But expansion if prices can be reduced, to them. progress has been rapid in the is provided by the experience of Some part of the expansion may other States as well. In spite of certain newspapers in. Bombay and have also occurred in centres such this, the Commission supports the Delhi which claim to have sue - as Nagpur, hitting newspapers not generally accepted belief that " the ceeded in securing very large in­ published in Bombay. For instance, development of journalism has not creases in circulation when they in the chapter on Competition and been adequate in terms of the total reduced their prices without reduc­ Monopoly, the Commission's figures population ." ing the number of pages." The show that, in the first half of 1952, To examine the position in this Free Press Journal, which reduced out of a total of about 6,000 copies respect, the National Sample Sur­ its price to an anna in November of all English papers sold in Nag­ vey carried out an investigation on 1952, claims to have expanded its pur. the Free Press Journal sold readership or the absence of it. sales from about 35 thousand for 400 copies. Since figures are not This covered 875 blocks in rural January-June 1952 to about 69 given of the position after the Free areas and 373 in urban ones. " Less thousand by July-December 1953. Press Journal reduced its price, we than 5 per cent of the households For the National Standard, the arc not in a position to know how surveyed in the rural area took in figures quoted show an increase the other papers circulating in this a newspaper, and in 545 rural from roughly twelve thousand to centre were affected by it. apart blocks, or nearly 60 per cent of the eighteen thousand after the price from whose total, there was not even a single reduction. That this increase could total circulation figures have been household which read a daily not have been at the expense of taken for comparison. newspaper," so that there was no other newspapers and that it was Considering future prospects, the prospect of news being disseminat­ not due to any rise in cir­ Commission argues that "... the ed even by. word of mouth. In con­ culation are sought to be proved English newspapers do not have trast, only 4 per cent of the urban by the circulation figures of the any considerable scope of adding blocks were without any daily news­ Times of India which remained at largely to their circulation. But paper, and though only one-fifth of about 86 to 88 thousand during the Indian language newspapers have the households took in newspapers, period. Though it can hardly be great possibilities and in the next the circulation of news through the denied that the low price of the few years, we might expect that medium of conversation could be Free Press Journal must have in­ their circulation would increase to expected on a large scale. This duced some persons to take in a double the present figures ." analysis, only serves to emphasise daily newspaper for the first time, The: Commission has made a that " the penetration of daily news­ the evidence is not adequate to caretul analysis of newspaper cir­ papers into the rural areas, which justify the conclusion that this was culation by language in relation to house the bulk of India's popula­ the only factor making for a sub­ the population classified according tion has been very slight. The stantial portion of the increased to the: mother tongue, as shown in papers are concerned with the town circulation. The circulation figures Table II Commenting on this dwellers, are produced by them and of the Bombay Chronicle are not table, the Commission points out are read mainly by them ". given for the relevant period, and that the " census figures arc- vitiated The main reason for lack of readership was the absence of lite­ racy, indicating that considerable scope exists for the expansion of readership if only one member in each household should become lite­ rate. But even where at least one member of a household is literate, many households do not purchase a daily paper for one reason or another. Active interest in news and current affairs is, of course, necessary, and " those who already possess some interest in newspapers but do not at present take in a paper because of. any particular reason offer scope for immediate expansion of circulation . . . there exists an immediate potential for a very large increase in readership, much greater in the rural areas". 1991 September 4, 1954 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY by the fact that in the Punjab, present degree of monopoly may weeklies. Pepsu, Delhi and Himachal Pra­ be expected to be reduced with the Roughly half the weeklies deal desh, the figures for Hindi include further growth of the Press ." with news and current affairs, for certain reasons the figures for Looking at the country as a while there are a large number Punjabj, Urdu and Pahari lan­ whole, there is no single paper which cover a variety of subjects. guages ". Many people in other which has a circulation of more " The development of weeklies of States have also mentioned Hindi than 4 per cent of the total circu­ this character has been most pro­ or Hindustani as their mother ton­ lation for the country. The distri­ nounced in Tamil, Telugu and gue instead of other languages, bution of circulation between the . . . . There are two principally Urdu, with the effect: large papers and the rest by lan­ weeklies in Tamil, each of which (a) by reducing the total figures guages is presented in Table III has a circulation of over 60,000 of the population speaking " It will be seen from the table that copies." Many weeklies are devot­ Urdu, to make it appear as the individual share of the bigger ed to religion, and a large number if journalism and therefore papers is markedly greater where a to films. In the case of film weeklies, literacy are much more ad­ language is spoken in a compact " Gujerati claims over 25 per cent vanced in this language than area, eg, Bengali and Tamil, than of the total even though production in Bengali, Marathi, Tamil where it is distributed over a large of films in that language is by no Malayalam; area, eg, English or Hindi." means significant." (b) by the same process to give More important than the circula­ The monthlies represent t h e an imprerssion of achieve­ tion of individual newspapers is the largest category of periodicals. ment, almost impossible in circulation of all newspapers under Forty per cent of these are publish­ the present stage, in the case common ownership, whether in the ed from the metropolitan towns, io- of Punjabi; and same or different languages, brought per cent from other capitals, 25 per (c) to depict the development of about through the existence of cent from large towns and the re­ Hindi journalism in a much chains, groups, multiple units or mainder from small towns. worse light than it deserves, combines. On this basis, the Com­ About quarterlies, the Commis­ placing it slightly lower than mission places the Goenka group sion points out that it was specially the level achieved in Oriya. with eight papers in different lan­ interested " in this class of journal­ The analysis of the figures of cir­ guages and in different centres-first. ism because quarterlies generally culation of the various newspapers This group commands 9.2 per cent form the vehicle for the publication in given towns, cities or towns has of the circulation of ail the news­ of serious research and study". led the Commission to chaw some papers in the country. Four other Nearly 60 per cent of the quarterly very interesting and important con­ organisations control more than 4 journals about which the Commis­ clusions about the extent of com­ per cent of each of the total cir­ sion could obtain information were petition a n d concentration of culation. Other multiple news­ in English. On the whole this form readership. paper publishers " do not command of journalism has not developed Taking the metropolitan towns a total circulation larger than indi­ adequately in the Indian languages first, the Commission finds that vidual papers belonging to one or and there was only one quarterly " every metropolis is served by the other of these five, and there devoted to philosophy and ethics— at least two or three big papers in are many single unit papers which in Marathi. each of the major languages of the command a bigger circulation than The Commission has not been area. The effect of a number of the total of most multiple news­ able to obtain comprehensive in­ chains, combines and groups ope­ paper publishers ". formation about papers other than rating from different metropolitan It is still true, however, that dailies. It has, therefore, con­ centres has been to provide a con­ " out of a total of three hundred centrated its attention on the dailies siderable choice to the readers". and thirty dailies, five owners con­ and has analysed the data it could In towns, where a provincial or trol twenty-nine papers and 31,2 collect about them in detail. It is district paper of some standing is per cent of the circulation, while obvious that a similar detailed study published, " it is able to secure the fifteen owners control fifty-four of the weeklies, monthlies and largest share in the total readership, newspapers and 50.1 per cent of quarterlies would be worth making. notwithstanding competition from the circulation ". The Commission the metropolitan or provincial naturally considers this situation papers and regardless of disparities undesirable and warns against per­ in size, production standards and mitting the continuation of this news services". At the same time, trend, which under present circum­ these pap as do not have any mono­ stances it considers likely. poly because of the free availability Among periodicals other than of newspapers published elsewhere. dailies, weeklies form a substantial In towns, where no papers are proportion, as was perhaps to be published, provincial, district and expected. Their distribution is metropolitan papers compete with widespread both in language and one another, so that readers have location. Of 1,189 weeklies classi­ a wide range of choice. That is fied by the Commission, 23 per cent why the Commission concludes: are in Hindi, 14 per cent in Urdu " there are no large-scale monopo­ and 12 per cent in English. The lies in any town and city". And minor Indian languages, which can­ where it exists as in Assam, it is not perhaps afford to have dailies, due to the underdeveloped charac­ are represented by weeklies, and ter of journalism rather than to there is not a single major Indian overdevelopment, so that " the language which claims less than ten 992