Newspaper Schnewspaper

Our Correspondent
Chennai, Aug 2

In a move that heralded the decline of Indian journalism The Deccan Chronicle sold its soul to an advertiser on Wednesday morning. Selling the lead above the fold spot, a position usually reserved for actual news, to an advertiser proffering print cartridges has drawn absolutely no controversy among a weary public. The decision occurred after a meeting between a compromised editor-in-chief and money-grubbing publisher who reasoned that a couple thousand extra rupees was more important than distributing news.

Newspapers have traditionally been venues for a broad range of people to keep abreast of political and cultural events, and have featured groundbreaking coverage of scandals, intelligence leaks and government corruption. Many consider selling the lead spot to an advertiser against the spirit of journalism.

"When I picked up the paper this morning I was expecting a follow up on a mysterious plane that had landed in Mumbai yesterday after issuing an American military call-sign, but what I got was an offer for a 3-year warranty on some piece of useless electronic crap," said regular Deccan reader Scott Carney.

This is not the first time that editorial departments have bowed before the advertisers, and it is unlikely to be the last. It represents a trend in the Indian media to avoid reporting hard-hitting stories in favor of meaningless pap that fills up blank spaces between ads.

Newspaper front pages are important to readers trying to decide if they want to remove the paper from their doorstep or newstand. However, today, many readers had to flip through several pages before they found anything interesting.

"I just don't understand it, aren't they supposed to tempt us with some salacious story before they hit us with commercials?" asked V. Balakrishna Subramaniamramavenkateswaranbhaba, B.A. M.A. MsW. PhD.

Apparently not, Subramaniamramavenkateswaranbhaba, apparently not.