Manoj k Sonthalia, Chairman and Managing Director, Express Publications, Madurai
The world is changing and so are reader tastes and market requirements. A Newspaper must reflect these changes
by
Published: Apr 17, 2004 12:00 AM | 8 min read
Follow Us
The world is changing and so are reader tastes and market requirements. A Newspaper must reflect these changesMedia brands are defined by their content and more often than not Manoj Kumar Sonthalia is the driving force behind Express Publications (Madurai). Endowed with intuitive perception about the different facets of Journalism, he is a man of many interests. He is a Trustee of Bala Mandir Kamraj Trust, member of the Central Pollution Control Board of the Ministry of Environment & Forests and a member of the Board of Directors of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
In an interview with Abitha. G of exchange4media, Sonthalia talks about their unique editorial proposition, shifts in the focus of coverage, switch to square centimeter ad measurement and launch of new editions.
Q. On the present editorial thrust… The public has access to multiple sources of news: from print, TV, radio and the Internet. Newspapers can no longer expect to be the first to break the news. The time factor is in favour of TV. But the remarkable thing is that the Express Group still breaks stories. This is because we continue our tradition of publishing stories others do not or will not. When we uncover a story, our reporters and editors around the country investigate them in depth and analyse them. This kind of investigative journalism remains a distinguishing feature of our Group. Sometimes the stories we investigate are of such significance that you will see TV channels picking them up for debate.
But you have a point when you refer to our "present editorial thrust." The world is changing and so are reader tastes and market requirements. A newspaper must reflect these changes. So we are not confined to politics as most papers were until the 1980s. Other aspects of life have become important to people and we keep pace with them. So, the old type of political campaign journalism has lost a good bit of elevance.Nevertheless, breaking stories about injustices, misdemeanors and malpractices will always be relevant
Q. On plans of venturing into new areas… No, as of now we are not thinking about TV or Radio. We have ventured into Internet and become a leading news and content provider with our portal, indiavarta.com.
Q. On the shift in focus in coverge... Our shift to civic issues is because of the changes in reader requirements.People have become concerned about local issues and we naturally see this as a major area of editorial interest. Our readership is much more demographically diverse now and we address their interests. However, we have not and will not abandon our focus on important political news. Actually, the investigative style that is associated with political journalism is the thrust of our coverage of non-political life as well. We recognize new technologies, job recruitments, corporate news; the emergence of fashion and entertainment trends, health information and women's concerns as subjects of interest to modern newspaper readers. But we put a lot of effort into our city supplements, City Express and Express Weekend, and these supplements have civic campaigns as their distinguishing feature. They have brought us closer to city dwellers.
Q. On plans to counter competitor, The Hindu … I must clarify here that The Hindu is our dominant competitor only in Tamilnadu. In the rest of the three southern states and Orissa, The New Indian Express and The Hindu are almost on par in terms of total readership.Even within Tamilnadu, The New Indian Express has distinct identity and we wish to expand our reach only in specific reader segments. We are not in the business of adding numbers ndiscriminately. A case in point is our innovative direct marketing programme currently underway in Tamilnadu, which ropes in high net-worth individuals as readers.
Q. On the plans to upgrade quality of newsprint... We have already upgraded the quality of our newsprint three times within the past 18 months. We have recently approved a further upgrade to a heavier weight paper that will eliminate some problems of see-through that we have had in the past. We have also taken steps to ensure that all color pages, of all editions, of all our publications will be printed on the same grade of paper, thereby eliminating variations in newsprint. These decisions will be fully implemented within the next two months
Q. On plans to redefine ad space in terms of measurement units... Yes. We are going to convert our ad rates to a square centimeter instead of a column centimeter basis as it is now.
Q. On other publications of New Indian Express... The New Indian Express is clearly our flagship brand with a readership of more than 1.5 million people throughout South India. Interestingly, the readers of our Tamil daily Dinamani have a higher profile than readers of many leading English dailies. Similarly, our Malayalam magazine Samakalika Malayalan Vaarika is read by the most intellectual and elite amongst Malayalees. Despite intensive competition from five other Kannada dailies, Kannada Prabha remains the choice of informed readers who want unbiased, reliable news reports.
Q. On plans to launch edition from Pondicherry... We are not planning to launch a Pondicherry edition presently. Our Trichy publishing centre is scheduled to commence operations this year
Q. On New Indian Express's unique editorial proposition... We have already referred to this. The Express has always been identified with fearless, objective reporting. In recent years, we have been striving to build on these core strengths while broadening our appeal to youth, women and other key reader segments. We have increased coverage of non-political news subjects, from employment to life style. We are continuously working to improve coverage in these emerging areas. In terms of reach, we are second to none, with 16 printing centres already in operation. But the real uniqueness of Express is that in an era of "dumbing down", we remain essentially editorial-driven. I believe that a newspaper does have a measure of social responsibility, so editorial values are important. This is no sentimental hogwash. I happen to believe that good journalism is good business.
Q. On the advantages and disadvantages of a family-run business… The advantage of a family-run business is that decisions can be taken quickly without going through a long, bureaucratic process of consensus building. The disadvantage is that too often it is the views of only a few family members that get translated into practice, so the approach tends to be narrow and unresponsive to the changing needs of the public. Although EPML is a family-owned business, we have taken great strides over the past three years to professionally manage our company. We have decentralized decision-making and involve several people in the planning and implementation process. For instance, each production and marketing center prepares its own strategic plans that are then examined and consolidated by the corporate into an overall plan. That brings in many fresh ideas and creates more involvement in the decisions we collectively take. That said, there is an important role for the family in maintaining high standards. In this country, the largest, most respected and successful newspaper groups are all family run. The same is true in the USA where the three most respected papers are all family-owned. This is not a coincidence. It reflects the fact that a great newspaper cannot be just a commercial organization. It must be run as a public-spirited national institution.Every major newspaper in the USA that has been sold to a large commercial corporation has undergone a fall in quality and standards.
Q. On Sun TV planning to get into print and increasing competition... There are more than one player trying to break into the market in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. All new players think they can find space between or beyond existing papers. I cannot possibly spell out "counter tactics" now, but I can tell you we will face them effectively as we have faced challenges in other markets. Competition is good. An unfortunate new trend is that the basic rules of the game are broken by some new entrants in their anxiety to capture ground. This is bad for the industry. Let us hope the game will be played in Chennai without anyone moving the goal posts.
Q. On the future of New Indian Express... I believe we are poised for rapid growth. The market is buoyant and expansive. Reader needs are changing rapidly. The consuming public and consumer economy is expanding. This is a great time to be in the newspaper industry. We have some problems inherited from our past, but we are in the process of revamping and revitalizing the company for a fresh spurt of growth. After another year or two of building, the following years will be the most successful the company has ever experienced.
Q. On plans of venturing into new areas… No, as of now we are not thinking about TV or Radio. We have ventured into Internet and become a leading news and content provider with our portal, indiavarta.com.
Q. On the shift in focus in coverge... Our shift to civic issues is because of the changes in reader requirements.People have become concerned about local issues and we naturally see this as a major area of editorial interest. Our readership is much more demographically diverse now and we address their interests. However, we have not and will not abandon our focus on important political news. Actually, the investigative style that is associated with political journalism is the thrust of our coverage of non-political life as well. We recognize new technologies, job recruitments, corporate news; the emergence of fashion and entertainment trends, health information and women's concerns as subjects of interest to modern newspaper readers. But we put a lot of effort into our city supplements, City Express and Express Weekend, and these supplements have civic campaigns as their distinguishing feature. They have brought us closer to city dwellers.
Q. On plans to counter competitor, The Hindu … I must clarify here that The Hindu is our dominant competitor only in Tamilnadu. In the rest of the three southern states and Orissa, The New Indian Express and The Hindu are almost on par in terms of total readership.Even within Tamilnadu, The New Indian Express has distinct identity and we wish to expand our reach only in specific reader segments. We are not in the business of adding numbers ndiscriminately. A case in point is our innovative direct marketing programme currently underway in Tamilnadu, which ropes in high net-worth individuals as readers.
Q. On the plans to upgrade quality of newsprint... We have already upgraded the quality of our newsprint three times within the past 18 months. We have recently approved a further upgrade to a heavier weight paper that will eliminate some problems of see-through that we have had in the past. We have also taken steps to ensure that all color pages, of all editions, of all our publications will be printed on the same grade of paper, thereby eliminating variations in newsprint. These decisions will be fully implemented within the next two months
Q. On plans to redefine ad space in terms of measurement units... Yes. We are going to convert our ad rates to a square centimeter instead of a column centimeter basis as it is now.
Q. On other publications of New Indian Express... The New Indian Express is clearly our flagship brand with a readership of more than 1.5 million people throughout South India. Interestingly, the readers of our Tamil daily Dinamani have a higher profile than readers of many leading English dailies. Similarly, our Malayalam magazine Samakalika Malayalan Vaarika is read by the most intellectual and elite amongst Malayalees. Despite intensive competition from five other Kannada dailies, Kannada Prabha remains the choice of informed readers who want unbiased, reliable news reports.
Q. On plans to launch edition from Pondicherry... We are not planning to launch a Pondicherry edition presently. Our Trichy publishing centre is scheduled to commence operations this year
Q. On New Indian Express's unique editorial proposition... We have already referred to this. The Express has always been identified with fearless, objective reporting. In recent years, we have been striving to build on these core strengths while broadening our appeal to youth, women and other key reader segments. We have increased coverage of non-political news subjects, from employment to life style. We are continuously working to improve coverage in these emerging areas. In terms of reach, we are second to none, with 16 printing centres already in operation. But the real uniqueness of Express is that in an era of "dumbing down", we remain essentially editorial-driven. I believe that a newspaper does have a measure of social responsibility, so editorial values are important. This is no sentimental hogwash. I happen to believe that good journalism is good business.
Q. On the advantages and disadvantages of a family-run business… The advantage of a family-run business is that decisions can be taken quickly without going through a long, bureaucratic process of consensus building. The disadvantage is that too often it is the views of only a few family members that get translated into practice, so the approach tends to be narrow and unresponsive to the changing needs of the public. Although EPML is a family-owned business, we have taken great strides over the past three years to professionally manage our company. We have decentralized decision-making and involve several people in the planning and implementation process. For instance, each production and marketing center prepares its own strategic plans that are then examined and consolidated by the corporate into an overall plan. That brings in many fresh ideas and creates more involvement in the decisions we collectively take. That said, there is an important role for the family in maintaining high standards. In this country, the largest, most respected and successful newspaper groups are all family run. The same is true in the USA where the three most respected papers are all family-owned. This is not a coincidence. It reflects the fact that a great newspaper cannot be just a commercial organization. It must be run as a public-spirited national institution.Every major newspaper in the USA that has been sold to a large commercial corporation has undergone a fall in quality and standards.
Q. On Sun TV planning to get into print and increasing competition... There are more than one player trying to break into the market in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. All new players think they can find space between or beyond existing papers. I cannot possibly spell out "counter tactics" now, but I can tell you we will face them effectively as we have faced challenges in other markets. Competition is good. An unfortunate new trend is that the basic rules of the game are broken by some new entrants in their anxiety to capture ground. This is bad for the industry. Let us hope the game will be played in Chennai without anyone moving the goal posts.
Q. On the future of New Indian Express... I believe we are poised for rapid growth. The market is buoyant and expansive. Reader needs are changing rapidly. The consuming public and consumer economy is expanding. This is a great time to be in the newspaper industry. We have some problems inherited from our past, but we are in the process of revamping and revitalizing the company for a fresh spurt of growth. After another year or two of building, the following years will be the most successful the company has ever experienced.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Tags
contentisking