मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भाषिक बांधीलकीबाबतचा अनुभव उद्वेगजनक

मराठीची उपेक्षा
संगणकावर भारतीय भाषांच्या उज्ज्वल भविष्यासाठी सक्षम व भाषा या प्रकल्पांची घोषणा मायक्रोसॉफ्टने चार वर्षांपूर्वी गाजावाजा करत केली होती. मात्र सद्यस्थितीत संगणकाचा वापर करणाऱ्या मराठी भाषाप्रेमींचा व संगणक तज्ज्ञांचा मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भाषिक बांधीलकीबाबतचा अनुभव उद्वेगजनक आहे.
महाराष्ट्रातील संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांसाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्टने त्यांच्या ‘विन्डोज’ या ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टिम व इतर प्रणाल्यांसाठी प्रमाणित व सुगम मराठीची भाषिक आवृत्ती द्यावी, यासाठी सातत्याने प्रयत्नशील असणाऱ्या मराठी अभ्यास केंद्रातील तज्ज्ञांना मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडिया याबतीत तोकडे पडलेले वाटते. “विन्डोज एक्स पी (XP) व ऑफिस-प्रणाल्यांतील मराठी भाषेच्या त्रुटी आम्ही एका निवेदनाद्वारे मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील वरिष्ठ अधिकाऱ्यांच्या नजरेस आणून दिल्या होत्या. यांत मराठी युनिकोड कार्यान्वित ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टमचा संच, कळफलकातील सुधारणा, मराठीतून कार्यपुस्तिकेचा अभाव असेही मराठीशी निगडीत मुद्दे होते.
प्रगत व्यवहार-क्षेत्रांत मराठी भाषेला मानाचे स्थान मिळवून देण्यासाठी कटिबद्ध असणाऱ्या मराठी अभ्यास केंद्र या स्वयंसेवी संस्थेने मायक्रोसॉफ्टशी संपर्कासाठी गेले एक वर्षभर खटाटोप चालवला आहे. मेघश्याम करनाम या मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील अधिकाऱ्याशी संस्थेचे कार्यवाह राममोहन खानापूरकर यांनी एक वर्षापूर्वी संपर्क करुन चर्चेसाठी भेटीची वेळ मागितली होती. अनेकदा आठवण करुनही त्याची आश्वासनपूर्ती करण्याची कोणतीही तसदी करनाम यांनी दाखवली नाही. त्यानंतर १७ मे २००९ रोजी अभ्यास केंद्राने मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाच्याच प्रादेशिक विभागातील अधिकारी श्रीनिवास गॅरीमेला यांना ‘Localization of Microsoft Products in Maharashtra’ या विषयाचे विस्तृत निवेदन सादर केले होते. या पत्राची प्रत माहितीसाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाचे वरिष्ठ अधिकारी संजीव रेगे व नितिन कपूर यांनाही पाठवली गेली होती. सदर पत्रात मराठी आवृत्तीचे दोष मायक्रोसॉफ्टने सुधारावेत यासाठी चर्चा करण्याची व सहकार्याची तयारी अभ्यास केंद्राने दर्शवली होती. अशाच आशयाचे पत्र मार्च २००९ मध्ये मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या आयर्लंडमधील कार्यालयातही अभ्यास केंद्रातील संगणक तज्ज्ञ नितिन निमकर यांनी पाठवले होते. आयर्लंड कार्यालयाने या पत्रावर कार्यवाही करण्यास मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील कार्यालयास सुचविले होते. ‘एवढे करुनदेखील आजतागायत मायक्रोसॉफ्टकडून कोणताही प्रतिसाद न आल्यामुळे हा सर्व खटाटोप व्यर्थ गेला असेच म्हणावे लागेल’.
महाराष्ट्र शासनाच्या शालेय शिक्षण विभागाने शाळांमध्ये मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या सॉफ्टवेअरद्वारे संगणक-प्रशिक्षणासाठी केलेल्या करारामुळे मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीच्याप्रती उत्तरदायी करणे ही शासनाची जबाबदारी आहे. काही महिन्यांपूर्वीच झालेल्या या कराराला मराठी व इंग्रजी वृत्तपत्रांनी चांगली प्रसिद्धी दिली होती. मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या अधिकाऱ्यांसमवेत हस्तांदोलन करतानाची शालेय शिक्षण विभागाचे सचिव संजयकुमार यांची छायाचित्रे झळकल्यामुळे शासनाला मराठीच्या मागण्यांसाठी हात झटकता येणार नाहीत असेही दीपक पवार म्हणाले. निव्वळ लोकसंख्येचा विचार करता महाराष्ट्र, गोवा व भारताच्या इतर राज्यांमध्ये नऊ कोटी मराठी भाषिक आहेत. महाराष्ट्रातील संगणक-साक्षरतेच्या दृष्टीकोनातून संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांची संख्या झपाट्याने वाढत असून मराठीच्या संगणकावरील उपलब्धतेमुळे ही संख्या वेगाने वाढण्याची शक्यता आहे असा मुद्दाही दीपक पवार यांनी यासंदर्भात उपस्थित केला.
ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टीमच्या (कार्यकारी प्रणाली) विकास व व्यापार क्षेत्रात मायक्रोसॉफ्ट अग्रस्थानी असल्यामुळे मराठी आवृत्यांचा दृश्यफलक, मदतीसाठीच्या सूचनांची हेल्प फाईल व कार्यपुस्तिका या सगळ्यासाठी संगणकीय मराठीच्या परिभाषेचे सुबोध प्रमाणीकरण त्यांनीच करणे अपेक्षित आहे. मात्र याबाबतीत मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाचा गतइतिहास फारसा समाधानकारक नाही,” असे मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राचे संगणक-तज्ज्ञ नितिन निमकर यांचे मत आहे. मायक्रोसॉफ्टने सध्या उपलब्ध असलेल्या त्यांच्या मराठी आवृत्तीत मराठी व हिंदी यांची देवनागरी लिपी एकच असल्याचे मानून त्यांच्यात भाषिक साधर्म्य साधण्याची गल्लत केली आहे. हिंदीतील तज्ज्ञांना मराठीचे ज्ञान आपसूकच असणार अशा चुकीच्या धारणेमुळे मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या मराठी आवृत्तीवर हिंदीचा ठसा उमटलेला दिसून येतो.
मराठी अभ्यास केंद्रातील भाषाविज्ञान तज्ज्ञ सुशान्त देवळेकर यांच्या मतानुसार विन्डोज एक्स पीची मराठी आवृत्ती भाषिकदृष्ट्या सदोष आहे. अनेक पारिभाषिक संज्ञा तसेच हेल्प फाईल्समधील सूचनांसाठी वापरण्यात आलेली तांत्रिक भाषा ही स्वीकारार्ह तांत्रिक लिखाणाच्या निकषांवर उतरणारी नाहीत असे सुशान्त देवळेकरांना वाटते. त्यांच्या म्हणण्याप्रमाणे काही ठिकाणी तर निखालस चुकीचे शब्द घुसवल्यामुळे मराठी आवृत्तीत भाषिक गोंधळ निर्माण झालेला दिसतो.
व्यावसायिक भाषांतरकार विजय पाध्ये यांच्या निरीक्षणानुसार विन्डोजच्या मराठी आवृत्त्यांत अनेक ठिकाणी मराठी शब्द व वाक्प्रचार हे इंग्रजीचेच लिप्यंतरण असून, काही ठिकाणी शब्दाला शब्द जुळवण्याचा अट्टाहास असल्याचे मत मांडले आहे. त्यामुळे काही वेळेस हे शब्द विनोदी वाटतात तर बरेचवेळा भाषाप्रेमींच्या संयमाची परीक्षा पाहणारे ठरतात. मराठीतून तांत्रिक लिखाणाचे अपुरे ज्ञान व त्यात गुंतवणूक करण्याची मानसिकता नसल्यामुळेच मराठी लोकांच्या माथी अशी थातुरमातुर पद्धतीने बनवलेली हिंदीसदृश मराठी आवृत्ती मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मारलेली आहे असे चित्र यामुळे दिसून येते.
सॉफ्टवेअर सल्लागार सलील कुळकर्णी यांच्यामते इंग्रजी प्रणाली विकसित करताना वापरणाऱ्यांच्या सोयीसाठी हरप्रकारे सजग असणाऱ्या मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीची मात्र हेळसांड चालवली आहे. विन्डोज एक्स पी व व्हिस्टाच्या हेल्प फाईल्समध्ये पुष्कळ सुधारणा करण्याची गरज असल्याचे त्यांनी सांगितले. इंग्रजीप्रमाणे एकसमान कळफलक नसणे ही मराठीतून संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांसाठी सर्वात मोठी अडचण असल्याचे सलील कुळकर्णी यांनी नमूद केले. भाषा-प्रणाली बनवणाऱ्या अनेक उत्पादकांनी आपापल्या सोयीप्रमाणे कळफलक बनवल्यामुळे व विक्रेत्यांनी त्यांना उत्तेजन दिल्याने हा गोंधळ निर्माण झाला आहे. मराठीसाठी प्रमाणित कळफलक बनवण्याचे प्रयत्न सी-डॅक या शासनमान्य संस्थेकडून दोन दशकांपूर्वी होऊनदेखील निव्वळ अनास्थेमुळे त्याची उपेक्षा झाली आहे. मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीसाठी स्वीकारलेल्या इनस्क्रिप्टच्या कळफलकांत देखील काही दोष आहेत. उदा० < > ? अशी चिन्हे व काही मराठी अक्षरांचा इनस्क्रिप्टमध्ये थेट वापर करता येत नाही. याबाबतसुद्धा मायक्रोसॉफ्टने पाठपुरावा करण्याची गरज असल्याचे त्यांनी सांगितले.
महाराष्ट्रात विकल्या जाणाऱ्या ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम वा मायक्रोसॉफ्ट प्रणाल्यांच्या संचात मराठीतून माहिती-पुस्तिका नसल्याचे राममोहन खानापूरकर यांनी नजरेस आणून दिले आहे. तसेच महाजालावर मराठीतून ऑनलाईन सहकार्याची सोय देखील(कार्यकारी प्रणाली) मायक्रॉसॉफ्टने दिलेली नाही. त्यांच्या म्हणण्याप्रमाणे मायक्रोसॉफ्टने महाराष्ट्रात ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम विकताना युनिकोड मराठीचा पर्याय कार्यान्वित करुनच विकावा जेणेकरुन लोकांना मराठीतून काम करण्याची सोय आपसूकच उपलब्ध होईल.
भारतीय भाषांच्या संगणकावरील वापरासाठी युनिकोड संकेतप्रणालीला केंद्र सरकारने मान्यता दिलेली असून मायक्रोसॉफ्टने २००० पुढील विन्डोजच्या सर्व आवृत्त्यांमध्ये त्याचा आपसूकच समावेश केला आहे. तरीदेखील मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या अधिकृत सॉफ्टवेअर विक्रेत्यांनी किंवा महाजालावर कार्यरत असणाऱ्या विविध संघटनांनी संगणक वापरणाऱ्या सामान्य लोकांना याची माहिती देण्याची कोणतीच व्यवस्था निर्माण केली नसल्याची खंत नितिन निमकर यांनी व्यक्त केली.
संगणकीय मराठीच्या विकासासाठी महाराष्ट्र शासनाच्या सामान्य प्रशासन विभागाच्या मुख्य सचिव श्रीमती लीना मेहेंदळे यांनी पुढाकार घेतल्यामुळे मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राने संबंधित विषयासंदर्भात आपल्या मागण्यांचे निवेदन त्यांना सादर केले होते. यासाठी वेळोवेळी झालेल्या बैठकांत अभ्यास केंद्राच्या सदस्यांनी मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीसाठी उत्तरदायी करण्याचे आग्रहाचे प्रतिपादन केले होते. युनिकोडच्या प्रसारासाठी महाराष्ट्र ज्ञान महामंडळाचे अध्यक्ष श्री० विवेक सावंत यांचीही भेट अभ्यास केंद्राने घेतली होती. त्यावेळेस मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या प्रतिनिधींशी विवेक सावंत यांनी स्वत: संपर्क साधून चर्चेसाठी आमंत्रण दिले होते. अशाप्रकारे अनेक पातळ्यांवर वर्षभर नेटाने प्रयत्न करुनदेखील मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाच्या अधिकाऱ्यांनी त्याची आजतागायत दखल घेतलेली नाही. शासनाच्या माहिती तंत्रज्ञान विभागाचे भूतपूर्व माहिती संचालक भ० प्र० सिंग यांची अभ्यास केंद्राच्या सदस्यांनी भेट घेऊन शासनाने मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीबाबत जाब विचारावा असे सांगितले असता, ‘एखाद्या खासगी कंपनीला शासन असे सांगू शकत नाही’ असे कचखाऊ उत्तर त्यांनी दिले होते.
आत्तापर्यंत झालेल्या दिरंगाईची भरपाई करण्यासाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीच्या प्रमाणीकरणासाठी ताबडतोब पावले उचलावीत असे आवाहन मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राचे अध्यक्ष दीपक पवार यांनी केले आहे. तसे झाल्यास मार्च २०१० मध्ये होणाऱ्या ८३ व्या अखिल भारतीय मराठी साहित्य संमेलनाच्या व्यासपीठावरुन प्रमाणित संगणकीय मराठीचा प्रसार करणे सुकर होईल. या प्रतिष्ठित सोहळ्यासाठी हजारो मराठी भाषाप्रेमी उपस्थित राहाणार असून माध्यमांतूनही त्याला मोठ्या प्रमाणावर प्रसिद्धी लाभणार आहे.
मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीच्या संगणकीय प्रमाणीकरणासाठी प्रामाणिक प्रयत्न केल्यास त्यापासून उभारी घेऊन सर्व भारतीय भाषांचा संगणकीय उत्कर्ष साधण्यास मदत होईल व भारतात संगणक साक्षरता वाढीस लागेल असा विश्वास मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राला वाटतो.
--
दीपक पवार, (अध्यक्ष, मराठी अभ्यास केंद्र)
deepak@marathivikas.org, ९८२०४३७६६५
Dated 23.12.09

Microsoft's Indifference to Indian languages

Following press note is received from Marathi Abhyas Kendra. (www.marathi-vikas.blogspot.com, www.upakram.org) I hope the Microsoft takes serious cognizance of the points raised by this Kendra.

Microsoft India urged to promote Indian languages effectively

When Microsoft announced its projects Saksham and Bhasha over four years ago, there were great hopes for better days for Indian languages on computers. As it turns out now, this is not the case if one goes by the experience of Marathi computer users so far.

Experts at Marathi Abhyas Kendra (MAK) have experienced that the efforts of localisation of Microsoft products have been woefully inadequate. “We have repeatedly pointed out the shortcomings to the Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd. These relate to Marathi Unicode user interface, inadequacy of its Help files, shortcomings in Windows-XP user interface and keyboard layout, and non-availability of User Manuals in Marathi,” says Kendra President Deepak Pawar.

The MAK, a Thane-based voluntary organisation championing the cause of Marathi language, had submitted to the Microsoft regional office (Public Sector) in India a detailed document about the shortcomings on May 17, 2009 and had volunteered to offer assistance to tackle these issues. Similar offer was made earlier in March, 2009 to its Ireland office, which directed the communication to the Indian subsidiary office. Nothing concrete has emerged.

Prof Pawar says the Microsoft will have to play a key role to increase use of Marathi in computers because the Maharashtra government education department has entrusted with this company the responsibility to spread computer and internet literacy through formal training in schools in the state.

Explaining the status of computer literacy in the state, Prof Pawar points out that a large number of people in the state have already begun using computers and the number is expected to grow if assisted them in Marathi properly. There are about 90 million Marathi speaking people residing in Maharashtra, Goa, bordering areas of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Microsoft is the industry leader in computer operating system (OS). It will have to set the standards for terminology in its Marathi version of the OS and other products, and also language for instructions in Help Files and user manuals.  The Microsoft’s track record so far has been far from satisfactory, says software developer Nitin Nimkar.

The Microsoft has failed to realise that Marathi devanagari script may be similar to Hindi’s, but these are not exactly the same. These two languages are different although many words and phrases have been derived from Sanskrit.  Many words and phrases have different shades of meanings in these two languages.  The Microsoft has, however, chosen to assume that an expert in Hindi language would have expertise of Marathi as well. It has resulted in unwarranted intrusion of Hindi words in the Marathi version.  

Mr Sushant Devlekar, the linguistic researcher, says the Windows XP user interface has various shortcomings and defects from the linguistic point of view. Many technical terms used as well as the language used for instructions in the help files are way below the acceptable standard of technical writing.   In some cases the words and phrases used are entirely wrong and do not mean anything.  

Professional translator Vijay Padhye points out several instances where the words and phrases used are verbatim transliteration of English and word-for-word translation of English into Marathi. At times such Marathi words sound very funny or many times are even outrageous. This appears to be the result of poor knowledge of technical writing in Marathi. At some places the words used are blindly adopted from Hindi and are used without proper attention to the context.

Software Consultant Salil Kulkarni has insisted that the Microsoft has not lived up to its reputation of being developer-friendly and user- friendly in respect of Help files and support. The Help files in the Marathi version of Windows-XP or Vista need lots of improvement.

He points out that a major issue for anyone using computer for Marathi language concerns the key-board which has been designed by different vendors in different manner, unlike in the case of English (Roman) which is uniform the world over.

Absence of standardisation for the layout of the Devanagari keyboards promoted by the vendors has created confusion for the users ever since attempts were made to introduced Marathi keying in over more than two decades ago.  The ‘Inscript’ keyboard, accepted by Microsoft as standard for Indian languages have quiet a few shortcomings. For example, keys such as < > ? etc. and some Marathi alphabets cannot be directly used in the Inscript keyboard. The other function keys (for example,  F1, F2 etc.) are not enabled, says Kulkarni.

Media lecturer Rammohan Khanapurkar says the Microsoft does not provide hardcopy of Product User manual in Marathi when its products are sold in Maharashtra. It does not offer online Help in Marathi.  He suggests that provision to switch over to the Marathi version of the OS interface and Unicode option to work in Indian languages should be made available at the beginning itself when the computer is switched on every time.

During the recent times, Unicode has been accepted as a character coding system for all the Indian languages. It is embedded in all the Operating systems of Microsoft Windows such as Windows 2000, XP, and Vista etc. But Nimkar laments that neither software vendors who sell Microsoft products nor associations working for cyber-space applications bring this to the notice of ordinary buyers and internet users.

The MAK president says the Kendra has been making efforts to spread use of Marathi with active support from Ms Leena Mehendale, Maharashtra government’s Principal Secretary (General Administration) and Mr Vivek Sawant, the managing director of Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd. who are keen to create awareness of Unicode for Marathi. However the Microsoft did not respond to these efforts.

Prof Pawar has renewed his appeal to the Microsoft to take appropriate steps at the earliest so that computer script and language could be promoted during the three-day 83^rd All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in March 2009. Thousands of Marathi readers and writers are expected to attend the prestigious All India literary meet.

He insists that these steps are necessary as these would also facilitate promotion of all other Indian languages among computer users.  

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Press Council objects to paid news phenomenon

By Shuchi Bansal

New Delhi, Dec 15, 2009: The Press Council of India (PCI), in a Tuesday meeting condemned the phenomenon of newspapers passing off advertisements or so-called paid-for content (or “paid news”) as news.


“The Press Council strongly objects to the paid news phenomenon. We will come up with recommendations which will be sent to the government for being implemented as guidelines,” said a PCI member who did not want to be identified. A sub-committee of PCI met in Delhi to take up a complaint by a journalists union from Andhra Pradesh alleging that owners and editors of dailies in the state accepted money from political parties and individual candidates for coverage during the elections.

The “paid news” controversy has gathered momentum after The Hindu raised the issue in a story on Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan’s campaign during the recently concluded elections in the state. According to The Hindu, Chavan spent a little over Rs11,000 on paid advertising but he received coverage worth much more in newspapers such as Maharashtra Times and Lokmat through paid ads masquarading as newspaper reports.

A Mint story dated 2 December showed the volume of advertising in dailies during the Maharashtra polls had declined by around one-fifth compared with 2004, when elections were last held in the state.

PCI was set up to preserve the freedom of the Press and to maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. The only power the body has is to inquire into complaints against newspapers and journalists if it has “reasons to believe that a newspaper or news agency has offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste or that an editor or working journalist has committed any professional misconduct”. After giving the erring party a hearing, the council may “…warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the journalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist, as the case may be.”

It can ask the newspaper to publish the particulars relating to an inquiry against it, but cannot levy a penalty or pass any other sort of judgement. The PCI member mentioned in the first instance said that since the body did have real powers to implement guidelines for stopping the practice of paid news, it would leave it to the government to do the needful.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/15225430/Press-Council-to-issue-norms-o.html

Dubious Editorial Practices

The sound of money

Media establishments have begun to implement dubious editorial practices and the individual no longer has a choice.If journalists young and old are writing copy that could put PR agencies out of business, who among us is going to do something about it? A HOOT editorial, with inputs from MAHESH VIJAPURKAR. Pix: CNN IBN panel on the Shave India Movement.

Posted Monday, Dec 07 14:01:09, 2009

In just the past week the media has been reverberating with the buzz of commerce. It is extraordinary how charged up the industry becomes when it is enthused by the prospect of making a buck in a bad year. On television and in print there has been a repeat of Gillette's Shave India campaign of an earlier year, with people who look like reporters with mikes going out asking women whether they like clean shaven men better.  A topic of such pressing public interest importance that The Times of India even ran a front page bylined story on the subject, with no hint of irony and no indication that it was a sponsored feature.    Just yesterday there was a programme--not ad--again on it on CNN IBN. On an earlier panel discussion on this channel, a guest had actually gestured to suggest that in times of terrorism beards are not such a good idea! The ostensible news point: independent surveys which show that the majority of women prefer clean shaven men. Competing for attention with this was a series of advertisements in the Economic Times and the Times of India advertising the success of the group's  private treaties campaign. On December 4, 2009 for instance the Mumbai edition of the newspaper put out a half page colour advertisement on the Times Private Treaties  on page 19  titled How to Perform the Great Indian Rope Trick and cited the Pantaloon's case of being a leader in retail and how it could "pull it off" because of Pantaloon's partnership with Times Private Treaties. The advertisement read: "With the added advantage of being a media house, Times Private Treaties (TPT)went beyond the usual role of an investor" by not straining the partner's cash flows. It was because of "the unparalleled advertising muscle of India's leading media conglomerate." As Pantaloon "furiously expanded (the) distribution network, Times Private Treaties ensured he was never short on demand." The TPT has "over 200 such case studies" and the TPT has a "better phrase for it. We called it business sense." How explicit are we going to get? The stress is on the deals being with a media house where the full clout of the media is on offer for your brand. Where else but in the editorial space could that be provided, apart from the advertisements printed in exchange for the stake?  Critics of TPT have voiced the fear in the past that something adverse about a client can be ignored or downplayed, thus undermining the credibility of  the publication and compromising editorial values. Even without an arrangement such as Private Treaties, reporters have begun to write such obliging copy that their stories have begun to sound like  publicity brochures. Check out the front page story DNA carried on December 6, 2009 on a high rise apartment block being built! Meanwhile the repercussions of what went on during the Maharashtra elections is still being felt. Candidates bought coverage packages which were offered to them. The copy was written by ad agencies. The same stories about a candidate appeared in different newspapers, in some cases the same copy appeared as a story in some papers, and as an advertisement in others!  Jansatta editor Om Thanvi pointed out at a SAFMA (South Asian Free Media Association) conference in Mumbai last week where news for sale was discussed, having sold the packages, newspaper agents would then come around to the candidates asking if they would like to recharge their packages !! You have to pinch yourself and ask if all this is for real. The sober learning from Maharashtra is that the corruption is settling into the profession's soul. At the same conference P Sainath, Rural Affairs editor of the Hindu referred to what a senior journalist had written to him to say: When it was individual journalists being corrupted, professionals had a choice. Of going that route, or staying away from it.   Now that media establishments have begun to implement dubious editorial practices themselves the individual no longer has a choice. Wrote the scribe about stories which were written to order: “My byline is on one of those.”  How sad is that? The Election Commissioner in Hyderabad apparently warned media houses this year before a local body election and the practice came down substantially. If the EC in Delhi is more interested in cracking down on graffiti on walls than on subversion of the spending limit for candidates by a greedy media, who is going to do something about it? After the Hindu exposed how much coverage Chief Minister Ashokrao Chavan got in the state elections for how little declared money, only Mint chose to carry the story forward. If journalists young and old are writing copy that could put PR agencies out of business, who among us is going to do something about it? Source: http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4241&mod=1&pg=1&SectionId=19

Marathi Writer Meena Takalkar passes away

Pune, November 22, 2009- Noted Marathi writer and translator Meena Takalkar passed away here after protracted illness November 21. She was 56. She is survived by husband senior journalist Anil Takalkar and son Nikhil. Meena Takalkar has translated English books in Marathi published by Mehta Prakashan. These included Osho’s ‘Osho-mrutyu Armrutache Dar,’ ‘Hasat Khelat Dnyandharana’  and ‘Saad ghalato Kabir’. Her own book
‘Sujan Palakatva’ had several editions, as it was considered invaluable for parents who wanted to guide school-going children in homework and was an aid for examinations. ‘Kesanchi Niga’, ‘Apale Saudarya aani tyachi niga’ were her other translations already published while translated works on Kerala tourism and motivation are expected to be launched soon.
Despite her chronic illness, Ms Takalkar completed the manuscript of Marathi translation of ‘The Price of Love’, a true story on domestic violence penned by British author Nicola T James.
She was associated with the city’s art, literature, theatre, and sports movements. She had important roles in plays staged by leading amateur groups in the city and had won the first award for female artiste in a competition organized by Bharat Sanchar  Nigam Ltd (BSNL). She had taken voluntary retirement as Senior Supervisor of BSNL.
Ms Takalkar was a regular contributor to various Marathi periodicals, such as Lokprabha, Saptahik Sakal and Maharashtra Times. As a woman entrepreneur, she had visited Singapore, and had frequently toured USA.
Her son Nikhil is Director (Business Transformation), the Marriott International INC, the well known chain of hotels worldwide, and is based in Washington DC.
Ms Takalkar was cremated at the Vaikunth Crematorium Monday November 23. 

PCI sets up panel to study paid news syndrome

As I read this morning's Pune editions, I came across a line casually mentioning the paid news syndrome in a Marathi daily. The coverage was about Pune Union of Working Journalists felicitating local MLAs on their getting elected to the Maharashtra State Assembly last month. This Marathi newspaper said the MLAs expressed concern over the syndrome.
Later in the day, I received the following story forwarded by Mahesh Vijapurkar:
November 16, 2009
Source: http://www.medianewsline.com
The Press Council of India (PCI) has set up a committee to study the "paid news syndrome", or entering into monetary deals with politicians to pass off their views as news items, in the recent elections, its chairman Justice (retd) G.N. Ray said on Monday. "A committee has been set up to collect inputs from various parts of the country and make in-depth study of the malady of paid news syndrome in elections and to make its recommendation to the council," he said.
Addressing a conference on "Changing face of Indian media" on the occasion of National Press Day Monday, the PCI chairman said in the recent elections, media "indulged in nefarious monetary deals with some politicians and candidates by publishing their views as news items and by publishing news items against rival candidates". Observing that media, like other institutions, had succumbed to the vice of malpractices and corruption, he said: "Yellow journalism and blackmailing were known forms of corruption in journalism but today, a subtle and implicit form of corruption is creating greater mischief." "The distortion, disinformation and paid news syndrome aimed to serve certain interests and suppression of news and concerns of other interests have become a usual feature in media," he added.
Voicing concern over media turning into a commercial enterprise and the newspaper into a commodity, he said the media was being driven by market forces. He noted that big national level newspapers, owned by corporate houses, were being run to derive more profits like commercial enterprises. "The media driven by market forces and in unending urge to make more profits, is indulging in trivialization, sensationalisation and tainted corporate communication." Ray also expressed concern over trial by media, incorrect reporting of court cases and devaluation of the office of editor.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said sections of media had become mouthpieces of their proprietors. "The proprietors running a host of businesses besides the media have utilised their outlets to protect their business interests and carry on a campaign against their perceived opponents." He said sections of media indulging in paid coverage especially during elections were undermining the democracy, and appealed to PCI to arrest such media aberrations since any government intervention in media freedom would be "a remedy worse than the disease".

Marathi Newspapers on Internet

(Paper presented by Kiran Thakur at the Indo-Russia Conference, held in Hyderabad, from April 11-13, 2008)


Abstract
The paper documents status of online journalism in Maharashtra, considered to be an advanced state of India, in the area of Information and Communication Technology. It traces the history of online journalism in the state since Marathi daily Kesari launched its web edition, the first in the state, in 1997.

It is based on the outcome of two studies: the first carried out for the initial phase 1995-98 and the second extending up to 2006 which covered 114 dailies online. Two more dailies were added after the study was complete, taking the total number to 116.

The research concluded that except for a few newspapers, most web editions continued to be economically unviable. Production processes remain unchanged in most newspapers. Contents of web editions are shovelled from their parent print editions.

Readership survey indicated that the web editions are accessed from 63 countries, most of the readers being Indians in India and abroad. The study offered demographic profile of the readers and broad indications about their needs, expectations, uses and gratification. The readers are young, highly educated and more interested in news about India, and more specifically about their native places.
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Introduction
Maharashtra is among the 35 states and union territories of India. It is considered to be an advanced state, compared to most others, in terms of industrial development, trade, education and the progress made in the area of Information Technology. Mumbai is its Maharashtra's capital and Nagpur its twin capital. Besides these two important cities, there are other major cities like Pune, known as the state's Cyber capital, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Nashik and Amaravati.

With an area spread over in 307,713 sq km, the state of Maharashtra is divided into 35 administrative districts and has a population of 96,878,627 comprising 50,400,596 males. Literacy rate is 76.9 per cent, male 86 per cent and female 67.

With the initiatives of charity trusts and support from the provincial government, Maharashtra has a very strong network of schools, colleges, and universities spread over the nook and corner of the state. Some of these academic institutions were founded over 150 years ago and have been contributing, with the rest of them, to create social awareness and development of the people.

Thanks to the spread of education and rise in purchasing power of growing number of families, newspaper industry has also been experiencing a boom during the last decade. Number of newspapers published from the state has gone up as also the circulation of dailies. Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, and it is no surprise that this metro has a large number of newspapers published not only in English and state's principal language Marathi but also in other languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, Kannada, Tamil and so on.

However, it is not only Mumbai that shows growth in number of publication and their circulation. Cities like Pune and Nagpur have recorded growth in this area over the years.

As per the data from Annual Statements received by the Registrar of Newspapers for India for the year 2005-06, the highest numbers of newspapers (with all periodicities) were published in Hindi (4131), followed by English (864), Gujarati (775), Urdu (463) Bengali (445), and Marathi (328). (http://rni.nic.in/)

Among language dailies, Hindi lead with 942 newspapers followed by 201 in English while Marathi had 130 dailies.

During 2005-06, the largest numbers of newspapers were published from Uttar Pradesh (1913), followed by Delhi (1133), Gujarati (817), Rajasthan (742), Maharashtra (642) and West Bengal (505).

Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of daily newspapers in all languages (384), followed by Maharashtra (206).

Dailies from Uttar Pradesh with a total circulation of 1,34,92,557 copies were at the top, followed by Maharashtra with 1,05,37,174 and Delhi 88,08,045 copies.
Dailies from Uttar Pradesh with a total circulation of 1,34,92,557 copies were at the top, followed by Maharashtra with 1,05,37,174 and Delhi 88,08,045 copies.

The data, thus, indicates that Maharashtra and Marathi newspapers published from the state enjoyed a lead position in India. This position was acquired by the print media in the state as it kept pace with the development in print technology and met challenges posed by electronic media since mid-80s. The newspaper industry in the state adopted modern techniques of offset colour printing and started using computers that were introduced in the country in this period of the 20th century. The newspaper publishers started using Internet for news gathering to e-mail text and photographs for publication after this new medium was made available in the country in 1995.

It was, therefore, important to understand how the Marathi newspapers used Internet to launch their web editions and how the readership responded to these new developments. This researcher undertook two studies of online editions of Indian newspapers, from 1995-1998 and the second for the period 2002-06. The second study was funded by University Grants Commission and was carried out with co-investigator Dr Ujjwala Barve. Both the studies covered web editions of Indian newspapers in different Indian languages, including English.

This paper documents status of online editions of Marathi dailies published from Maharashtra at the end of the second study. This would offer an overview of the status of online editions of the 114 newspapers in all the Indian languages Assamese (01), Bengali (07), English (39), Gujarati (06), Hindi (17), Kannada (04), Malayalam (07), Oriya (04), Punjabi (01), Tamil (06), Telugu (06) and Urdu (04).

The status may change in case of the online editions of major English newspapers which are part of portals, such as The Times of India, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times and the Indian Express.

List of Marathi Newspapers online
It needs to be realised that the online editions are not to be registered with a single authority, unlike the print editions that are legally required to be registered with Registrar of Newspapers for India. Therefore, among the first part of the study was to list the newspapers that have online edition after searching the web and interacting with the publishers.

The data revealed that only 12 from among the 130 Marathi dailies have online editions until the study was completed in 2006. (These do not include web sites in Marathi that do not have print editions.) This works out to around 9 per cent, which is on par with the scenario the world over.

The Marathi newspapers with web sites are as follows:

Table 01. Marathi online newspapers
Sr. no. Name of Newspaper URL / Web Site Address
1 Dainik Aikya http://www.dainikaikya.com/

2 Deshdoot http://www.deshdoot.com/

3 Deshonnati http://www.deshonnati.com/

4 Kesari http://www.dailykesari.com/

5 Lokmat http://www.lokmat.com/

6 Loksatta http://www.loksatta.com/

7 Maharashtra Times http://www.maharashtratimes.com

8 Pudhari http://www.pudhari.com/

9 Sakal http://www.esakal.com/

10 Saamana http://www.saamana.com/

11 Tarun Bharat http://www.tarunbharat.com/

12 Tarun Bharat http://www.tarunbharat.net/


As part of the research, case studies were conducted to document the status of online journalism in the state, with special reference to attitudes of the publishers, production process and economics of the web editions. Key functionaries were interviewed and a structured questionnaire was filled in to record data at their workplaces.

Following data was made available through these case studies:
Case Study 1: Sakaal (www.esakal.com)
Sakaal is a leading Marathi newspaper published from 1932. Its editions are published from Mumbai, Kolhapur, Nashik, Jalgaon, Aurangabad and Nagpur, besides the main edition brought out from Pune. The web edition was launched on January 26, 2000 and is edited at the Pune office.

The online section is run by News Editor and two sub-editors on the editorial side. A manager looks after advertisements for the web edition and a software engineer takes care of the technical aspect of the edition. The editorial staff works in shifts from 1000-1800, 1500-2200 and 1800-0200. The online edition is uploaded at 3 a.m. after the main print edition begins printing. The site is updated with breaking news. Average hits are 1,80,000 per day.

Judging by the feedback and e-mails the editor receives, the readers are mostly Maharashtrians abroad, but a sizeable number is also from within India. The readers prefer to read news about the State of Maharashtra, Local, Politics, and Marathi Culture.

The editors receive about 10 to 20 e-mailed responses. The figure goes up to more than 100 where are important issues reported on the site.

Readers are mostly in the age group of 20 to 30 years, working mostly in IT sector. A large number of housewives have also started visiting the site. The readers generally want more news about their home towns.

Case Study 2: Lokmat (www.lokmat.com)
Lokmat is the leading Marathi newspaper, headquartered in Nagpur with multiple editions in major cities and towns in Maharashtra. These centres include Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar.

The web edition was launched on July 02, 1998. It has an Online editor, with his headquarters in Pune. He edits the contents and supervises the uploading carried out from 11 centres. He is supported by a team of ten sub-editors.

Pune’s office uploads contents for main page, besides the Pune online edition. The office works in two shifts, with two sub-editors carrying out the upload.

The other centres are responsible to take care of the upload of contents from the respective print edition. They are in touch with the Pune office all the time, particularly for major news of the region so that these stories are included in the main page of the online edition.

Every edition thus uploads a number of stories (ranging from 70 to 100), besides a number of photographs (ranging from 15 to 30).

Every edition has a Main Page and pull-outs focussing only local stories.

FrontPage has 25 to 30 news stories. Lead story has Introduction with photo display. This is followed by three sub-leads and other news with heading display and thumbnails when pictures are available.

Marketing department of the Pune print edition looks after the marketing of www.lokmat.com. There is no dedicated marketing staff for the entire online activity of the newspaper group.

The online edition has achieved direct telecast, direct videocast, videoclips and podcasting of bulletins of important news stories that can be heard if the readers so desire.

Readership of lokmat.com is spread over 63 countries, including India.

The Lokmat’s online department works in two shifts, from 12 noon to 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. All the centres upload their editions after 3 p.m. Pune page is uploaded at 3 a.m. and main page at 5 p.m.

Hits range from 20,000 to 30,000 a day. The readers are offered 700 news stories and articles through 63 pages of the website.

On an average, the online edition has 700 news stories, six articles, 100 photographs and 20 advertisements.

Readership is dominated by those residing in India. One third of the total readership is in USA, followed by a miniscule in UK and rest of Europe and UAE.

Readers prefer crime news, local news of every edition, Maharashtra state news, Sports, National, Political, agriculture, Art and culture, science, technology and business news, in that order.

The editor receives feedback from 30 to 50 visitors every day.

Case Study 3: Tarun Bharat (Nagpur) (www.tarunbharat.net)
The web edition was launched on September 26 1999. There is no dedicated editorial staff for the web edition. The person in the system department looks after uploading of the contents of the print edition onto the web site.

He works for three hours to upload the contents at 7 a.m. and the updates are carried out at 1100 hrs, 1500 hrs, 1900 hrs, 2300 hrs. The web site receives 350 to 400 hits on working days, 200 for non-working days

The web site contents include 20 to 40 news stories, 5-6 articles, 2-3 photographs and has no advertisement.

Readers are located mostly in US and Europe.

Case Study 4: Maharashtra Times (www.maharashtratimes.com)
The newspaper is a part of the Times of India group of newspapers and the website belongs to a separate entity, the portal www.indiatimes.com.
The editorial department of the web edition has a content editor who is assisted by two sub-editors. The edition was launched in March 2000. The department works in shifts 1100 to 1930 hrs and 1700 to 0130. The edition is uploaded at 1.30 a.m. and updated when there is a major story during the day.

The web site has around 100 news stories, 15 articles, upto ten photographs and about five advertisements on the home page. Average hits received by the site of the online edition are around 1,10,000 per day.

Preference of the readers is for local news, politics, crime, and entertainment.

Case Study 5: Pudhari (www.pudhari.com)

Pudhari is a leading Marathi newspaper published from Kolhapur, Southern Maharashtra. It has editions published from Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Goa, Belgaon, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg.

Its online edition was launched on May 01, 2000 from Pune. It works in one shift from 2200 hrs to 0800. One sub editor looks after the editorial content.

The site receives about 10,000 hits per day.

Its contents include 20 news stories, 22 articles, 15 photographs, and one advertisement.

Its readers are mainly Maharashtrians outside Maharashtra.

Case Study 6: Belgaum Tarun Bharat (http://www.tarunbharat.com)
The newspaper is published from Belgaum, in Karnataka bordering Maharashtra and has editions from Goa, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, and Kolhapur.

The web edition was launched on July 06, 1999. It is edited by two sub-editors who work from 1700 hrs to 0200 hrs. The site received average 60,000 hits per day. The site includes 80 News Stories, 10 articles, 15 photographs and two advertisements.

Readers are mostly Maharashtrians abroad. They are interested in local news.

Case Study 7: Kesari (http://www.dailykesari.com)
The newspaper, edited in the initial years by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was in the forefront in the freedom struggle. It is published from Pune with editions from Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Solapur, and Pimpri.

Kesari was the first Marathi newspaper that entered the cyber era on August 01, 1997.
One sub editor looks after the upload of the contents at 1 p.m.

Contents include news and articles of the print editions. Its readers are located mostly outside Maharashtra, many of them abroad. Their preference is for Local, State, National politics, and business stories. The readers are mostly young, with some connection with Pune.
The case studies based on interviews of the key functionaries of the newspapers thus offered the following data:

Table 02. Contents and Economic Viability of online editions
Newspaper News Stories Articles Photographs Ads Economic
Viability^
Sakaal 350-400 10-12 25-30 8-10 No
Lokmat 700 6 100 20 NA*
Tarun Bharat (Nagpur) 30-40 5-6 2-3 NA No
Maharashtra Times 100 15 5-10 5 Yes
Pudhari 20 22 16 1 Yes
Belgaum Tarun Bharat 80 10 15 2 No
Kesari NA NA NA NA No
(^ Economic Viability: The column offers response to the question: Has the online edition broken even financially?
• NA (Not Available) means the data was not provided by staff of the concerned online edition.)
• Most newspapers do not get advertisements for the net editions, with only a few exceptions Sakal and Maharashtra Times. The situation was the same in 1998 when most of the 48 newspapers then on the net did not earn much advertisement revenue for the web editions.
• This was the reason, then and now, that web editions of most newspapers could not break-even financially.
• It was perhaps for the same reason that the publishers have not made large investment in manpower for the web sites. The web site is managed by a very limited staff. In most newspapers, the staff pattern is same: a chief sub-editor assisted by one or two sub-editors. In some cases, only a sub-editor working in the print edition has the responsibility to upload the contents after his night shift job is over. Most publishers are content with the arrangement in which the computer systems department staff look after their web sites. The result is that web editions of most newspapers do not contain contents other than what is made available from the editorial team of the print edition. No effort is made to create contents exclusively for the web editions. In absence of a thought process that should go to into creation of contents for the web edition, there is no reverse flow from web to print. The web team simply shovels text and graphics, including photographs, from the print and complete the day’s work.
• There are again exceptions like Sakal and Lokmat that try to exploit the features of Internet. Such editions have audio and video clips that go along with the text or stand alone as interesting add-ons.
• Indian newspapers have not appointed reporters exclusively for web editions.
• Most publishers have not appointed staff to procure advertising either.
• Web editions do not get advertisements because advertisers do not get response or feedback from the readers.

Production Process:
• Production process of web editions in most newspapers have not changed substantially during the last decade.
• A major change in the production process over the past decade is however that most publishers have prepared software that has made the production process and particularly uploading of the contents very easy even for a novice sub-editor. With simple commands, the contents are uploaded within no time.
• The web staff gets contents from the editorial department of the parent print edition through the Local Area Network. Similarly, if there is any ad to be inserted, it is passed on as a soft copy through the LAN.
• In most cases, there are no updates of the web sites for the next 24 hours although technologically updates are possible every minute.
• As stated earlier, the web sections are manned by a skeleton staff. They work in shifts of six to eight hours in various newspapers. Smaller newspapers seem to have shifts starting during the afternoons and ending when the web sites are uploaded early in the morning at around two a.m.
• Volume of contents of web edition varies from newspaper to newspaper depending on whether it is ‘small’, ‘medium’ or ‘big’. A small newspaper may carry a minimum of 30 news stories, six articles and three photographs. A big newspaper’s web edition may contain 3000 news stories, 50 articles and 250 photographs.
• Almost 80 to 90 per cent contents of the parent print editions are shovelled in most cases.
• Based on the feedback received through e-mail, readers of the web editions are mostly young, male, from Information Technology, NRIs based in USA, Canada and Europe.
• Editors receive e-mail responses from readers who generally react to the news stories or pass on suggestions. Such responses range from a few to over 100 per day.

Readership Survey:
The research team carried out a readership survey by placing a questionnaire at the home pages of the newspapers for at least a fortnight. The questionnaire was linked to a database at the web page designed for the research.
Following data was made available through the survey:

Table 03. Sex and Age-wise distribution of readers
Marathi newspapers
(Total respondents: 493)
Male Female
# % # %
Up to 20 3 00.6 2 0.4
21-30 207 42.0 37 7.5
31-40 128 26.0 22 4.4
41-50 45 09.1 5 1.0
51-60 27 05.4 6 1.2
61 and above 10 02.0 1 0.2
Total (% rounded off) 420 85.0 73 15.0

The proportion of female Internet newspaper readers is considerably smaller than male readers. In 1998, the readership comprised 7% female readers.
This means that the majority readership of Internet newspapers is in the age group of 21-40 years. In 1998 also the majority (79%) readership belonged to the age-group of 21-40 years.

Table 04. Country-wise distribution of readers
Country Marathi newspapers
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
India 296 60.0
United States 99 20.0
United Kingdom 19 03.8
United Arab Emirates 13 02.6
Canada 5 01.0
Rest 58 countries from where the web sites are accessed Less than one per cent

A major change is noticed in the domicile of readers that participated in the present survey. In 1998, 62% readers were staying in USA and 10% were staying in India. The present survey shows almost a reverse trend. Majority (60%) readers are residing in India and 20% are in USA. Almost 80% readers stay in either of these two countries (as against 70% in 1998).

Table 05. State-wise distribution of readers residing in India
State Marathi
(Total respondents: 493
Residing in India: 296)
# %
Maharashtra 235 79.3
Karnataka 22 07.4
Delhi 6 02.0
Tamil Nadu 1 00.3
Andhra Pradesh 6 02.0
Uttar Pradesh 6 02.0
Other states Less than 02 each

Further division of readers residing in India shows that majority of them are from Maharashtra. Readers all over the country access Indian newspapers on the Internet. The readership is more in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh probably because of the penetration of Information Technology in those states and also probably because of the high number of IT professionals working in those states.
The high percentage (79.3) of readers of Marathi newspapers from Maharashtra shows that such readership within the state has grown in the last few years during which Internet connectivity has been made available in more urban and rural centres.

Table 06. Educational Qualifications of readers
Marathi
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
Master 244 49.4
Bachelor 174 35.2
Doctorate 32 06.4
Diploma 27 05.4
HSC 10 02.0
SSC 6 01.2

Reading of Internet newspapers seems to be closely related to level of education. The more educated a person is the more he/she is likely to read newspapers on the Internet.

Table 07. Employment status of readers
Marathi newspapers
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
Employed 401 81.2
Not employed 47 09.5
Self-employed 45 09.1
Almost no change is seen in the employment status of readers in the last 8 years. In 1998 79% readers were employed whereas in 2006 almost equal proportion (77% and 81% respectively for English and Marathi newspapers) is employed.

Table 08. Frequency of reading the newspapers
Marathi (Total respondents: 493)
# %
Everyday 396 80.5
Occasionally 37 07.5
Once a week 16 03.2
Twice a week 44 08.8
The fact that most readers read newspapers on the Internet regularly shows that reading newspapers on the Internet has become a habit for the readers.

Table 09. Topics read in web editions of the newspapers
Marathi
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
News 484 98.17
Editorials 246 49.90
Opinion Articles 175 35.50
Book/ film/ theatre reviews 123 24.95
Advertisements (Display) 52 10.55
Horoscope 93 18.86
Religious/spiritual discourses 67 13.59
Advertisements (Classified) 39 07.91
Matrimonial Advertisements 15 03.04
Sports 17 03.45
Business 9 01.83
Science and Technology 5 01.01
Features 148 30.02
Photographs 2 00.41
Readers' letters 4 00.81
Politics 3 00.61
Supplements 4 00.81
Weather 2 00.41
Cartoons - 00.00

It is clear from the above table that readers read the newspapers for news and views because highest preference is given to news. The term 'news' includes news about all fields: politics, sports, business, science and technology, art, culture etc.) Almost an equal number of readers read the views expressed in the newspaper. The combined percentage of readers of Editorials and Opinion Articles is high Book/film/theatre reviews are also read by a considerable proportion of the readership A significant number of readers of Marathi newspapers (18.8%) read the Horoscopes-related column in newspapers.
Advertisements, whether display or classified, are not among the top favourites with readers.

Table 10. Readers' Areas of Interest (Region)
Marathi
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
India 319 64.7
World 154 31.2
Home state 314 63.6
Home town 287 58.2
Asia 70 14.2

Around two thirds (64.7%) Marathi newspaper readers want to know news from India; 58.2% Marathi readers are keen on reading news from Home town.
Table 11. Readers' Areas of Interest (Categories of News)
Marathi
(Total respondents: 493)
# %
Business and economy 273 55.38
Politics 281 57.00
Science and Technology 240 48.68
Social Development 228 46.25
Human Interest 157 31.85
Columnists' Columns 138 27.99
Sports 181 36.71
Environment 159 32.25
Rural Development 204 41.38
Art and culture 181 36.71
Celebrities 081 16.43
Crime 091 18.46
On-site Poll results 044 08.92
Obituaries 012 02.43
Business and Economy, Politics, Science and Technology are the first three areas the readers like to read about.

Table 12 Purpose behind accessing newspapers
Marathi
(Total respondents: 493)
To know about--- # %
Latest happenings in India 361 73.23
Progress of India in various fields 285 57.81
Views of India about world affairs 194 39.35
Changing lifestyle in India 202 40.97
Business opportunities in India 140 28.40
Information about hometown and home state 017 03.45
The question about the purpose behind reading newspapers on the Internet was included in the present survey, based on the findings of the 1998 survey. That survey had indicated that a majority of readers (90%) of Indian newspapers on the Internet lived outside India. Therefore while living away from India, they were anxious to know about various aspects of Indian life. Hence some questions in this survey, especially the present question and the options provided in response to the question were phrased presuming that readers were residing outside India.
The present survey however shows that maximum readers of Internet newspapers (67%) are currently living in India. As such they may be experiencing life in India and may also be exposed to other conventional news media (print newspapers, TV and Radio channels). Therefore it is difficult to interpret the response to this question.
At face value however it seems that in accordance with earlier responses most readers In 1998 also the main purpose indicated by most readers was to keep themselves updated about developments in India.

Table 13. Reasons for reading newspapers
Marathi (Total respondents: 493)
# %
Access archival material 177 35.90
Participate in on-site polls 69 14.00
Kill time 77 15.62
Overcome homesickness 103 20.89
Send greeting cards and Gifts 44 08.92
Chat with other readers 18 03.65
Real estate transactions 24 04.87
Transfer money to India 8 01.62
Send e-mail in Marathi 40 08.11
Besides the main purpose/s behind reading the Internet newspapers, some other factors also prompt Internet users to read newspapers on the Internet. The most frequently cited reason is 'to access archival material.' Those who are away from India/hometown/city also look upon it as a tool to overcome homesickness.
Though Marathi Internet newspapers provide the facility to write e-mails in Marathi only a small proportion of readers (8.11%) visits newspaper sites for that reason. Same is the case with other facilities like sending greeting cards/gifts, chatting with other readers and real estate transactions etc. provided on newspaper sites. These facilities are used marginally.
Table 14. Problem with font
Marathi (Total respondents: 493)
# %
Never 152 30.83
Sometimes 136 27.59
Very rare 130 26.37
Often 35 7.10
Regularly 23 4.67
Can not say 17 3.45

In case of Marathi newspapers on the Internet downloading the proper font used to be a major problem in the early days of Internet newspapers. In 2006 such problems are either not encountered at all or are encountered very rarely (57%). 27.59% readers sometimes encounter font problem and around 11% encounter it more often.

Some Observations:
Journalists in Marathi newspapers face difficulties in mastering the skills in typing in Marathi (Devnagari) script, compared to those who work in English newspapers. The problem is with the keyboard layout, which has not been standardised by producers of the application software.

The script used by one newspaper differs from others. The text can not be easily converted in the script used by other computers, as can be done in case of English (Roman) any where in the world.

Journalists in most rural areas do not have access to computers and Internet. They still write their stories by hand and fax them to their newspaper offices where these are keyed in the DTP system. Photographs are similarly sent by courier, although in many cases, journalists use digital or mobile phone-camera to take snaps and mail them through cyber cafes.

This is the case with most newspapers in non-English newspapers in India.
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About the author: Dr Kiran Thakur worked as professional journalist for over 30 years in India. He joined academics in 2001 and retired in March 2007. Among the books he wrote is Dr N B Parulekar, A Pioneer in Modern Journalism in Indian Languages. Dr Thakur's doctoral thesis was on online journalism in India during the initial phase (1995-98). He, along with colleague Dr Ms Ujjwala Barve, continued to study web journalism with support from University Grants Commission. The present paper is based mainly on their findings of this study and data collected subsequently.
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Online Journalism in India: An exploratory study of Indian newspapers on the Net

(Paper submitted to Indo-Russia Conference, Moscow, December 07-08, 2007, by Kiran Thakur)


Abstract
The paper discusses status of online journalism in India since 1995 when The Hindu launched its web edition. It is based on the outcome of two studies: the first carried out for the initial phase 1995-98 and the second extending up to 2006 which covered 114 dailies online. Two more dailies were added after the study was complete, taking the total number to 116.
The research concluded that except for a few newspapers, most web editions continued to be economically unviable. Production processes remain unchanged in most newspapers. Contents of web editions are shovelled from their parent print editions.
Readership survey indicated that the web editions are accessed from 63 countries, most of the readers being Indians in India and abroad. The study offered demographic profile of the readers and broad indications about their needs, expectations, uses and gratification. The readers are young, highly educated and more interested in news about India, and more specifically about their native places.
--

Introduction

Indian print journalism began with an English weekly brought out by an Irishman in year 1780. Its circulation was limited to Kolkatta, the then centre of the East India Company and the target readers were the British traders, officials and their families. The weekly did not last long, but other enterprising Englishmen launched new publications. These were also English newspapers. Gradually, Indians began bringing out newspapers in English and native languages from several centres like Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Delhi. The Indians used their newspapers as vehicles to spread the message of social reforms and to arouse public opinion against the British who had begun ruling the then princely states in the country.

After 1857 when the British took control of the entire country, the newspapers were broadly divided into two: those run by the British owners, and the others who were Indian freedom fighters. For most Indian editors and publishers, journalism was a mission to make India free from the imperialists. The British left India in 1947 after ruling the country for over 150 years.

The newspapers took some time to adjust themselves to the new political environment in Independent India. Until 1947, their solitary aim was to fight the British regime. Now, it was their government headed by charismatic Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Political leaders in particular and the people in general had begun breathing free air. Newspapers had to re-define their roles. One of their responsibilities was to ensure that the hard-earned freedom and the democracy that was ushered in were protected. Initially, it was difficult for the newspapers to be critical of the government, particularly of Jawaharlal Nehru and his cabinet colleagues who were all giant freedom fighters only a few years earlier. However, the editors gradually took upon themselves the role of watchdogs of the society. Development of the country into a prosperous India became their mission.

As years passed by and leadership changed after Nehru's demise in 1964, the newspapers found several issues to take up. Political parties were split and new outfits were born. There were issues of poverty, unemployment, communal divide, wars with neighbouring countries, problems facing the farmers, industries, women, children and so on. Political parties were divided into the rightwing and the left. Newspapers were subjected to censorship during the Internal Emergency imposed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi's government during 1975-77. There were attempts later also to gag the press, but journalists across the country rallied and thwarted all such attempts.

Newspapers became strong institutions. Circulation and revenue grew up. Owners did not remain content with a single daily newspaper. The publishing houses added to their stables other dailies and periodicals meant for niche readerships. A publishing house, for example, would have a general interest English newspaper, a business daily and daily newspapers in the regional language. The same group would have periodicals for women, children or farmers. Some have specialised journals for readers interested in, say, literature, cinema, culture, automobiles, computers or travel and tourism. With the advent of modern technology, it became possible for a publication house to print copies of its periodicals at far of places.

Pro-globalisation and liberalisation policies initiated in 1991 brought in changes in the economic scenario that were welcomed by industries in the country. In the process, newspaper industry also stood to benefit. Computers, which were unheard of in newspaper offices in metros, were installed for desk-top-publishing even in dailies in smaller towns. Internet was soon to follow in mid-90s. Mobile phones with audio-video recorders became commonplace among journalists in metropolitan centres, cities and small towns during the last three or four years.

Critics, however, lament that the modern technology has changed only the face of Indian journalism. It is no more a mission, but a profession to make profits for the owners. These critics say the newspapers now have attractive layout, quality printing and quality newsprint; but there is no 'substance' in the contents. Coverage is superficial and journalists lack social commitment. Academicians and journalists from 16 states who attended the national conference held in Pune in February 2007 were unanimous in saying that the English and 'language' newspapers did not reflect the real issues facing the country.

Business Concerns
Publishers in advanced countries such as USA have been debating over the adverse impact on circulation of newspapers due to electronic media and online publications. (Media Watch ) However, in India, there seems to be no such adverse impact.
(Burke John ) Newspaper circulation has been growing in spite of the onslaught of television news channels. Publishers of Indian newspapers have exploited new information and communication technologies to expand their base. The Times of India and several major English newspapers have started editions from new centres.

Similar growth in circulation has been witnessed in leading newspapers published in other Indian languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. These 'language ' dailies have brought out editions not only in other cities and towns in the same state (province) but also in other states. Thus, Hindi newspapers like Dainik Jagaran, Bhaskar and Rajasthan Patrika have editions from more than one state. What is more, many of these dailies now have a number of pull-outs for readers in several suburbs of a single city. The dailies are printed in colour using quality newsprint unlike in late 1990's. This only indicates that the 'language' newspapers have been prospering. They are no more poor cousins of the English newspapers even in cases where they belong to a group or chain newspapers with flagship dailies in English. In some cases, though the group's flagship English daily is better known outside the region, its 'language' stable-mate has better readership. (For example, Mumbai's Marathi daily Loksatta has a readership of 18,23,000 while The Indian Express has 705,000 readers in this metro. )

Among their marketing techniques are offering 'introductory' price that is less than that of the rival publications, organising popular events and exhibitions for readers and offering discounts and gifts to the subscribers. Such techniques seem to be increasing visibility and circulation figures of the dailies.

The scene in print journalism seems to be so rosy that the Registrar for Newspapers in India prefaced its overview for the year 2005-06 with this observation:
"We thought that the advent of information technology would affect the print media. But, it didn't happen; the statistics also shows that no technology can beat the print media, which always finds its own level.

The print media has responded to the new changes and challenges with its modernization. They have accepted the information technology, which resulted in better coverage with great speed and affordable price. The readership of newspapers is growing. The statistics shows also that the people prefer their regional language newspapers and that is why the regional newspapers are venturing out to bring editions from other cities where there is sizeable population of the respective language."

The buoyancy in the newspaper industry is reflected in applications for new titles submitted in the year and also in the sale figures of dailies. During 2005-06, 2074 new newspapers (dailies and other periodicals) were registered. Only four newspapers ceased publication. As on 31st March 2006, there were 62,483 registered newspapers on record as against 60,413 at the end of March 2005. The total circulation of newspapers increased from 15,67,19,209 copies in 2004-05 to 18,07,38,611 copies in 2005-06. The term 'newspaper' in this case includes dailies, weeklies and publications of other periodicities.

As per the annual statements received during 2005-06, the number of dailies being published in the country was 2130. Their claimed circulation figure was 8,88,63,048 copies, 12.93% higher than that the previous year. Hindi had 942 dailies claiming a circulation of 7,66,98,490 copies, while 201 English dailies claimed 3,41,06,816 copies.

There is tussle between print and electronic media to grab a larger pie of budgets of the advertisers. Online newspapers do not get priority as yet. At best, advertisers are willing to consider web editions of some leading newspapers to insert the advertisements as add-on to the main print editions. This means that web editions do not earn substantial ad revenue to make them self-sufficient, leave alone profit-makers.

As stated earlier, Indian newspapers had started using computers for word processing and page layout since 1987. The newspapers one after another switched over from teleprinters and telex machines to e-mail to send and receive news when Internet was available 1995 onwards. The changeover was quicker when a number of competing Internet service providers descended on the scene during the last decade. Later, mobile phone instruments with cameras were made available to journalists.

Yet, these newspapers were slow to launch their web editions. Only 48 dailies had their web sites by 1998 when this researcher undertook documentation of status of online journalism. An extension of this study established that there were 116 Indian dailies with web editions in year 2006.

Internet Era
India joined cyber world in 1995, quite late compared to the West, although Internet was available to researchers earlier also. In the initial period, net access was limited to only four metros. It was very slow. Computer penetration was very low. However, the penetration improved as prices of computers began falling and net connectivity spread to small towns when private service providers came on the scene.

By 2007, India had an estimated base of 42 million Internet users, which was 3.6 per cent of the world users. Although this base was far below the Internet users of USA (which was 210,575,287), China (162,000,000), Japan (86,300,000) or Germany (50,426,117), India ranked fifth in the list of top twenty countries using Internet.

In case of India, this was noteworthy because she is still considered a developing country. Advanced countries have better infrastructure and resources for rapid development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) area. India lacked even in availability of power in cities and villages in every state without any exception. It was therefore no surprise that India would lag behind in terms of computer penetration, Internet connectivity and its usage during the initial phase of ICT.

Against this background, publishers of Indian dailies were hesitant initially to launch web editions. Even later, except for a few English and 'language' dailies, majority of the newspapers put up their websites as a 'me-too' syndrome.

Research was undertaken to document status of online journalism in the initial phase (1995-98) as doctoral dissertation by the author of this paper. Subsequently, another project was undertaken with support from University Grants Commission and was titled Changing Profile of Readership of Indian Newspapers on Internet: A Status Report on Online Journalism in India. With co-investigator Dr Ms Ujjwala Barve, it was carried out at Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Pune, in the city of Pune.

This paper discusses outcome of these two studies.

Aims and Objectives of the study
• To document status of Indian Newspapers on Internet during 1995-2006. It was in year 1995 when The Hindu launched its web edition, marking the beginning of web journalism in India.
• To study if there is any change in the organisational structure of an Indian newspaper on the Net since the launch of the online journalism in India in 1995.
• To find out if the production process of these editions has undergone any change.
• To find out if there is any change in the profile of readership of these net editions.
Methodology
a) An updated list of the newspapers on Net was compiled using search engines like google.com and yahoo.com, and portals like samachar.com
b) A brief questionnaire was e-mailed to the publishers and editors of these dailies for details about their web editions.
c) Case studies were carried out meeting executives and staff members of the Internet editions of the newspapers
d) Information about the online dailies was compiled from their home pages in slots like ‘About Us’, ‘what is new’, ‘site map’ and advertising information.
(B) Data was collected also to find out:
a) Process of developing content
b) Process of Editing
(C) Readership survey through Internet.

Procedure for Readership Survey
After carrying out pre-test and pilot study, a questionnaire was placed at the homepage of Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Pune with a path (hyperlink). Editors/publishers were requested to place a banner or provide a link from their respective home pages to this questionnaire at the department’s homepage. The idea was that readers of these online editions would be made aware about the Readership Survey through these banners. On clicking the banners, they would reach the questionnaire and fill in the details if they so desired.

Newspapers in Marathi were considered as representatives of the all the rest 12 non-English Indian in which the newspapers are brought out. Marathi newspapers are published from different towns in the state of Maharashtra. In the similar manner, the non-English dailies are published from towns in states of their respective principle languages. English dailies included in the study are general interest and business newspapers and are published from various cities in different parts of the country. Data procured from this exercise could therefore be considered representative of readership of web editions of all the Indian newspapers.
All the 12 Marathi newspapers with websites provided such hyperlinks for a fortnight as per their convenience during July and August, 2006. These are: Dainik Aikya, Belgaon Tarun Bharat, Deshdoot, Deshonnati, Kesari, Lokmat, Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Pudhari, Sakal, Saamana and Tarun Bharat (Nagpur)
Similarly, following 13 English newspapers provided such links for two weeks as per their convenience between July and September 2006: Asian Age, Business Standard, Daily News and Analysis (DNA), Daily Excelsior, Economic Times, Financial Express, Hindu, Hindu Business Line, Hindustan Times, Indian Express (also Express India portal), Malayala Manorama (English section), Pioneer, Times of India.

Data and its analysis
After the first exercise mentioned in (a) of Methodology was carried out, a list of 114 Indian newspapers with Internet editions was available. (Annexure 2). Language-wise break-up of these dailies is as follows:

Table 1: Number of newspapers with online editions (arranged alphabetically)
Language Number of newspapers
with web editions
Assamese 01
Bengali 07
English 39
Gujarati 06
Hindi 17
Kannada 04
Malayalam 07
Marathi 12
Oriya 04
Punjabi 01
Tamil 06
Telugu 06
Urdu 04
Total 114

These 12 non-English languages are out of the 22 languages officially recognised by the Government of India. The data shows that newspapers in the rest ten languages do not have web editions. These languages are: Sindhi, Nepali, Konkani, Manipuri, Kashmiri, Sanskrit, Bodo, Dogri, Santhali, and Maithili. Publications in these languages do not have large circulation and cater to populations concentrated in smaller pockets in their respective regions.

English, not included in the schedule of official languages, is co-official language that can be used in the government administration. It is understood by educated people spread over in different parts of the country, predominantly residing in cities and towns. English newspapers are published from metros and larger cities to cater to the readers in their jurisdictions. Most of them have large circulation figures and enjoy prestige among the elites. Advertisers patronise these dailies because of the circulation figures, high visibility among bureaucrats, industrialists and the educated class.

Publishers' Response and Case Studies
As per the point (b) of Methodology outlined earlier, data was sought from publishers/editors of all the 114 newspapers through an e-mailed questionnaires prepared in MS Word. Of these 25 newspapers responded to the questionnaire. The language-wise break-up is as follows: seven out of 12 Marathi newspapers, one out of seven Bengali newspapers, six out of seven Hindi newspapers, seven out of 39 English newspapers and four out of six Tamil newspapers.

The data can be considered fairly representative as it covered web editions of a large number of newspapers representing Indian languages, including English, and different regions (East, West, North and South). They included small, medium and big newspapers as also small web sites and large portals of leading newspapers of the country.

In addition to this, the researcher, his co-investigator and research associate, met the staff of the web editions to elicit information during visits to the newspapers' offices for non-participant observation.

Data yielded through this procedure provided number of stories, articles, photographs and advertisements uploaded to web sites of the respective newspapers every day. Response to a question about economic viability of the website was also recorded. The following table presents a summary of the responses received from publishers/editors:
Table 2: Contents and Economic Viability of online editions
Newspaper News Stories Articles Photographs Ads Economic
Viability^
Sakaal 350-400 10-12 25-30 8-10 No
Lokmat 700 6 100 20 NA*
Tarun Bharat (Nagpur) 30-40 5-6 2-3 NA No
Maharashtra Times 100 15 5-10 5 Yes
Pudhari 20 22 16 1 Yes
Belgaum Tarun Bharat 80 10 15 2 No
Kesari NA NA NA NA No
Anand Bazar Patrika NA NA NA NA NA
Amar Ujala 4500 10-15 150 2-4 No
Hindustan NA NA NA NA No
Dainik Jagran 3000 plus 50 250 5-6 No
Rashtriya Sahara 90-120 14 100 NA No
Navbharat Times 100-15 10 2-3 NA NA
Punjab Kesari NA 10-12 NA 2 No
Dinakaran 300 15 25-30 35 No
Dinamani 600 15-20 NA 5-6 NA
Daily Thinaboomi 75 10-15 10 6-7 No
Viduthalai 50 4-5 10-20 NA No
News Today NA NA NA NA No
New Indian Express 250 15-30 30 5-6 NA
Daily Pioneer 160-170 50 10-50 NA No
The Hindu 300 NA 50 10 Yes
Hindustan Times 100 100 300-400 25-30 No
Indian Express NA NA NA 15-20 Yes
Tribune 120-130 8 80 5 Yes

(^ Economic Viability: The column offers response to the question: Has the online edition broken even financially? * NA (Not Available) means that staff of the concerned online edition did not provide the data.)


Analysis of data:
 Ad Revenue: Most newspapers do not get advertisements for the net editions, with only a few exceptions like The Times of India (ToI) group of newspapers, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times (HT), The Indian Express (IE), Sakal and Jagaran. The number of advertisements ranged from 1 (in case of Pudhari) to 30 (in case of The Hindustan Times). In case of most others it was in the range of five to ten. The situation was the same in 1998 when most of the 48 newspapers did not earn much advertisement revenue for the web editions.
 Economic Viability: This was the reason, then and now, that web editions of most newspapers could not break-even financially. As many as 15 of the 25 newspapers said their web editions were not economically viable. Five others did not offer any response to the question in this respect. Representatives of only Maharashtra Times, Pudhari, The Hindu, The Indian Express and The Tribune, that participated in the present study, reported that their sites have broken even. There would be some more, perhaps like the members of the Times of India group that have been making profits or have broken even. It could be however concluded that web editions of most newspapers have not been making profits out of the online activity.
• Online Staff: It was perhaps for the same reason that the publishers have not made large investment in manpower for the web sites. The web site is managed by a very limited staff. In most newspapers, the staff pattern is same: a chief sub-editor assisted by one or two sub-editors. In some cases, only the sub-editor working in the print edition has the responsibility to upload the contents after his night shift job is over. Newspapers like The Times of India have an independent structure headed by Content Editor or Web Editor who is assisted by a team consisting of news editor, chief sub and sub-editor. These are, however, exception rather than a rule.
• Contents of sites: Most publishers are content with the arrangement in which the computer systems department staff look after their web sites. The result is that web editions of most newspapers do not contain contents other than what is made available from the editorial team of the print edition. No effort is made to create contents exclusively for the web editions. In absence of a thought process that should go to into creation of contents for the web edition, there is no reverse flow from web to print. The web team simply shovels text and graphics, including photographs, from the print and complete the day’s work.
• Audio-video contents: There are again exceptions like that of The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Indian Express and Sakal, that try to exploit the features of Internet. Such editions have audio and video clips that go along with the text or stand alone as interesting add-ons.
• No Reporters: Indian newspapers have not appointed reporters exclusively for web editions. When it is done, perhaps these reporters would provide special coverage for the audience of the web editions.
• No staff for Advertising: Most publishers have not appointed staff to procure advertising either. The staff in the advertising department of the parent print edition is expected to work for the web also. There seems to be no special effort to canvas for ads for the web editions. In most cases therefore ads in the web editions range between 0-10.
• Reasons for lack of advertisement: Web editions do not get advertisements because advertisers do not get response or feedback from the readers. This is because the readers are not in a position to place orders directly by clicking on the links or pages for advertisement. This is in turn because the Indian readers are not comfortable with online transactions, as credit cards are not yet commonly used. This situation is expected to improve with the growth of e-commerce, e-business and e-banking etc. Already, people are becoming familiar with ticketing for the railways and airways.
• Callous Publishers: Even publishers of several better known newspapers seem to be callous or casual about important and permanent contents relating to ‘About Us’ that could be of interest to readers and potential advertisers. A few of them do provide Advertisement Tariffs, but most of them do not have this feature that could help potential advertisers and ad agencies.

Production Process
• No change: Production process of web editions in most newspapers has not changed substantially during the last decade.
• No Editing: The web staff gets contents from the editorial department of the parent print edition through the Local Area Network. Similarly, if there is any ad to be inserted, it is passed on as a soft copy through the LAN. The web staff only looks for errors that might have gone unnoticed at the parent editorial desk and corrects them. In other words, there is no editing to correct grammatical or factual errors or improving the text. The contents are then included in the slots such as National, International, Local, Business, Sports and so on. The contents are uploaded onto the Internet through servers. This takes place almost at the same time when printing for the parent editions begin after one a.m. Once that is up, it is available for access to readers anywhere.
• No updates: In most cases, there are no updates of the web sites for the next 24 hours although technologically updates are possible every minute. Most publishers reported that they run scrolls to announce a single sentence news story of great importance (of ‘breaking the story’ or ‘Flash’ level). But that is rare, if not never. Such contents are passed on to the web section when such stories are available directly from news agencies. This is the case in most web editions. Major newspapers like The ToI, HT and IE insist, however, that their web sites are continuously updated round the clock.
• Skeleton staff: The web sections are manned by a skeleton staff. They work in shifts of six to eight hours in various newspapers. Smaller newspapers seem to have shifts starting during the afternoons and ending when the web sites are uploaded early in the morning at around two a.m.
• Volume of contents: Volume of contents of web edition varies from newspaper to newspaper depending on whether it is ‘small’, ‘medium’ or ‘big’. A small newspaper may carry a minimum of 30 news stories, six articles and three photographs. A big newspaper’s web edition may contain 3000 news stories, 50 articles and 250 photographs.
• Shovelling from print edition: Almost 80 to 90 per cent contents of the parent print editions are shovelled in most cases. However, some newspapers claimed that they use more than 100 per cent contents. This meant that they exploit the advantage of Internet technology which does not have constraints of space. Stories that can not be accommodated in the print edition because of lack space are used in the web editions. But these seem to be exception rather than a rule as can be seen from the data presented in this chapter earlier.
• Readers based in the West: Based on the feedback received through e-mail, readers of the web editions are mostly young, male, from Information Technology, Non-resident-Indians based in USA, Canada and Europe. This was also observed in the first study a decade ago.
• New readers: During the present study, however, Tamil and English newspapers from South India reported that their web editions have a substantial readership from West Asia and Sri Lanka. A readership survey carried out by the present team has indicated that growing number of the readers is from within India also. Editors receive e-mail responses from readers who generally react to the news stories or pass on suggestions. Such responses range from a few to over 100 per day.
• Software prepared: A major change in the production process over the past decade is however that most publishers have prepared software that has made the production process and particularly uploading of the contents very easy even for a novice sub-editor. With simple commands, the contents are uploaded within no time.

Readership Survey
An important part of the present study was Readership Survey. The survey was carried out as per the procedure described in methodology above and was aimed at finding out readership profile and the uses and gratification the web sites offer to the readers.

The survey provided 681 responses from readers of online editions of Marathi newspapers. After removing duplicate, incomplete and frivolous responses, data of 493 respondents reading online editions of Marathi newspapers was analysed.
Similar data of 1132 respondents reading web editions of English newspapers was made available and was analysed.

Following discussion provides analysis of the data from readership of online editions of English and Marathi newspapers. The analysis of data of the present study (conducted in year 2006) is compared with that of the previous or ‘first’ study (conducted by the department in year 1998). The comparison provides change in the profile of readership of online editions of Indian newspapers.

Findings of this quantitative study provide the profile of readership as follows:
• Spread of Readership: The readers are spread over to more than 62 countries, besides India. In India, readers are located even in small towns and not just in metros.
• Residents of even smaller Indian towns: Of the total 1625 readers of the sites of English (1132 readers) and Marathi (493) newspapers who participated in the online survey, 67 per cent readers of English newspapers and 60 per cent Marathi readers were residing in cities and towns of India. This established that profile of the readership of online editions has undergone a major change during the last eight years.

In the first study covering the initial phase from 1995-1998, only ten per cent readers were Indians residing in India, while 62 per cent readers were non-resident Indians residing in USA and four per cent in Canada. Apparently, the growth of readership within India has been possible due to penetration of computers and availability of Internet connectivity in small towns and cities of the country.
• States in India: The readership is more in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, compared to other states in the country. These are also the states where Information and Communication Technology have made rapid strides, as against the rest of the states.
• Increase in Women Readers: The proportion of female Internet newspaper readers is considerably smaller than male readers of both English and Marathi Internet newspapers. (13% female readers for English newspapers and 15% Marathi newspapers). However it has almost doubled in eight years. In 1998, the readership comprised 7% female readers.
• Age-group: Majority readership is in the age group of 21-40 years.
• Education: Most readers are highly educated (Master or Ph.D. degree-holders) in case of both English and Marathi newspapers. (60% and 54% respectively).
• Profession: Professionals from the fields of IT, Education and Media constitute almost half (48%) the readership of English newspapers on the Internet. In case of Marathi newspapers also these three fields account for 53% of total readership.

Reading Preferences
• Readers read the online newspapers mainly for news. (95% and 98% in case of English and Marathi newspapers respectively).
• Almost an equal number of readers read for the views expressed in the newspapers. The combined percentage of readers of Editorials and Opinion Articles is high for both English and Marathi newspapers. (92.7% and 85.5% respectively).
• Book/film/theatre reviews are also read by a considerable proportion of the readership (24.3 and 24.9% respectively).
• More readers of Marathi newspapers (18.8%) read the Horoscopes-related column in newspapers than readers of English newspapers (13.6%).
• Advertisements are not among the top favourites with readers. However they have more readership now (9.10% for English newspapers and 7.91% for Marathi newspapers) than in 1998 when it was 4%.
• The small percentage of readers (7%) reading Women's Column can be attributed to the fact that the percentage of women respondents is only 13%.
• Most readers are interested to read news about India (92% for English and 64.7% Marathi)
• There is a striking difference between the interest of English readership and Marathi readership in world affairs. (61.6% and 31.2% respectively).
• Interest in the news from Home town also varies. While 58.2% Marathi readers are keen on reading news from Home town, comparatively less percentage of English newspaper readers (33.8%) read news from Home town.
• Readers seem to be interested to read more about Business and Economy (69 % among English readers and 55% Marathi), Politics (60 % and 57%) and Science & Technology (60 and 49 per cent). Sports news is favoured by 37 per cent in both the language readers.
• A significant change was noticeable in the interest in news about Social Development and Environment, between now and 1998. About four per cent readers had shown interest in this category of news in 1998. In the latest survey readers of English and Marathi newspapers showed interest to the extent of around 46% for news about social development and 33% in news about Environment. Similarly more readers seem to take interest in news about Rural Development. (41% Marathi readers and 30% English). Marathi newspaper readers are also more interested (37%) in Art and Culture than English newspaper readers (28%).
• English newspaper readers on the other hand have more interest in Human interest stories (44%) and news about celebrities (21%) than Marathi newspaper readers (32% and 16% respectively). Columnists' Columns also are read by more English newspaper readers (42%) than Marathi newspaper readers (28%).
• A striking finding of the present study was that a large number of readers visited the online editions to ‘access archival material' (47 % in case of English and 36% in Marathi newspapers).
• English newspaper readers also visit the web editions to ‘participate in on-line polls’ and ‘to kill time.’ Those who are away from India or hometown look upon it as a tool to overcome homesickness (14% and 21% in case of English and Marathi newspapers respectively).
• Though Marathi Internet newspapers provide the facility to write e-mails in Marathi only a small proportion of readers (8%) visits newspaper sites for that reason.
• The same is the case with other facilities like sending greeting cards/gifts, chatting with other readers and real estate transactions etc. provided on newspaper sites. These facilities are used marginally.
• Matrimonial advertisement section of the web editions of the newspaper do not seem to attract the readers, although readership is dominated by youngsters. Only about 2.5 per readers of English newspapers and three per cent of the Marathi respondents visited the Matrimonial section of the online editions.
• Similarly ‘cartoons’ appears to be less frequented section of the web sites. (about 0.44 per cent for English web sites, for Marathi online editions it is zero percent.)


Some observations
A part of the study was based on non-participant observations. The principal investigator and members of his team carried out interviews and interacted with the journalists and non-journalists for case studies. In the process, they recorded certain observations about online journalism in the country. Some of these did not surprise the team members because of their professional experience as journalists in the past. However, some observations did come as a surprise because these were not anticipated, or had not struck the researchers earlier.

These observations are not based on any quantitative study. The researchers are aware that they can be challenged for lack of empirical data. Yet, they deserve to be mentioned here because a very serious effort was made to be objective while recording the observations. It would always be possible and desirable for future researchers to make an in-depth quantitative study in these areas:

There is a very perceptible divide between attitudes of old-timers in print journalism and the youngsters. The old-timers, who began their journalism careers before mid-nineties of the last century, are not Net-savvy. Most of them have learnt use of computers to key in the stories, edit and make a page using PageMaker, QuarkXpress or InDesign. They are however reluctant to go beyond this, and use Internet to search for references. They rarely use e-mail.

The old-timers in editorial and other departments have little interest in the activities of the online edition of their newspaper. Many would not know the correct URL of their online edition. Many were not sure of the e-mail Id of the edition or of the key executives of the online and the parent editions.

The online department is variously described as Systems department, computer department, electronic and web department. This department is dominated by 'technical staff' that may include computer operator, hardware engineer, web designer, and in some cases, graphic artist.

In most cases, editorial staff in a shift of the online department would be a chief sub or a sub-editor. In smaller newspapers, particularly published from non-metro towns, a night shift sub-editor in the parent print edition has the responsibility to upload the text mechanically. This would be his/her job after the pages are locked for printing to begin. The sub-editor does this by mechanically shovelling the text into the templates or slots such as National, Regional, Local, Sports, Business and so on. These templates are often prepared by outside software company that design the web pages of the online edition.

Owners and Editors of the parent newspapers are not aware of the intricacies of the online edition. In some cases, it was observed that the owners were proud to own a web edition but were ignorant about the scope and limitation of this new medium. In several cases, it appeared that they have not accessed their web sites for a long time. They seemed to be unaware of the importance and utility of simples features of the web page, such as 'e-mail us', 'contact us', or 'letters to editor' as distinct from the Feedback Form.

A good design of a web edition would have features that would prompt readers to write to the Editor offering comments on news and features of the day. This is very essential if the web edition is claimed to be an inexpensive and instant means of communication. A good newspaper would make continuous efforts to treat the web edition as a platform for the readers to discuss contemporary issues. The readers should be able to air their grievances against public authorities. The editor should get a feel of readers’ views on political, social and other issues through e-mails. This is possible if the home page offers features such as ‘Contact Us’, ‘e-mail us’ or ‘Letters to Editor’.

Ideally, a separate ‘Contact Us’ page should be made available through home page. It should provide details that include names, landline and mobile telephone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail Ids of heads of editorial, advertising and other departments.

A leading Delhi-based newspaper makes the reader write text (even if it is meant to be for Letters to Editor column) only in a feed-back form. This is cumbersome. It is difficult for the reader to revise the text because he/she can read only a small portion at a time. It would be convenient if the format of Outlook Express or Yahoo!, G-mail etc is made available to the readers.

It is not possible, in most cases, for a reader to send an attachment to the Editor of the online/print edition. Thus, the reader cannot e-mail graph/graphics or photographs as his/her contribution to the newspaper. The medium of Internet is thus not exploited fully. Technologically the medium is ‘interactive’, which would mean instant two-way communication. A reader can react in real time (to news or opinion carried by the online edition), but the newspapers do not seem to involve the readers in the creation of contents of the online edition through such interactivity. The features such as Blogs and Chat rooms are not provided by most newspapers.

In case of ‘Contact Us’ pages of some newspapers, details of telephone and fax numbers were indeed available, but they were outdated and needed immediate revision.

E-mail ids such as editor@newspapername.com, in some cases, proved to be without any use as nobody seemed to be opening the inbox of such ids. There was no response to the mails sent to these addresses.

Ideally, e-mail should be attended to promptly, by a senior editorial executive. Members of the research team did not get response to the appeals and queries immediately. To elicit desired response, efforts had to be made through landline or mobile numbers after it became clear that the e-mail messages would not be answered. To get the landline or mobile telephone numbers of the newspapers, the members of the research team had to use other sources such as Annual Book of Indian Newspaper Society. (Incidentally, the e-mail Id of this apex organisation of the newspaper industry was not active, at least during the period when e-mailed messages were sent to the Society.)

It would be a good strategy to assign email-ids with a carefully drawn strategy, as some newspaper managements have done. These managements have provided editorial and non-editorial staff with mail ids in a systematic manner, such as firstname.surname@newspapername.com. There is no justification why the editorial and other staff members should be allowed to use ids of mail services such as Yahoo! or Rediffmail, or Gmail. Yet, systems departments of most newspapers seemed not to mind use of such services by the staff.

Postal address is yet another very important detail that must appear in the Contact Us page. This would enable a reader to try the snail mail when the high-tech e-mail system and the telephony fail to elicit any response.

In the domain of online edition of most newspapers, the system department calls the tunes. The chief of the editorial section, for example, cannot decide if a hyperlink can be provided to an academic study such as the research of the present team.

In the offices of newspapers in non-metro smaller cities, there would be only one technical person who could make any change, add or delete anything in the structure of the Home Page. This person is often not an employee of the newspaper, but that of a company that designs and maintains the web site. This would mean that if this person is not available because of medical or other leave, nothing could be done to make any change in the structure of the web pages. Junior sub-editors who mechanically carry out uploading of the contents every day have not been trained to modify or improve the design of the page.

Some leading newspapers do publish some Letters to Editor received by online editions, but this is not so in a large number of print editions.

In almost every newspaper, e-mail Ids of reporters and correspondents are not carried in the print and electronic newspapers. In the initial phase of online journalism in USA, as in India, it was thought that publishing e-mail Ids of the authors would fetch response from the readers. It could be hate mail or fan mail. Journalists of initial period of Internet era even in USA were shy of such hate/fan mail as they were not accustomed to receive such response from the readers earlier in their careers.

New journalists feel that publishing e-mail Ids in addition to by-lines helps them a great deal because readers can offer tip-offs to the reporters. This could broaden the base of the contacts of the reporters. Knowledgeable readers can point out errors in the stories. This may include mistakes in details of facts mentioned in the story. Readers can notify mistakes in usages of language and grammar.

There are some newspapers like The Times of India that publish e-mail ids of reporters of local pull-outs such as Pune Times. These are not seen in the main print edition or online edition.
It is striking that senior executives including editors and owners of English newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir, the farthest state in North India and Assam, Northeast, did not respond to the numerous appeals to join the readership survey. These appeals were made through e-mails and telephone calls on landline and mobile numbers. (Only honourable exception was The Daily Excelsior. Its executives responded to the mail quickly and offered help to the study without any delay.)

Road Ahead
Internet connectivity in India is expected to be available in smaller towns and even villages. Broadband being made available in the near future by service providers and cable networks will make it possible for even school children in rural India to surf the Net. Industry expects that there would be over 100 million Internet users with 20 million broadband connections by 2010. Huge investments are being made by local service providers Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. and Bharat Sanchar Nigam to upgrade broadband infrastructure.

It's not merely Personal Computer screens but delivery over mobile screens which the Internet service providers find exciting. Yahoo, in a market research report, has estimated mobile value-added services to rise to $600 million in 2010 from $210 million last year. Mobile phone users are willing to pay for humour, cricket scores, stock market quotes and spot news of great importance.

Even this is old news. Farmers, who do not understand English, have subscribed to the SMS (short messaging service) offering prices for farm products in other markets so that they can get better returns. The Reuters service launched on October 1, 2007 at Rs. 60 per month has been providing commodity prices, crop and weather information in Marathi and English. At the launch itself, there were 7500 Maharashtra farmers who signed up for the service. This is a pointer to the shape of things to come for the Information and Communication industry, including the newspapers on Internet. It is an untapped huge market particularly for non-English newspapers that can launch services for millions of readers.

Newspapers can think of value-additions to their existing contents, and not remain content with introduction of e-newspapers and blogs that several dailies have begun attempting. Many dailies, like TV news channels, have been encouraging news, photographs and video-clips to be sent by citizens for publications in their print and Net editions. Convergence of media has thrown open many challenges and opportunities. Newspapers that exploit the technologies will survive and prosper.

Acknowledgements:
This researcher is grateful to co-investigator Dr Ms Ujjwala Barve, and Mr. Ganesh Puranik who worked as research associate for the project for over 18 months. We are indebted to University Grants Commission for extending financial assistant to carry out the study.

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About the author: Dr Kiran Thakur worked as professional journalist for over 30 years in India. He joined academics in 2001 and retired in March 2007. Among the books he wrote is Dr N B Parulekar, A Pioneer in Modern Journalism in Indian Languages. Dr Thakur's doctoral thesis was on online journalism in India during the initial phase (1995-98). He, along with colleague Dr Ms Ujjwala Barve, continued to study web journalism with support from University Grants Commission. The present paper is based mainly on their findings of this study.