ROLE OF RESEARCH IN GROWTH OF NEWSPAPERS

ROLE OF RESEARCH IN GROWTH OF NEWSPAPERS

Research is an important & necessary process done before launching of any big project. Research is done in order to understand the current market status of a particular product & the future aspects of it. A newspaper is a daily commodity which is launched in the market. It has daily buyers, monthly or yearly subscriptions, etc. which heavily depends on the kind of research done by that particular newspaper department.

The research in a newspaper includes what the people/readers prefer; the language, the price, the quality of paper & very importantly the kind of news covered by the newspaper. The research team dwells on these topics & hence does their research accordingly.

The research has a very significant growth effect on a newspaper. For ex, launch of Hindustan Times in Mumbai. They researched in Mumbai about the kind of news people follow & the strength of the living youth. HT launched in Mumbai on the 14^th July 2005. HT launched HT café first in a tabloid format but later changed to broadsheet format as its biggest competitor TOI also has Bombay Times which runs in broadsheet format.

Longer the research is, the better is the result. Another example is the launch of DNA for Mumbaikars. It was launched on 21^st July 2005. DNA adopted a smart and inquisitive marketing strategy where the advertisements were done through hoardings. These hoardings were non-verbal in nature i.e. there was no text on them. This raised the curiosity of people till there were hoardings that said ‘Speak-Up. It is in your DNA’, which was interpreted by most as some medical product. Their next move was to send their representatives to people and ask them for their views on what would they want from the media and not just the newspaper. A lot of social causes were brought under the light by common people as well as celebrities who also campaigned for DNA. One thing that was common in all the hoardings was the humorous and thought-provoking comments by ordinary people. Their success lied with the fact that they kept it comfortably simple.

Many times a newspaper gets into a lot of loss; hence a research is done to revive the paper. The research done is very important as it helps the newspaper let them know what the flaws it has are. A lot of mathematical calculation that goes into the launch of a newspaper involves three basic steps: To estimate the population of the city, to analyze the English-speaking population, to know the potential of the market i.e. the number of English-speaking people reading English newspaper.

A research requires in depth study of the local people, where it is going to be launched, their understanding of news & their interests. A good research leads in a profitable growth of a newspaper. For ex, TOI in Mumbai. It always gives sufficient food for thought for the Mumbaikars. It covers in detail the city news which comes out in the sister edition of TOI, Mumbai Mirror. Also it takes care of the youth’s interest by bringing out Bombay Times & Times Accent. Hence TOI has a good reach to the Mumbaikars, making it the no.1 paper in Mumbai. A good research leads a paper in good profits by attracting useful & sufficient advertising.

Hence the role of research is very important in the growth of a newspaper.

 

THE NEW AGE: SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

There was a time when communication was done amongst the citizens by using pigeons as messenger. After wards the place of pigeons was taken by the inland letters. Now the age has come of Internet and everything is done on internet. It has taken place of the pigeons as well as the Inland letters. The internet facilities us with everything, Starting from sending a mail to posting or uploading a video. Internet has made the world a global village, where everyone one is updated of everything happening around the globe.

Earlier we used to meet our friends and talk with them for hours or play with them or have a walk with them. But now everything has been replaced by internet and the use of social networking sites. We chat on Facebook and other applications, we play Farmville and many other online games and we often plan all our other activities on the so called ‘Social Networking sites’. It has become a must in the busy life to be socially active on internet. But the limitation have been not defined which has led to other physical and mental stress to our life.

Talking of the benefits of the Social Networking sites, there are many. You can use for sharing a photo, sending a message, a mail, sharing a video, talking to someone using video chats, etc. These sites have also helped one to develop their mental skills. They have helped us to maintain and build our personality; it has given us opportunity to express ourselves independently and to reach a global world. In short it has made our life very expressive. It has helped shy people express themselves to the world and gain confidence in them. Social Networking sites have helped uncover many truths. For e.g.: The case of Egypt. The people of Egypt revealed the activities of the government against the people through the use of twitter and YouTube. They uploaded the videos of army and police officials’ cruelty towards citizens of Egypt, which finally after getting the support of global media was uncovered.

The social networking sites have their own drawbacks. The first drawback is about your privacy. Privacy on social networking sites can be undermined by many factors. For example, users may disclose personal information; sites may not take enough measures to protect user privacy, and third party use information posted on social networks for a variety of purposes. Your ID could be hacked and manipulated, which can lead to a disaster. There also have been cases of fake ID’s, which are used to make abusive comments. The recent misuse of social networking sites could be very clearly seen in London riots, where the use of BBM (blackberry Messenger) service left the whole city in flame. In just a span of two days it spread to other parts of England and same consequences were seen. There is no denial of social service being used for the purpose of positive things, but at times it has also played a very wicked role.

Many of us depend upon our social networking sites for reading and watching the news online. The best example is twitter, where one can post or upload anything which he/she likes. The news channels and papers have their own accounts and they keep readily posting on it, which allows the reader to follow. Other sites are the blogs, where you can read a person’s personal comments and views. One can comment on those blogs and express their views on the blogs of others too. Citizens and governments have been concerned by misuse by teenagers of social networking services, particularly in relation to online sexual materials. A certain number of actions have been taken by government to better understand the problem and find some solutions. Technological fixes such as age verification and scans are relatively ineffective means for catching online predators.

As social networking sites have risen in popularity over the past years; people have been spending an excess amount of time on social networking sites and on the Internet in general. The excessive amount of time that people spend on social networking sites has led researchers to debate the establishment of Internet addiction as an actual disorder. Social networking sites have brought the world together. It has helped people to interact with each other and share everything from personal to public through the use of social networking sites.