The print and TV media in India are no doubt the hot favorites of the governments in India (Central/Federal & State) and the politicians. The government spends sizable amounts of money on the already cash rich newspapers. Most of us in the internet industry have waited to get a piece of that pie (however small is fine, we need a beginning). Few months ago DAVP invited internet portals to submit their credentials to be eligible for advertisements from Govt of India.
One of my favorite blogs, Churmuri, had published these interesting articles,
- What an idea RG! 108 ads, 48 pages in 12 papers – tax payer spent Rs 60-70 crore
- Jawaharlal Nehru: 24 ads, 11 pages in 12 papers
- Rajiv Gandhi: 69 ads over 41 pages in 12 papers
I read in Mint (Sept 16, 2011) about government giving free housing in Delhi to 60 journalists (print and TV). As usual it was a well written article. Mint is surely one of the newspapers with high integrity in India today.
Now the question is when will an online journalist ever get a house and/or award (with or without having to lobby for it)? Not in the immediate future, but with Google having to say internet usage will explode in India, will it improve our chances? Let us wait and see.
