Pillars of democracy in the country seem to be experiencing tremors nowadays even as the fourth pillar, The Press, particularly the print media, is stable, standing tall amidst the ruins as it were. Television, internet, websites and radio are keeping august company with newspapers, covering a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, weather forecasts, local services, obituary, birthdays, health, science, matrimony, crosswords, editorials, cartoons, comic strips, government notifications, crime, public events and what have you. Starting initially in 17th century as information sheets for merchants, newspapers virtually herald daybreak for the literati all over the world, the rag having attained the status of addiction. The gentle sound of the daily tossed into the front courtyard by the delivery boys sounds like sweet music to the patrons of their favoured newspaper. Even the piping hot cuppa is relegated to second place in the scheme of things that roll out at daybreak for the urbanites. Finding any citizen across Kerala without peering into the columns of the daily as the first act in the morning is rarer than finding a white crow. Given the pittance one pays to buy a newspaper, the cost of getting the update about the world at large is next to nothing, a fact overlooked by most.
Keeping afloat in the business of publishing dailies rightly identified as information industry particularly on time and without a day’s break, being a challenging enterprise, is a matter of taking on the latest intruder namely digital technology-based devices, ubiquitous mobile telephone being the one to beat in the race for meeting expenses through subscription revenue, news stand sales and advertising revenue.
