What’s your Favorite Newspaper?

November 11, 2008 

Steaming hot freshly brewed filter coffee with a copy of The Hindu stretched on the veranda (read: courtyard in South Indian homes) : can’t be a more perfect start to one’s morning. I prefer the “Times of India” now and a hot cuppa chai instead of coffee. With online versions available for most newspapers as “e-papers”, times have changed. But there’s something about seeing it in real paper, the texture, the font, the size, the layout, your favorite columnist’s piece on that particular page, the color - it’s a personal relationship that no bits and bytes can replace! When I’m visiting my parents’ where Times is not available, it takes some getting used to to read The Hindu.

Do you remember when you first got into the habit of reading a newspaper? I can distinctly recollect reading one every evening after school ever since my 4th Standard - when I was barely nine years old, though it fails my memory if it was the Times or The Hindu. Something tells me it was “The Hindu” as I recall attempting the crosswords. I grew quite fond of the Southern Daily by the time I was in 11th grade carefully marking difficult words in the famed editorial section to be looked up later in the dictionary. With a target of learning five new words everyday, The Hindu did a good job. Cracking the crossword was a considered a great feat and I took pride in flagging the finished Saturday piece to my classmates on a Monday. That was 15 years ago. I can barely get a few right now. And it’s a shame The Hindu doesn’t publish original editorials anymore - most of its pages are filled with syndicated pieces borrowed either from The Guardian or NYT.

Gossip is like a magnet attracting one faster than good reading material. No wonder chick-lits are doing brisk business in India. The Times of India has capitalized on this psychology better than any other newspaper in the country. I once argued with the Editor of Pune Mirror that people first read “Bangalore Times” or “Pune Times” supplement before moving on to the main newspaper. He opined his tabloid had a crisp way of presenting what was happening in Pune. Sure, but people didn’t care and would stop buying if it didn’t carry the masala stuff too. For instance, burglaries in south side of town, power cuts in so and so neighborhoods, and who gets a BSNL bill of Rs. 1 Lakh is not sufficient to improve circulation. And, the media houses understand that. If people bought newspapers exclusively for news, then The Hindu should have the highest readership in the country today. But, it isn’t!

Gossip satiates people offering wholesome entertainment. Observe this - if you are in the office bus and work for an IT company, see how many who carry the newspaper read the real news sections and how many flip through the which-celebrity-is-dating-whom parts. (Don’t consider the Nerds - it’s Economic Times for them and the show-offs)!

Here I compile a list of my favorite newspapers over the years from the places I’ve lived in and the sections I like to read. Some of them I don’t subscribe to but read online.

  1. Times of India - Columnists Santosh Desai, Bachi Karkaria, and at times Shobhaa De (I know this is going to be a total put off for some of you). Sunday supplement Times Life.
  2. Economic Times - everything about it
  3. Pune Mirror - Gouri Dange (no e-version available but some of her columns are posted on her blog)
  4. The Hindu - Shashi Tharoor’s column and Reader’s Editor K Narayanan. Sunday Magazine.
  5. Chicago Tribune - I preferred this over NYT during my stay in Chicago.
  6. Boston Globe - Ditto
  7. Mint - Mitra Kalita’s columns
  8. New York Times - Maureen Dowd

I was going to compile a list of the ones that I totally detest. But after giving it a two minute thought I’ve decided against it. It would be an insult to the much experienced writers. Writing is a craft, a profession too lonely that takes up way too much time.

Your turn: what are your favorites?

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Comments

2 Responses to “What’s your Favorite Newspaper?”

  1. Vaz on November 11th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Impressive enough.Writing is an art which you possess.I wish I could write too. Am attempting with you being my inspiration to do so. :)

    My Favourites

    Sunday Times - Mind Over Matter, Life
    Times of India - Speaking Tree, Shoba De.

    Never was interested in Supplementary.

    ~Cheers
    Vaz

  2. Alok on November 20th, 2008 1:28 pm

    Eh? Comic strips.

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