Price war in newspaper industry deplored

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 15. The Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Arun Jaitley, has deplored the price wars in the newspaper industry and warned that they would create monopolies leading to elimination of smaller newspapers.

Inaugurating a convention with the theme ``Reinventing the Print Medium in the New Economy,'' organised by the Indian Newspaper Society, Mr. Jaitley said the Government did not have an answer to the problem. The industry itself should come out with a solution. The Minister noted that the print media was facing two types of challenges, one from within and the other from the multimedia- television and internet. On its part, the Government did not want to interfere in matters concerning the media. The country had a liberal regime with regard to the media. It had allowed the entry of foreign electronic media subject to protection of national concerns. There were already 100 television channels and others were on the way.

Mr. Jaitley noted that the newspaper industry was unlike others such as steel or cement. It concerned the minds of the people. The Minister, who is also holding the Law portfolio, noted how the Supreme Court had ruled against Government intervention in matters concerning the Press as when the price- page schedule was imposed in the Sixties and when the size of the newspaper was sought to be curtailed (newsprint case) in the Seventies. He wondered whether the Anti-trust or Monopolies Law applied to newspapers also in other countries. The courts in the country had ruled that the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act could not be applied to newspapers. The Centre was working on a legislation on competition. The question was whether it could be applied to the newspaper industry.

Earlier, the President of the Indian Newspaper Society, Ms. Shobha Subrahmanyan, termed the price wars among newspapers dangerous. However, she noted that the wrong results of the price war were beginning to dawn on the newspapers, and they were withdrawing from it. The newspaper industry was under siege and facing pressure on advertisement revenue and competition from television and the internet. Besides, the wage board for journalists and non-journalist employees had also recommended big increases in wages. The Press was not able to free itself from the shackles, she remarked.

Mr.Jaitley expressed his concern over the increase in the number of newspapers raising the question about their being factual. The country had 40,000 newspapers and some cities had 25 to 30 of them each. There was a tendency among some of the younger newspaper reporters to be different in their writings. Very often, such reports were inaccurate. He wanted the newspapers to accept the phenomenon of convergence among them in the matter of coverage of news. The changes being witnessed in the newspapers were the result of competition. However, he added that there was no complaint about the overall credibility of newspapers in the country.

The Minister also referred to the fact that the circulation of newspapers, particularly those in the regional languages, was increasing despite the expansion of the electronic media and the entry of internet. Though the coverage of the radio had not increased, its entertainment value would increase once FM Band was introduced. The Hindi newspapers had recorded significant increases and become multi-edition ones. Even the regional television networks were expanding.

He pointed out that the television channels had come to realise that only the news or events captured by their camera crews had the impact on the viewers.

Mr. Jaitley acknowledged that the newspaper industry was faced with the problem of rising costs, besides that of competition. There was a phenomenal increase in the price of newsprint in the last two decades. The free expression of views had been challenged by the business of running a newspaper. There was pressure from the commercial sector on the newspapers. ``The economies of newspapers will be a matter of concern in the years to come.''

At the same time, he pointed out that the new economic policies encouraged investment in the country and aimed at increasing the tempo of economic growth from the present six per cent to eight to nine per cent. The advertisement market would grow with the higher growth in the economy. At the moment, though the revenues of the print media had not been affected, the pace of growth had not increased. ``The Government wants a healthy and free Press which can survive commercially.''

The President of the World Association of Newspapers, Mr. Roger Parkinson, said in his keynote address that newspapers the world over had staged a big comeback proving the prediction of the Chairman of Microsoft, Mr. Bill Gates, that 2000 would see the end of newspapers, wrong. There was a renaissance in the world Press. Circulation and advertisement revenue were growing. Newspapers were reporting an increase in traffic on their websites.

Mr. Parkinson noted that it was, in fact, television and not newspapers which had lost on account of the entry of internet. A study had shown that 75 per cent internet users had given up viewing television, whereas only 12 per cent had given up reading newspapers. The strength of the newspapers was that no other medium could come near their broad reach. The readers wanted a medium whose source of news they could trust. It had also been found that an increasing number of youth were taking to reading newspapers. The penetration of internet had been offset by people relying on newspaper websites. The newspapers themselves were becoming a portal for news, he said.

Mr. Parkinson, whose Association has 17,000 newspaper members drawn from 66 countries, added that the Editors should decide on what is to be published not the marketing managers.

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