glad & gloomy

MOCKING

THE

GATEKEEPERS

Some newspapers have ridiculed the post of the editor, by introducing the concept of celebrity guest editor, Parakh Chouhan examines….







Dressed in casual debauching white shirt and blue jeans, he entered the Bombay Times editorial meeting on, Monday afternoon. Greeting the awaited journalists, he started going through the news of the day.
He was neither the editor nor remotely a reporter. This was Abhishek Bachchan and had came not to give an interview but to edit Bombay Times, the prestigious supplement of The Times of India.
He was invited by a newspaper to be their guest editor. Indian newspapers have now adopted a publicity trick from abroad. Publications often invite celebrities as guest editors
“It is a new ludicrous method, that one media house has adopted to increase the circulation of their newspapers and entice more advertisements.” reacts Ajay Sampurn, a media expert and owner of a news agency.
Just after Indian cricket team won Vodaffone series in 2002, the Times of India asked the team captain, Sourav Ganguly to be their guest editor, for a day.
“They received record advertising revenue for that issue. Contrary to popular belief, advertising plays more important factor, rather than circulation” explains Sampurn.
The ‘guest editor of the day’, sport some pictures with pen in his mouth and a dark spectacles on his nose. With generous help, he is supposed to have a written piece, which is carried as the editorial on the front page. Their quotes arecarried on every other page.
For instance, Saniya Mirza played an editor of Times of India, for a day , right after she won her first ITA championship. It is not a co-incidence that the issue carried, half page advertisement of ‘Tata Tea’ was printed.
Six months ago, another publication of BCCL group, The Economic Times, brought out an edition, as Lakshmi Mittal it’s guest editor. In the entire issue, even for once, Mittal never forgot to mention the name of his company. The echoes of Mittal’s exuberance appeared even in the prestigious editorials.
Why should the self proclaimed world’s largest selling English newspapers, need to employ such marketing gimmicks? Former editor and senior journalist, N. V. Kamath valors to answer.
In a news article he writes,
“Even after their proclamations, newspaper industry is going through a tough phase. The circulations are constantly dropping and the loyal readers are going extinct. As a result, existence newspapers such as Times of India and Maharashtra Times are becoming insecure, day by day.
And their anxieties have enhanced, with the entry of new players like Essar group (co owner of DNA) and foreign publications such as The Wall Street Journal.”





So to counter these problems, they are continuously devising new ideas such as that of ‘guest editors‘. Hence the qualification of the guest editor is irrelevant, as long as he or she maintains their star status. Mark Maneul, the editor of Bombay Times, the man who presented Abhishek Bachchan, as their guest editor, essays it right, “We wanted some one, who is an youth icon and is accepted largely by the young, as we are targeting them for readership. Hritik Roshan’s name was on the top of the survey. But as he could not make it, we called Abhishek, who was second in the survey.”
Mark neither deny nor accept, that their recent issue was a marketing influenced decision, rather than editorial.
“There are no ethics left in journalism. It is all about revenue. Advertisers have changed the mindset of the newspapers, if they want to keep running, they have to function like a FMCG (FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOOD)” reveals an associate editor, who do not want to be named.
This is the scenario not only in India. Abroad it is much worse. Editor of the LA Times had to resign, after it was revealed that he took money from a Hollywood producer, Brian Grazer, for making him the guest editor of the newspaper, at the onset of his film’s release.
Even today, in most newspapers, editorial, is considered most sacred and pious page. Apart from setting the tone of the publication, it informs the readers where the newspaper stands. And when they hire a celebrity to do that job, it creates a void among the readers. It may give a boost to the circulation, for a day and debauch advertisers. But in the long run, marketing gimmicks like ‘celebrity guest editors’ put a stain on the reputation of the newspaper. The position of the editor is not something to be played with. It is of great responsibility and integrity. And that is the reason, why only one Indian newspaper among 37945 publications across the nation, has dared to mock the sacred title of the editor, which is regarded as the gatekeeper of the media.

By
Parakh Chouhan.