The business of newspapers is to give news. And that, happily, seems to be the business the Hindustan Times is in.
DNA has been far more aggressive in terms of 'marketing'. But finally, HT pulled the rug from below their feet by not only launching its newspaper 15 days earlier than DNA, but doing so with a really Big Bang.
Not with some mega promotion like "buy this newspaper and get X, Y or Z " free. And not because the paper itself is free.
HT said "buy me because I have a story you just have to read". The Salman-Aishwarya transcripts will be remembered for a long time to come. It's not a new story, just concrete proof of something we have always known. But chilling for sure, to see the words (and such unparliamentary language) in cold hard print.
Questions which arise:
- Why would someone like Aishwarya put up with this kind of abuse? The tapes are from 2001, she finally broke up with him in 2003.
If a woman as beautiful, talented and rich as Aishwarya is willing to behave like an insect in her personal life (aap gaali dete raho, main sunti jaaoon), what hope is there, really?
- Kitna sach ar kitna jhoot in what Salman says about his underworld links. If these links exist, why did he get away with it while Sanjay Dutt and Bharat Shah at least went to jail?
- Why doesn't Salman seek psychiatric help?
Since the story has become a national media obsession, HT continues to milk it on the second day of publication while TOI ignores it completely (sister publication Mumbai Mirror has a cover feature on the subject but refers to it 'as reported in a section of the press').
All in all, HT has managed to pull off quite a coup. In one fell stroke it erased the perception many had of it as an outsider, a 'Delhi paper'. Bollywood and underworld are the two things intimately associated with Mumbai. Two things Delhi does not have.
A story with only Bollywood would have been too frivolous to be a lead. And there's too much underworld already, everywhere. What HT pulled off was therefore a 'dream debut'! And a tough act to follow for DNA.
On the whole, HT is an interesting read. There are too many typos in the supplement but I guess that should get ironed out in time. Of course, page 3 people are featured but somehow it's not as in-your-face and low IQ as Bombay Times.
Also, the design of HT is easy-on-the-eye and makes that of TOI look a bit jaded.
HT is definitely on my reading list, despite the 'over 100 pages' also arriving at my doorstep. But a bod can read only so much and so I think the Asian Age will be the first to drop off my radar.
How well Mumbai has taken to HT will, of course, only be clearer in a month. By which time the novelty factor wears off and the real readership pattern will emerge.
And it just may have some surprises...
When you say ``.....but somehow (HT)is not as in-your-face and low IQ as Bombay Times,'' you msut be rest assured it will leave rivals ... soon. We got what we longed for.
ReplyDeleteSalman has said in his conversation with Ash that he used her and in turn she used him. Meaning Ash made more contacts, relations and may be bagged some good film offers under good banners using Salman's influence. Also, may be she was tooo much in love with him (or his money&influence). These are the only plausible explanations i can think of why Ash put up with Salman's nonsense.
ReplyDeleteWithout much publicity HT has definitely arrived with a bang. Besdies the Salman-Ash story the Smita Thackeray story, Ratan Tata interview, Ajitabh Bachchan's interview and many other articles are really good. Also as pointed out,thankfully there are no blow ups Queenie Dhody's and Aarti Surendranath's in your face.All in all the feel of the paper is quite good. TOI better watch out, HT is likely to be the next big thing in Mumbai.
The only point in the whole story is that - sleaze sells; in HT, your blog and apparently JAM too (going by your blog). Grow up Rashmi! It's no use studying in IIMA (which you brag about sorry talk about in every post), if this is the quality of writing you can churn out. And I know it's your blog, your space and all that, but once you put it on the Net, it's free for anyone to comment, just the way you comment about Aish and Salman
ReplyDeletehey, i wud like to write the odd article abt things that i am deeply into like movies, sports, music and quizzing. But i can only work from delhi, im still a student. so if u have a job that maybe u think im good for, pls do reply
ReplyDeleteFinally TOI gets a competitor in Mumbai
ReplyDeleteAnyone who is 'popular' in India is a corrupt b@$t4rD. Common knowlegde...
ReplyDeleteThe tapes are not real for sure, the voice is clearly being read out of a bloody script. Those guys protesting against Salman have just too much energy to spend - don't they KNOW that Sanjay dutt took the weapons to defend himself because he was involved in pro - muslim activities along with his father during the communal violence periods? He was unnecessarily booked under POTA when he should have been booked under the arms act. Dumb guy, dumb government, but dumbest of the lot are the people who believe for a second that some cheap coie actor claiming to be Salman and proclaiming "It wasn't Sanjay. I knew everything about the blasts." Just does not make sense. the CBI arrested 140 people who had nothing to do with the blasts, don't you think Salman would have come in somewhere...
ReplyDeleteThere are too many typos in the supplement but I guess that should get ironed out in time
ReplyDeleteSorry to disappoint, Rashmi, I've been getting HT for a few years now. And the supplement is still painful to read.
On the other hand, the sunday paper is brilliant.:)
I live in Bangalore and read the Hindu. It is considered staid in comparison with the colorful TOI.My opinion is that TOI is just popular in its segment. Newspapers like the statesman and hindu have an intellectual leaning which appeals to me. i disagree that the business is only to provide news. it can educate as well as inform. Glossy pictures of wannabe Page 3 bimbos mean nothing to me as a reader.The quality of english in TOI pales in comparison with that of the Hindu.
ReplyDeleteIf salman really did make that call then it confirms that the film industry is a gutter.People are promiscuous and false icons for the drooling followers
Why on earth are you subscribing to TOI and HT? If you need your regular fix of sleaze and pictures of P3p's, isn't one of them enough?
ReplyDeleteMe no expert. but from the voices I heard on the TV - I have my serious doubts if it's Salman really...and I don't think a lady like Ash would allow for a one-way talk. And if she was really concerned about his calls being taped. She just should have banged down the phone. But as they showed in the film Page 3 - everyone has a grey area and sometimes it becomes just too BLACK.
ReplyDeleteConducting a poll on Which day do you like to celebrate most? at ChutneySpears
ReplyDeleteKapil, the voices on TV aren't real voices - it says on screen 'naatkiya roopantran' ie staged version. So you can't base yr decision on whether tapes are real or not on those voices.
ReplyDeleteJasmine, as a journalist I do read more papers than the ordinary person. It's part of the job to scope out who's doing what and be as informed as possible. But many people I know who aren't journalists also read more than one paper - unka shauk hai.
J, you are free to have an opinion on the 'quality of my writing' but at least get the facts straight. Every post of mine does not contain an "i studied at IIMA" reference.. that's just yr perception. If assessing a newly launched newspaper is 'sleazy' so be it. My role model was never Mother Teresa.
Hi Rashmi,
ReplyDeleteI am a regular visitor to your blog and anjoy reading the wide variety of topis you cover in your blog. I just have one suggestion that you should do away with "comments" section of your blog, as some of the other bloggers have done. This will have two advantages:
1) I feel you will get more meaningful and well thought out comments.
2) more important one is you can have a check on people like"~J" and sometime earlier "anonymice" who post any kind of crap they can think of. They accuse you of being stuck with your IIM credentials but I feel its the other way round. You should not have to justify to such cowards who don't even have courage to give their names.
You do a great job with your blog. Keep it up.
"during the black buck and chinkara incident i was deeply hurt as i cannot fathom how people can kill animals for pleasure.
ReplyDeletebut i forgave him for that and continued to watch his films."
hmm you seem to have forgotten the man slaughtering incident in bandra. just imagine if it had been you , your family would have to be content with the threats and or money the khan family wud be throwing at them!!!!
ppl who still watch salmans movies have no respect for them and think that hes bigger than them and infact the system
Some monopolies will be broken soon in the english print media.As it has happened in bombay guess the reform will continue to the other cities too. The TOI 's political favour in stopping HT from entering the bombay market all these years has come to an end .
ReplyDeleteMight as well compare it to jet airways the airline that monopolised on Naresh Goyal's Political clout all these years before the aviation reform kicked in.
But coming back to the main topic most of these media start ups have used sting operations or i should say stinging operations on bollywood stars inorder to launch themselves .
though India tv,shakti kapoor and Aman varma have immensily benefitted from operation i wont be surprised if Salman Khan & Aishwarya Rai garners a couple of support,sympathies and some good movie offers for the same.Its all a mutual benefit for both the star and the media.
kyonki public sab jantha hai
i think there are a lot of retarded bloggers these days especially from the iims who think that people are interested in whats happening in their lives just bcoz they are in in iims. pretty soon , they will have posts like i went to the toilet todya blah blah
ReplyDeleteThe only point in the whole story is that - sleaze sells; in HT, your blog and apparently JAM too (going by your blog). Grow up Rashmi! It's no use studying in IIMA (which you brag about sorry talk about in every post), if this is the quality of writing you can churn out. And I know it's your blog, your space and all that, but once you put it on the Net, it's free for anyone to comment, just the way you comment about Aish and Salman
Hi Rashmi,
ReplyDeleteI too subscribed for HT and so far am pretty impressed with it. The look, the articles and the news.
Just one minor complaint, don't you think papers should cut down on the "Page 3 " news and people.
I don't think most are intereste in following parties of stars nad their behaviour in them!!!! I think this Page 3 news is passe!
There is a difference between observing something and endorsing it. HT made an impact - that can't be denied. Using a story like this to 'sell', well yes. But I still say it's better than sticking a shampoo sachet on your paper and saying buy our paper because of this.
ReplyDeleteAnd it wasn't just the Salman-Ash story, the first issue also had an interview with Ratan Tata and some other features which were appreciated. And even over the last few days the product has exceeded expectations.
There is space for more players and I'm sure competition will bring out the best in TOI here as well.
Interesting Blog -- Surprisingly enough Mumbai Mirror decided to run my piece on Salman in their edition on July 17th (Views).
ReplyDeleteyou can read my blog (if you want to and have time)at
http://amitnews.blogspot.com
good blog - I will blogroll you