Calcutta loves its newspapers almost as much as it loves its sweet shops. When I used to live here though, there were just two English mainline papers of worth – the 30-year old The Telegraph and the 137 year-old, The Statesman. Now there are many more, with The Hindustan Times and The Times of India being the first two national papers to enter the fray. Have they added to a wider world-view or simply become poor cousins to the once reigning duo of Calcutta’s newspaper world, peppering their national copy with some local news? Or have they provided political parties with some more options for much-needed mouthpieces for themselves? Three days of reading the papers in Calcutta, and here’s what I got to see.

The division of pages in each of the papers is worth noting. With TOI shunting its edit page to almost the end of the paper and carrying its staple, sponsored pages – they’re subtly called consumer or education initiatives though. The Statesman is the only one of the four papers with zero commercial ads in it.  At least we know there are no marketing compulsions at play on their pages.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Front Page

Of course everyone had a picture of Yuvraj Singh emblazoned on its front page. The Statesman, HT and The Telegraph gave their lead story a little bit of a shove off-centre, by positioning Yuvi’s pictures at the top centre  –  two of him showing a thumbs up and one not. But TOI surprisingly displayed some restraint by placing Yuvi’s picture at the bottom of the page – but this might be just because they don’t plug any celebrity whatever the reason be, unless he’s paid for it. The lead story in The Statesman (PM Talks Tough on Terrorism) was on the PM reiterating that terrorism is still a key issue between India and Pakistan during his meeting with Zardari. The lead on TOI and The Telegraph was on the restructuring of the CPM in Bengal and Karat’s re-election as general secretary.  TOI (CPM Gives Bengal Unit More Teeth) mentioned the refusal to re-induct VS Achutanand only as a footnote though, while The Telegraph played it up with its headline of (Importance Of Buddha, Unimportance of VS).  HT didn’t think what the Left does deserves a mention on its front page and relegated it to the Nation pages. The TOI and HT did lead with articles on the acquitting of 23 of the accused in the Ode killings. Embracing HT’s picture of Yuvraj showing a thumbs up sign, was HT’s headline of (Gujarat Carnage: 23 guilty, 23 Acquited), and TOI carried a slightly more hard-hitting headline of (Guj Massacre: 23 killed, 23 convicted, 23 Let Off). The Statesman and The Telegraph didn’t seem to think the news deserved a front page mention though.

Edit

The Editorial pages – the voice of the paper – didn’t show such bonhomie. The Telegraph rang the death knell for the CPM and its need to stay relevant to Indian politics in its first edit (Climate Change), and focused on a more local topic which is close to the hearts of anyone who’s lived in Calcutta (Level Fields) on the impasse on whether there should be a hike in auto-rickshaw fares and whether the government should play any role in this decision – this is exactly why Mamata has banned The Telegraph from being stocked in state libraries. The Op-Ed had three beautiful pieces loosely inspired by the recent comic ghost film in town. The HT first edit focused on slightly larger international issues such as the need for the improvement of Indo-Pak trade ties (Economics, The Obvious Answer). I’d mention the Op-ed, but HT in Calcutta doesn’t seem to think an Op-ed is particularly important, although it does have a section called (The Buzz – Keeping Tab On The Political Grapevine). I think the tagline is self-explanatory.

The Statesman, ever prolific, had three edit pieces – the first, on the avalanche in Gyari and the conditions in which our army soldiers on and whether India lost a goodwill opportunity by refusing to extend a hand in rescue ops (Killer Mountain): the second edit (On Your Marx) discussed Mamata’s decree to exclude certain Marxist events and personalities from textbooks: the third (Beyond Uniformity) decried West Bengal’s refusal to include Class 5 at the primary school level, something which no other paper has reported on or discussed, as far as I am aware. Its Op-ed page called Perspective had a lead story (Left, Right And Left Again – 1) which discussed the CPI-M’s usual flip-flop on ideologies and its move away from traditional revolutionary Marxism. The TOI displayed its strong editorial stance by tucking the Edit page way behind the business page and just before the sports page. It had two edits – (Fruitful Trip) encouraging New Delhi to support Pakistan’s leadership – along with a little logo of its Aman ki Asha Peace Project; the second edit (The Intolerant Indian) was on the reaction to Peter Heeh’s book on Sri Aurobindo’s life and how India had once again shown itself to be an insecure nation.

Wednesday, April 11

Front Page

The front pages of both Hindustan Times and The Statesman led with news that the SIT had found no evidence to link Narendra Modi to the Gujarat riots. The TOI though, went with (The Govt May Allow 49% FDI By Foreign Airlines This Week) as it was of far more importance to both Mallya and Calcuttans, but also had a second lead (CM Wrests More Funds For Bengal).  No wonder Didi is stocking up on TOI in the state libraries. And who would have thought that the TOI and The Telegraph would display a common editorial vision ever – with both placing the news on Modi in the In Brief and News Digest sections and  going into it in detail only in the Nation pages.  Of course you’d know what The Telegraph’s front page said only once you got past the full front page ad and the full page 2 ad. A wonderful tale of page 1 becoming page 3. Once you found their front page, their five column quarter page lead (Needle Swings To Generals And Home) discussed who the rogue elements were whom VK Singh had referred to. They did have a large 5 column central story (Mamata Gets Rs 1110 Crore More). Too little too late. It still won’t get you into those libraries.

Edit

The Telegraph’s first edit (Out For Lunch) was on Zardari’s visit to India and how despite its limitations it did convey a positive signal for bilateral relations, and that India needs to reciprocate similarly during our PM’s visit there. Always gung-ho about freedom of speech, (Must Be Unsaid), the second edit discussed Israel’s ire against Gunter Grass and how such decisions are a danger to freedom of expression and critical dependence. TOI’s edit (Set An Example) had some words of wisdom for Modi and how it would hold him in good stead to cooperate with ongoing riot prosecutions and rehabilitate victims, and a strange second edit (Demat Money) on why India is so slow to shift to cashless transactions. The Statesman edit (Hostage Handling) was on the Odisha Polica Association’s threat that they would pull out from the ‘red zone’ if Maoist leaders who had killed their colleagues were released in exchange for the hostages – which hasn’t even been reported on elsewhere.  The second edit (Road to Istanbul) was on the demands by six nations for Iran to shut down its nuclear facility. The third edit was tongue-in-cheek (Tricky Trendsetter) with a few words of wisdom to Pranab-da on the benefits of extending tax-breaks to the beauty industry. HT’s first edit (Make A Small Gesture Now) displayed exactly the same viewpoint to TOI’s edit on Modi.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Front Page

The earth shook in Calcutta the day before, so the front page was no surprise. Sadly, didi didn’t claim that the earthquake was yet another shorojontro or conspiracy by the Left to distract media attention from the largesse she’d received from the Centre. But distract it did. All the papers – regional and national – had lead stories on the earthquake. Only HT decided that while an earthquake is fine, a picture of Yuvi signing autographs and tid-bits from his press conference were a tad more important and gave it central positioning at the top of the front page, with the earthquake news on the right of it. To save face slightly, the paper did have a story on the Army Chief naming the Vectra chairman as the bribe source, right below. Strange are the ways of the news desk.

Edit: HT seemed to have been inspired by yesterday’s The Statesman edit, and carried a first edit on whether a unified policy on terror can help tackle hostage crises like the one in Orissa (The Danger Is Closing In). Much like The Statesman’s April 11^th Op-ed (Left, Right and Left Again – 1), HT carried a piece (Totally off The Marx) just below Samar’s hunger series, on how the Left can no longer regard themselves as revolutionaries in the Marxian sense. What The Statesman does today, HT does tomorrow? The Telegraph’s first edit (Right Choice) discusses the change in guard in the CPI(M) politburo and how a marginalized CITU is good for Bengal’s economic interests. An eye on Syria and Assad’s refusal to toe Annan’s six-point peace plan (Tunnel Vision) holds place in second. The Statesman first edit (Koodankulam Safety) on Sri Lanka’s concerns over a disaster at the nuclear plant took a fair dig at the PM’s assurance that everything is under control and there is nought to worry about. The second edit (Depleted Arsenal) looked at the questions that are thrown up by the fact that India has a chronic shortage of military equipment, but is the world’s largest importer of military stores. The main story on the edit page (Road From Kozhikode) discussed the recent CPI(M) congress and quite plainly said that it “was down but not out. It will have to go beyond a sticking plaster solution” to its problems, policies and personalities. The TOI’s edits were on safeguarding consumer rights online and the second on safeguarding our girl children. What was more interesting was their lead article on how states should have more financial powers (A New Economic Deal) and that “the finance ministry and central government agencies are more willing to facilitate debt restructuring of underperforming business corporations than of the state governments”. It was penned by Derek O’Brien, quiz master exemplar, Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP and resident Iago. You can find this article laminated and kept at front of desk in the state libraries.

TOI for all the disdain thrown its way and its well-hidden edit page, did have a few interesting edits – although it did display a clear political slant towards the land of the three-clovered leaf. The Telegraph selling its front two pages to the highest bidder was a bit of a downer to put it mildly. Of course The Statesman with its two ads in three days, meant that at least what you read in their paper isn’t coloured by market compulsions. HT’s propensity for being inspired by The Statesman’s edit page is quite flattering for the latter. Going by the fact that there’s such disparity in what qualifies as front page news, it might be best to buy at least three of the papers every day. I’d ask you to go read them in the state library, but we all know how far that will get you.

The author can be reached at sreesen@gmail.com

Image Source [http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramkrsna/5282315993/sizes/l/in/photostream/]