Let us pause for a minute…
by Bernard Ablola
Sep 21, 2009 India 2009, MBA
September 11, 2009
Let us pause for a minute…
To remember the victims lost during the September 11th attacks. Today, we visited the Times of India, India’s major newspaper. It is quite surreal, as we listen to the chief editor describe the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It happened only a few blocks away. The sentiments of the memorable occasions remind us that despite our differences we are fighting for democracy.
Taj - Mumbai
Challenges of the newspaper business
The challenge the Times of India faces is balancing between reporting news stories and making the advertisers happy. Today’s Times of India covers plenty of Bollywood and Cricket celebrity stories.
The company’s main focus is the advertiser. This business model may work in India, but it fell short in the United States. Our own Seattle P.I. was recently added to the list of newspapers that did not change or adapt fast enough to the online trend, thus shutting its doors earlier this year. More people are utilizing the internet and mobile devices for their source of news.
The Times of India is banking on obtaining new subscribers from new readers, the rural areas and the upcoming middle class.
If the focus is only on the advertiser, I do not see the newspaper industry as a sustainable model, even in India. As the trend shifts from print to internet, newspaper companies will have a harder time monetizing their content. The tide turns too fast and in order to keep up with the changes I believe that the Times of India needs to revisit their focus and experiment with other ways of content delivery.
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