Modi Government stops advertising in The Times Group, The Hindu and The Telegraph newspaper

The Modi government has stopped issuing advertisements to several newspapers over their reporting of the Government and Modi

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The Modi government has stopped issuing advertisements to several newspapers over their reporting of the Government and Modi
The Modi government has stopped issuing advertisements to several newspapers over their reporting of the Government and Modi

The Modi Government has stopped issuing advertisements in major newspapers such as the Times of India, The Hindu, Economic Times, The Telegraph and Ananda Bazar Patrika(ABP) and the reason is believed to be the very negative reporting against the Government as well as against prime minister Narendra Modi. The Central Government’s advertisements in The Hindu stopped in March after the Rafale deal illegalities series. Advertisements in Sameer-Vineet Jain brothers-owned The Times Group stopped from June onwards.

This ban also covers Jain brother’s TV channels Times Now and Mirror Now, which cleverly take diametrically opposite positions in covering news. Insiders say, the entire Times Group faced the wrath of the Government for publishing a campaign-like series of reports against prime minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha election campaign accusing him of violating the Model Code of Conduct. Many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders feel this was a Congress-supported ploy to file complaints with the Election Commission against Modi.

Though these big media houses kept silent, the Congress party raised the issue in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha raised the issue by accusing Modi Government of indulging in undemocratic and megalomaniac style and trying to suppress freedom of the press.

He accused that the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the Central Government’s advertising releasing nodal agency was asked to stop issuing advertisements to these big media houses such as The Hindu, The Times Group etc for their critical reports. “The undemocratic and megalomaniac style of stopping Government advertisements is a message to the media from this Government to toe its line. Rafale deal was engulfed in controversies, favouritism and corruption. The Hindu newspaper exposed it. The Times of India exposed the violation of Model Code of Conduct by the prime minister Narendra Modi. The Telegraph and ABP were critical of the prime minister. This is a democratic country and the freedom of expression and freedom of press are so much important that everybody must stand up to protect these basic rights,” he accused Modi Government.

As per the industry statistics, Times of India Group is getting an average of more than Rs. 15 crores per month from Central Government’s advertisements and The Hindu is getting around Rs.4 crores per month on an average basis. It is heard that The Times Group’s managing director Vineet Jain is trying to get an appointment with prime minister Narendra Modi to sort out this issue, which hits the revenue of his firm.

The article was first published on pgurus.com

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

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The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

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