October 2014 | Volume 35 | Issue 10 | Rs 40 Surveywww.pressinstitute.in RINDA Journal of the Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development

-DVROQHMS6@RSD A COMMITMENT ,@M@FDLDMS TO REDUCING WASTE At the WAN-IFRA India 2014 conference in New Delhi, a special report on Waste Management was released. The report (cover page on left), which WAN-IFRA members can download for free, identifies the ways news publishers can save money by reducing their newsprint waste. It seeks to highlight and place in perspective several issues that can affect the efficiency with which newsprint is used, thereby increasing the awareness of areas where savings can accrue. K. Balaji, director of Kasturi & Sons, who heads the WAN-IFRA South Asia Committee and is the author of the report, has dealt with the latest technical and organisational conditions of modern newspaper production. His report also describes the special conditions in the markets of Southern Asia and India (For more details, log on to the WAN-IFRA website. Also, read WAN-IFRA research engineer Anand Srinivasan’s article on page 6). FROM THE EDITOR Newspapers have never been more important to society

The WAN-IFRA India Conference, the 22nd annual At the Delhi conference, while sharing updates conference, got back to New Delhi this year after from World Press Trends, WAN-IFRA’s annual report nine years. The interim has witnessed unprecedented (focuses mainly on trends in circulation, advertising changes in the news publishing industry, particularly and digital newspaper performance, based on inputs for the printed newspaper, as K. Balaji, chairman, submitted by member associations and individual WAN-IFRA South Asia Committee, and director of country reports),Vincent Peyrègne, chief executive Kasturi & Sons, said in his remarks at the inaugural. officer, WAN-IFRA, referred to the worrying attacks on press freedom. One the one hand, people say According to Magdoom Mohamed, WAN-IFRA newspapers are declining; why then when there South Asia’s MD, this year (2014) has been “the is a political crisis, are there attacks worldwide on toughest with the mood of the industry swinging editors and journalists, he wondered. If we are no from month to month”. In the circumstances, it longer relevant why would they bother, he asked the was remarkable that there were 375 registrations. audience, stressing that newspapers have never been As Magdoom said, it was perhaps an indication of more important to society at large. the keen desire among publishers in South Asia to learn from one another and collectively address the News about the Rural Media Network Pakistan challenges of the industry – improving efficiency, (RMNP) presenting its 2014 Sadiq Press Freedom engaging with readers, and monetising content being Award (supported by WAN-IFRA) to the son of some of the critical ones. murdered journalist Malik Mumtaz Khan makes us pause and think – of the dangers journalists around So were there new ideas, answers and inspiration the world face daily, who yet plod on relentless. As to tackle the challenges ahead? Did the participants RMNP President Ehsan Ahmed Sehar said, the feel they benefited? Perhaps WAN-IFRA receives award is “a symbol of the struggle for the right to feedback from those who attend the various sessions information and a reminder to the international at every conference and the expo. It will be interesting community about the tragic conditions Pakistan to know what the participants think or what they find has been suffering since the War on Terror began useful or lacking. following the 9/11 attacks”.

An interesting announcement at the conference was The sacrifices journalists like Malik Mumtaz Khan, about a record 17 winners from India (out of 115) James Foley, Steven Sotloff and others have made at the International Color Quality Club (INCQC) must never go in vain. We must continue to tell the Competition, second only to Germany. Ananda Bazar truth fearlessly. Fight hard against attacks on editors Patrika gaining entry into the Star Club of INCQC is and journalists. And stand united. a recognition for the newspaper winning the award five years in a row. Clearly, quality has become a way Sashi Nair of life in most Indian newspapers. [email protected]

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October 2014 RIND Survey 1 RIND Survey October 2014 | Volume 35 | Issue 10

Where do we draw the lakshman rekha? 4

More scope for newsprint waste management 6

New-look Mid-Day scores high in survey 8

Of award-winning newspaper designs 11

Decoding journalism 12

Data protection – raising awareness 16

Despite declines, print is still king 17

Using hard data to tell stories that matter 20

Digital and print: a great marriage of advantages 22

The evasive young reader 24

Just as much automation as necessary 26

Industry Updates 34 C o n t e s Other News 50

Events Calendar 55

Cover page photo: WAN-IFRA South Asia

2 RIND Survey October 2014 ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL Where do we draw the lakshman rekha? An eagerly awaited talk at the WAN-IFRA Newsroom Summit in New Delhi was the one by T.N. Ninan, chairman of Business Standard and a member of the World Editors Forum Board. Ninan dwelt on the blurring line between business and editorial. It could not have been more appropriate, coming at a time when business pressures and over-dependence on advertising revenue are surging to the fore. Excerpts from his speech

here is no lakshman rekha (ethical limits of and that advertisers will pay an action of a convention or rule). The line for the rest. Neither is true Tbetween advertising and editorial has been in the world of the Internet. blurred perhaps permanently and often there is no Readers are used to free line at all. The problem with the debate is that it is content, and advertising often placed on a moral context, of good practices rates per website visitor is and bad practices. I think it is more instructive to look a fraction of the rates per at the economic and technological reasons which as newspaper reader. So, if you Marxists would say have changed the objective reality. want to balance what you First, there is too much media around, including new lose in print advertising with media. No economy can sustain so many newspapers, web advertising you typically T.N. Ninan. magazines, television channels and websites. Much have to get ten times volume of today’s media, therefore, has no realistic hope of visitors compared to the number of readers you of financial viability. The resultant pressure on have lost. publications has forced many among them to breach It would be futile in such a world for most editorial the Chinese wall between editorial and advertising in operations to hope that the past will survive into a desperate effort to raise more revenue. the future unchanged and unchallenged. When your The second development is that there is a great deal boat is being tossed about in a story sea, editorial of churn in business. New products, new businesses, and business get together in the common purpose new ideas are being tried out in the market at a pace of survival. People in that situation stop thinking of and with a force that have no precedent in the market. Chinese walls which are built on stable land. This is, of course, linked to rapid technological What about the sacred relationship between changes and breakthroughs which have spawned new journalists and their reading or viewing public? The businesses at unimaginable speed. The consequence truth is that this is not a sacred relationship after all. of this is a third development – advertising clutter, Different media outlets put different benchmarks for which has prodded marketers into thinking of what they will do and what they will not do. Over time, innovative ways of breaking through the clutter and readers come to recognise who has what benchmarks of getting their message noticed. Inevitably, this has and where. And they make their mental adjustments. meant intruding into editorial space in one form or ‘A’ publication or news channel can be trusted or relied another. Finally, these changes have undermined upon more than ‘B’ channel and C has one kind of the fundamental assumptions on which the media bias while D has another. If you serve an information business has been founded. That readers will pay for need, the reader or viewer or visitor will stay with you at least a good part of the cost of creating content, and apply appropriate mental filters.

4 RIND Survey October 2014

This heterogeneity is not new. It was always there. comes across as advertising influence to some degree, What is new that people consume multiple media in and newspapers now have almost entire sections a way that they did not before. The sheer plethora of which are declared to be only advertorials. media and the ease of access on different platforms If the lines have got blurred even in newspapers, make this possible. Anyone doing this, jumping from where the Chinese walls are said to have operated print to television to a magazine to a website, to a most effectively, it is because they are in decline and mobile phone, is likely to be less judgmental about feeling the financial pressure. Simultaneously, the the quality and reputation of any particular media media form that has grown the most is the website title. If you don’t have a monogamous relationship where endless creativity and flexibility are the order with a media outlet, you are less likely to be choosy of the day. Magazines are threatened even more about your media bedmates. Even in the days of than newspapers and are increasingly willing to deal pristine print and monogamous relationships, and with sponsored content. The choice of subject often legendary editors like C.P. Scott of The Guardian, depends on the subject that has sponsorship. different media forms and outlets drew the line We may or may not like these trends but what I differently. The most particular were usually the big have described are the facts and the emerging reality. newspapers whose editors often adopted tones of It so happens that they reflect more the trends in lofty idealism and would not allow bastard creations the subaltern media, meaning the smaller or niche or like advertorials. Since the leading newspapers were vernacular media outlets. Those least likely to cave profitable or enjoyed local monopolies, there was no in have been the mainstream titles and channels. financial pressure to change. What was frowned on Though I must say that the ones in India have been in newspapers was often accepted in magazines. more ready to fall in step with the new trends than Magazines that deal in travel, luxury products, the mainstream media overseas. We could even say entertainment, motoring, food and the like have that some mainstream media have shown the way in editorial content that often reads as promotional breaking down Chinese walls. But frankly, the debate as any ad. Advertisers influence choice of subjects, has gone beyond the good and bad in such pioneering travel for a story is sponsored. These publications effort. have professional journalists practising their craft We can apply normative values to these facts and with as much pride as anyone else. It is just that trends and say we disapprove. Or that we will stick the benchmarks are different. We even have a new to the old ways of the media business, and you will term for this: native advertising. Native, because be within your rights to do so. Speaking for myself, advertising is supposed to blend seamlessly with I find it hard to be anything other than an old-style editorial content, so you can’t tell who belongs newspaper editor who thinks that editorial content is here and who is a foreigner and the reader cannot editorial content and advertising content is advertising distinguish which is what. content and neither should cross the gutter between It helps in this process that news television is the two columns and enter the other’s territory. But more flexible than newspapers. Brokers can push we must recognise that other publications and editors specific stocks and the disclaimers about conflict of may and will choose different sets of parameters interest are like wall – designed to be ignored. within which to operate. Is that something to get Sponsored content is rampant and the sponsor upset about? Perhaps. But we have to recognise it and

influences the choice of the subject of a programme, learn to deal with it. < while leaving the specific content of the programme to the channel. In the most blatant of cases, it would simply become paid news, which in India is more of a phenomenon in the regional press during election time. Because these are the titles that have limited claim on advertising money and elections therefore signal pay day. In business television I would venture to say that half or more of the content sometimes

October 2014 RIND Survey 5 More scope for newsprint waste management Newspaper production technology has reached such a high level of maturity and the production processes are generally so tightly controlled that one may be justifi ed in asking whether any further development is possible and whether any improvement in effi ciency can be achieved in the use of machines and materials. Anand Srinivasan, research engineer, WAN-IFRA South Asia, says that there is indeed always scope for improvement espite the rapid strides that have taken value of their efforts by newspaper production to a fi nely tuned compiling their data in a Dindustrial process, the combined interaction form that is not easy to of newsprint, ink, plate, dampening solution and interpret or act upon,” blanket on a newspaper press still has the capacity he adds. to throw up a few surprises, causing loss of material, Newsprint waste quality and time. management is one of Newsprint accounts for around 50 to 60 per cent of the widely discussed the total expense for producing a printed newspaper. topics over several

Though newsprint is such an expensive commodity, years. In more than 75 Photo: WAN-IFRA quite a remarkable amount of newsprint that is used technical special reports during production is wasted and never turns out to published on various Anand Srinivasan. be a saleable copy. The creation of waste is a costly subjects by WAN-IFRA process – it requires the same labour, energy, press since 1984, newsprint waste has played a more or time and materials as good production. Newprint less important role. The Newsprint and Newsink Guide, waste is only part of the more general issue of using published 20 years ago and that till today continues to resources effi ciently. It is the end result of many be regarded as a standard work by newspaper printers different problems and is related to issues such as worldwide, deals in-depth with the subject and gives downtime and print quality. Therefore, an integrated tips on how to avoid and reduce waste. However, still approach on newsprint waste is necessary. A sharp this remains as an area for vast improvement. focus on the effi cient use of newsprint is sure to have In dealing with newsprint waste, we are certainly a dramatic positive impact on the effi ciency of the not dealing in small change. There are plenty of whole production process. savings waiting to be tapped. But how? By effective Experts in the printing industry the world over management and creating awareness in all employees believe that printers by and large have shown much of the need to avoid waste. Tackling waste calls for a less eagerness than they should have about tackling commitment from the top of the organisation right waste. “The main problem is a fundamental lack down to the shop fl oor. It requires not only the right of awareness on the part of printers and their attitude, but also the efforts of everyone involved in managements of what the real waste fi gures are and newsprint handling, preparation and printing, and how much they are losing,” says K. Balaji, director, even those dealing with newsprint in an indirect Kasturi & Sons, publishers of The Hindu and chairman way, example, editorial, circulation, and advertising of the WAN-IFRA South Asian Committee. “So departments; their decisions can determine the many companies make no serious effort to monitor effi ciency with which newsprint is used. and control waste. Some of those that do, destroy the

6 RIND Survey October 2014

“Each per cent of saved waste reduces the In economically developing regions, such as production cost,” says Manfred Werfel, deputy CEO the countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin and executive director, WAN-IFRA. “Waste occurs at America, circulation and page counts have increased all stages of production and delivery, including areas, considerably and continue to do so. Therefore, in

where the printing plant has no control. This makes these growth markets, the topic of waste prevention combating waste a complex problem. Considering is very important. < the cost of newsprint, reducing the waste can make a uniquely valuable contribution to the organization,” (This article appeared in the July-August issue of Asian Newspaper he adds. Focus - India Special Edition.) Focused on effi ciency in the use of newsprint WAN-IFRA launched its latest report on ‘Newsprint waste management’ at the WAN-IFRA India 2014 Conference in New Delhi. The report authored by K. Balaji, chairman, WAN-IFRA South Asia Committ ee and director, Kasturi & Sons, att empts to both update the content of the section effi cient use of newsprint from the WAN-IFRA Newsprint and Newsink Guide and bring in the Indian context wherever applicable. The report deals in-depth on all areas where newsprint waste can occur and off ers ideas to reduce it. “What is needed is a ‘process’ rather than a ‘programme’ approach in the matt er of newsprint usage,” says Balaji. He adds, “This means that effi ciency in the usage of newsprint should be built into the day-to-day operati ons of the newspaper with the acti ve parti cipati on from all functi onal areas.” Magdoom Mohamed, managing director, WAN-IFRA South Asia, said, “We take great pleasure in releasing the report in our annual conference. I thank the South Asian Committ ee Chairman Mr Balaji for his eff orts in writi ng this report.” Delegates at the conference received a free printed copy of the

report. The report is available for download at WAN-IFRA’s webpage, www.wan-ifra.org/sfn for all WAN-IFRA members free of charge. <

Registrati on for Printpack 2015 is on Indian Printi ng Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers’ Associati on (IPAMA) is organising the 12th editi on of its biennial Printpack India exhibiti on, slated to be held next year from February 11 to 15 at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR. The exhibiti on space is likely to cover 40000 sqm, consisti ng of four exhibiti on halls on the ground fl oor and fi ve hangars to be constructed in the open space. A new feature added to the exhibiti on will be the exclusive Printers Pavilion, which has been specially created to showcase the fi nished products and faciliti es available with the medium and small printers and publishers fraternity. IPAMA will extend a special discount for renti ng space at the Printers Pavilions, details of which have been posted on the IPAMA website. Online registrati on of visitors has commenced. IPAMA will start organising road shows in select citi es, where local industrialists, prospecti ve exhibitors and business visitors will be invited, in additi on to the media. As a part of visitor promoti on, IPAMA will provide complimentary bus/shutt le service from the Botanical Garden Metro Stati on to the Expo Centre during exhibiti on hours. The exhibitors/ business visitors coming from diff erent parts of the country or from overseas can avail the facility of hotel bookings, air and rail reservati on, etc from the offi cial service provider of IPAMA, details of which are available on IPAMA website. More than 80 per cent of the space has been booked; 260 Indian and fo