When will online journalists in India get free housing and awards?

The print and TV media in India are undoubtedly the hot favourites 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 for a piece of that pie (however small is OK; we need a beginning). A few months ago, DAVP invited internet portals to submit their credentials to be eligible for advertisements from Govt of India.

One of the blogs, Churmuri, published these interesting articles,

• What an idea RG! 108 ads, 48 pages in 12 papers – taxpayer 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 the government giving free housing in Delhi to 60 journalists (print and TV). As usual, it was a well-written article. Mint is undoubtedly 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 saying internet usage will explode in India, will it improve our chances? Let us wait and see.

• DAVP asks for balance sheets; media houses cry foul