No one factor can explain the growth or decline of print media. This essay seeks to show how important political events, technological innovations and the specific local culture of the region all have a role to play. One also looks at the importance of print media as a vehicle for local news, an important factor for the popularity of print media. A Sociology of the story of print media in Kerala would need to take note of all the facets as well as their interconnections.

Technology and Momentous Political Events

Robin Jeffrey establishes a link between the growth of a daily newspaper culture and technology’s capacity “to produce large quantities of attractive newspapers fast” (Jeffrey, 1987: 607-608). As the European Christians had a particular fascination for Kerala, the missionaries developed the Malayalam type by the middle of the nineteenth century, and it was soon made widely available (Jeffrey, 1987). In contrast, other Indian languages were not able to follow suit as quickly. Because of the Depression and the Second World War, and in the wake of the import controls that post independence governments imposed, India was left with outdated printing technology by and large (Jeffrey, 1987).

Literacy, basic communications, and adequate technology are fundamental to the growth of a daily newspaper culture. However, momentous political events help provide the much-needed impetus that enables newspaper circulations to increase rapidly.  But momentous events in themselves will fall short if they are not simultaneously accompanied by improvements in modern technology and communications that enable circulations. He cites the (1975-77) Emergency as an apt example in this regard as it not only politicized people but was also accompanied by the simultaneous arrival of better printing technology and rapidly increasing literacy rates (Jeffrey, 1987).

Print Technology: Changes post-Independence

Robin Jeffrey observes that the Indian newspaper industry of the 1970s was severely shackled owing to outdated printing technology and bad road connectivity. The 1980s witnessed a transformation in printing technology. There was some improvement in India’s roads as well over 20 years (Jeffrey, 1993). But many areas were still extremely limited by poor roads, which made it somewhat difficult for a newspaper to be transported within three or four hours. In the 1990s, newspapers were not transported more quickly; but were produced closer to their target audiences (ibid).

With improvements in electronic technology and offset presses produced in India, printing centres have been possible to set up in smaller towns. Moreover, telephone lines enable news copy to be sent by facsimile or modem over hundreds of miles within minutes. This was a method that Indian newspaper publishers adopted in the 1980s (Jeffrey 1993).

Jeffrey further notes that in the 1970s, newspapers took a long time to set as they were mostly composed by hand and printed. It was also rather tedious to transport them to nearby towns. Publishers and distributors were extremely concerned about making the newspaper reach the reader by 7 am in morning. They believed that if it were delayed further, its contents would become stale and lose their appeal (Jeffrey, 1993).

Significant innovations in printing that were made possible using computers, cameras and offset presses enabled newspapers to have better quality pictures and a more flexible layout. Such qualities captured the attention of new readers and old literates, who may not have been that comfortable with the dense columns that were available previously (Jeffrey, 1987).

The ‘culture of readership’ in Kerala

I seek to engage with the way a ‘culture of readership’ is created in Kerala. I have endeavoured to examine this theme in general against the backdrop of the history of the media in Kerala and specifically through the prism of the Malayala Manorama. My analysis is largely based on fieldwork and some archival research that I had conducted in the year 2017, spanning a couple of months, in Kottayam. The principal themes explored are a readership culture and the relevance of the print and local media in the contemporary context.

As the Malayala Manorama was at the heart of these investigations, I also delved, to some extent, into the newspaper’s history and investigated the reasons behind its enduring popularity and abiding success in Kerala using Kottayam as a reference point. As the Malayala Manorama appeared to be the most popular paper in Kerala across the cross-section of the sample that I investigated, it is a lynchpin of sorts that holds together the primary research questions that I am seeking the answers to.

Robin Jeffrey rightly observes that circulations of daily newspapers increase dramatically as a daily newspaper culture is created. Malayalam is the language in which this culture is most elaborately developed in India (Jeffrey, 1987, p.607). Jeffrey notes that in Kerala, a culture of newspaper reading had started becoming perceptible from the 1920s and was firmly embedded in the culture by the 1960s. The main reason for this trend appeared to be an involvement in politics, especially at the local level. For instance, journalists at Malayala Manoramaattributed its success in northern Kerala from 1968 onwards to its impeccable reporting of the Naxalite attacks on police stations at the time (Jeffrey, 1993).

The importance of the local news: local media and circulation

Interviews with journalists suggest that local news matter and have an important role in the persisting growth of print media. In a global world, the ‘local’ has acquired a new significance. For many global media businesses, local markets and concomitant diversity are key elements of a business strategy. There are other aspects to this, however, which would predate the newer business imperatives.”

The Malayalam newspapers have in-depth local reportage. They manage to report those events that television and online media tend to overlook. For instance, they might cover a festival being celebrated  at the local temple or Church. People also look up to the regional print media to voice their grievances. Television only manages to cover major developments, while the regional print media can also cover small happenings in extremely remote areas. Print media undertakes an in-depth analysis of local events.

Print media can give out details and opinions that broadcast journalists miss out upon. That is why it still has considerable appeal among a wide range of readers. Page 3 carries the local news as that is of paramount relevance to the reader. The reader is therefore placed at the centre of it all. The objective of the management, through all their research, is to find out what it is that the reader wants; what the ‘common man’ and the majority of the people want. Their job is to feel the pulse of its readers across different segments of society, age groups, genders, religions, etc.

Conclusion

After speaking with the people in Kottayam, I found that the ‘common person’ was aware of and deeply interested in knowing about what was happening around them, especially in the local news. They did not think that print media was on the decline, and neither was the importance of the regional or the local going down. The opposite seemed to be true. People always and everywhere have been more interested in the events happening around them.

Proximity was one thing that was reiterated time and again. In the case of Kerala, the importance of the local and the regional seemed paramount. It was cited as one of the primary reasons for the tremendous success of the Malayala Manorama over the years. Their coverage of the local news is incomparable. They have stringers and reporters in each district and sub-districts, and they make sure that local issues are treated with utmost importance. The local is very significant for the average Malayalee, perhaps even to a fault. Neither social media, TV nor online news, can match the pleasure that one derives from sitting down and reading the paper at leisure.

References:

• Jeffrey. R.(1987). Culture of Daily Newspapers in India: How It’s Grown, What It Means. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. 22, No. 14. pp.607-611.
• Jeffrey, R. (1993). Indian-Language Newspapers and Why They Grow. Economic and Political Weekly, 28(38), 2004-2011.

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Anna Zacharias is a PhD student in the Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

Link to part one can be found here.