Voiceless communities?

Small newspapers in Karnataka face a crisis

District and small newspapers, the voice of the local communities, are facing a crisis at a time when there is an increasing premium not just on local self-government but also on micro-credit and micro-business. They are not adopting new technologies and face a stiff competition from the state and national dailies.

The city and district editions of big newspapers are eating into the domain of small newspapers which are facing not just a crisis of identity but its very survival itself.

Mysore city was known as the capital of 'small newspapers' some six decades ago. Many were 'penny papers', or rather 'paise papers'. They had respectable support and circulation in their areas. More than commercial, their goal was 'service'. The state government supported them liberally.

Consequently, these small newspapers stayed alive. Editor, publisher and printer, all-in-one, they were successful and influential in their area as they focussed on issues vital to the local community. In fact, Mysore's example was emulated elsewhere in the state. Small newspapers became successful in small towns.

But, in the last few years, the scene has changed for these 'paise papers', bringing down both their circulation and revenue. The impact is felt more by the vernacular dailies.

Apart from the stiff competition from the state dailies, the government support has fallen substantially during the last few years. While the DAVP cuts 15 per cent for the advertisements it releases, pocketing the advertising agencies' commission, the state government's budget for small papers has fallen considerably.

The Karnataka government, says a local daily's editor, has today the lowest budget for small newspapers. While revenue has fallen, the increasing input costs has further added to their burden.

The biggest blow for these newspapers has come with national dailies slashing their cover prices, followed by large vernacular dailies. They have followed up price cuts with local editions. The readers' response has been immediate.

Worst hit in the 'price war' among the biggies are the small newspapers. It has brought down their circulation and advertisement revenue. The low advertisement tariff offered by the big dailies for their district editions are on a par or sometimes even less than those quoted by the local dailies. Attracted by the well-produced state-level daily, with more pages to boot, the advertisers are buying ad space in those dailies at no additional cost.

Despite a crisis of survival, some small newspapers are still holding the fort. A couple of them have ventured into neighbouring districts. According to an editor of two popular local dailies, K B Ganapathy of Star of Mysore and Mysore Mithra, mere writing of good reports does not help them. Management skills are a must today.

New State Media Academy chief V N Subba Rao wants district journalism to "view the emerging realities in their right perspective and convert adversity into an opportunity". Union information minister Jaipal Reddy is delighted that Mysore has pioneered the small newspaper experiment, while in Andhra Pradesh "we do not have successful district newspapers".

He sees a value erosion in today's media, the big newspapers trying to imitate the TV channels. "In their competition, they have unleashed more affluence than influence." So, he wants district newspapers to be "different from the mainstream newspapers" and "more authentic in their reports".

"The government is keen to protect and promote the district and small newspapers," he said at a two-day convention of district newspaper editors and publishers in Mysore recently. But his assurance comes with a rider that they should show the way how the government can do this.

But the district newspapers cannot do this unless they at least remain alive.