Newspaper Myths Deconstructed

Myth 1 – Consumer Pays For News

Like any other business, newspapers are here to make money – loads of it – by delivering advertising on newsprint into peoples’ homes….Subscribers and newsstand buyers don’t pay for news, advertisers do…Surprised? Don’t be…Subscribers and newsstand buyers pay only for the newsprint and printing costs…All the rest is covered by advertising…Newspapers wrap their content around advertising because that’s what advertisers want…That is why we see sections about cooking and home decoration instead of editorial and op-ed pages…What newspaper owners don’t see is that this revenue model may be self-defeating because by weakening the bond with readers, they will eventually lose readership and with it advertising…

Myth 2 – Newspapers provide news

A small percentage of a newspaper’s space is devoted to news but most of the content printed is to attract readers so that the circulation and readership figures can be used to sell advertising space at high rates…Don’t believe me? Then answer this question: Why was Shah Rukh Khan’s detension at Newark Airport front page news?

Myth 3 – Newspapers are ‘watchdogs’

Honestly, most newspapers are not ‘watchdogs’ and more importantly they don’t want to be because they are in the business of making money and not losing money…They are in existence to serve the tender sensibilities of their readers, advertisers and political masters…This is not to say that relevant information, opposing views, negative reviews and embarassing exposes about people in power are never published, but by and large the sensibilities of revenue generators are taken into account…

Sure, newspapers do print some serious journalism but do they stay up days and nights crusading for ordinary citizens or vulnerble people? Does a typical reporter take that extra step to ferret out information that may be crucial to a story? How much of a newspaper’s space is devoted to serious journalism? These are all questions to be asked…If your answer to the last question is less than 20 percent, then you know that the newspaper you are reading is not a watchdog or a crusader or a serious journalistic endeavour…

Myth 4 – Newspapers are free to publish what they want

Ha! Ha! If you think this is true then you live in the garden of Eden…All countries have laws regulating the media, some more than others…For example, in authoritarian countries like Singapore, dissent is not tolerated whatsoever…Restrictions on free speech are not only imposed by the government but also by readers…For example, consider a newspaper article that favours a certain government policy…Now imagine that opponents of this policy demand an article from an opposing view point and the newspaper refuses to do so…What will happen especially in countries like India? The newspaper office will get thrashed and its journalists attacked…To avoid such incidents, newspapers often publish materials which they otherwise would not have…They also don’t publish materials which offend advertisers because advertisers are their bread and butter…So, are newspaper really free to publish what they want to? You tell me…

Myth 5 – Newspapers are objective

Really? I don’t think so…They would like to think they are but they are not because the press especially the mainstream one routinely ignores those principles, which demand that a reporter set aside personal prejudices (as best one can) and approach each story with a common standard of fairness…The truth is that newspapers have their own biases and agendas and print news stories and editorials which reflect them…These biases may not be noticeable because they often reflect the prevailing view of the national Establishment…It works well for them – after all, who would want the government coming after them? Stories are also biased to bring in readers (and therefore advertisiers)- that is why newspapers are full of stories that ‘sell’ (eg. stories of conflict, robberies, rape etc.) rather than feel good ones (stories of harmony etc.) which don’t…