Of China scoring in commercial printing … and the plight of Indian writers

From rotary printing presses (used in rotogravure, offset and flexography) to screen-printing, and now, to digital and web-based printing, commercial printing has come a long way and perhaps become just a little too complicated for a beginner trying to understand how the business works. While the gravure method is not much in India these use these days except for flexible packaging (because it runs on cylinders that are pretty expensive), according to Raju Seshadrinathan, Executive Director, Nagaraj & Co., a leading printer in Chennai, it’s digital printing that has gained considerable ground in recent years.

Although the cost per page is considerably higher than offset printing, digital printing is far less cumbersome. However, it is said to be suitable only for small volumes of print requirement. Seshadrinathan says that offset printing still rules in India as far as commercial printing work (annual reports, brochures, leaflets, danglers and point-of-sale material) and book printing are concerned.

While mentioning that commercial printers in Chennai and several other places are an unhappy lot, thanks to volumes having dipped and margins having reduced drastically, Seshadrinathan makes another interesting point – that the recession in the United States and Europe has indeed affected printing volumes in Chennai. China seems to have taken over the volume business from Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, he says, adding that the sheer speed with which the Chinese printers execute deliveries is “simply amazing.” He feels the Chinese Government is providing the print industry there with a lot of subsidy in terms of logistics, and shipping among other areas. “By and large, they have a stable currency. The only problem is language, and they have middlemen for that,” says Seshadrinathan.

Back to the Indian scene, and Seshadrinathan says sale of children’s books is picking up but writers, especially small authors (across the spectrum), are having a big problem with publishing houses. Reason: they may have to wait two years to get money! So, not many people set about writing a book although they may have a book in them. Seshadrinathan gives a simple example of how a book is priced in the market in Chennai. If the printing cost of a book is Rs 150, the price is suitably hiked so that 15 per cent goes to the author, 40 per cent to the publisher, and 60 percent to the seller. The customer thus ends up paying upwards of Rs 320 for the book. Books, fiction or otherwise, do not really sell in large numbers in India. An author is happy if his or her work has sold 2000-odd copies. Not everybody is a Khushwant Singh or Shobhaa De to touch the 25,000 mark, a number that is far, far below what an international author would expect to sell. That, of course, is another story.

The other aspect is also about writers in India generally not having a clue whom to approach and how to get their work published. Only if you know somebody who knows somebody else who matters in the publishing industry, does a project at least get a boost. Seeking a meeting with a publisher is sometimes almost like making a visit to the police station.

Sashi Nair

A question of ethics

From where are today’s young journalists and those aspiring to get into the profession going to draw their inspiration? This is an oft-asked question nowadays, by well-meaning news publishers, editors and journalists. Part of the answer is that it is clearly going to be an uphill task for young and upcoming journalists to retrieve the goodwill of old and earn the respect of readers and those who are written about.

There is no doubt that with media gaining an unsavoury hue in recent weeks, the focus by the management in parts of the media, for the short-term at least, will be on cleaning the stables as it were. Another pertinent question is whether the clean-up operations will continue for long and whether after Radiagate has moved from the front pages of newspapers, some journalists will be tempted again by lure of proximity to power and perhaps money and other attractions to “string a source along”… to no actual good as we have all seen

One person who has come out clearly against all forms of lobbying or currying favour is N Ram, editor-in-chief, Kasturi and Sons (publishers of The Hindu). On a Karan Thapar show hosted by CNN-IBN immediately after the sordid details broke out, he stressed that were the tainted journalists employed by the BBC, The Guardian or The New York Times, they would have lost their jobs. Obviously, The Hindu, too, would not have tolerated such behaviour, he seemed to suggest. Why can’t we set the bar higher, he asked and went further to emphasise that all journalists must be governed by a code of ethics, or by codified rules.

Corruption is as old as the hills, as old as the oldest profession in the world. India happens to be one of the countries where corruption is most rampant. Corruption in the media in India is also nothing new. It is not as though the Radia tapes have opened out a whole new world that was hitherto unknown. What it has brought into the focus is the fact that even some of the superstars of media are dabbling in dangerous territory.

When I was heading the PR function in a large south Indian corporate group many years ago, I had come across fake journalists, those who brandished fake visiting cards to gain entry and helped themselves to dinner and cocktails. It was much later that I made it a point to debar entry to press conferences of all suspicious ‘journalists.’ The sad part is that very few, if any at all, PR and corporate communication practitioners make an effort to weed out the corrupt. For many, the more numbers at a conference the merrier. The management (of companies) in most cases is in the dark or has no clue. I made it a point not to dish out to reporters gift cheques or cash in envelopes. I insisted on gift hampers – products the company manufactured. There were some who asked for special gift hampers to be sent home.

Radiatapes or not, this is the sort of malaise that all well-meaning publishers, editors, PR practitioners and communicators must strive to eradicate. And this is what I emphasised to the participants at a media workshop organised by the Centre for Social Initiative and Management in Chennai recently. More than learning the nuances of good communication, it is imperative to work the right way – to be devoted to credibility, transparency and ethics. Nobody should be able to point a finger at you for a reason you cannot convincingly explain. At the end of the day, when there is credibility, you earn goodwill and respect.

Another worrying aspect is the power wielded by large corporate houses and its top executives and the link they have forged over the years with bureaucrats, politicians and journalists. It also brings into focus the aspect of whether a well-meaning editor in a top newspaper really wields enough clout to weed out the rotten apples or is he or she subservient to the management. How many editors are unwilling to accept a subservient role? And must the management of newspapers, for example, dictate what must go into its pages? These are issues that must be debated, not only in television studios where the same select few appear, but at other forums where the common man or reader can have a say. After all, newspapers and media owe their existence to the people of the country, don’t they?

Media was once considered the fourth pillar of democracy and twenty or thirty years ago journalists took pride in being independent or neutral, though there were occasional offenders. During the Emergency, the media played a significant role and asserted its authority. Two or three newspapers even blanked out editorials to send a silent message to the government, that curbing the freedom of the press was not appreciated. Press freedom was thus zealously guarded by the journalist and the media. It was, according to former chief election commissioner T. S Krishnamurthy, “the best period for media in India”. According to him, over the years journalists got tempted by certain developments. Not only were journalists making money on the sly, there was also management and corporate lobbying. They started contacting political candidates. Payment was very often clandestinely made to individual journalists, or made in kind.

“The media has tasted the fruits of paid news,” said Krishnamurthy, recently addressing members of the Public Relations Society if India in Chennai, and gave the example of a Bombay-based newspaper that did not disclose information sought by the Election Commission. “They have started systematically exploiting the loopholes. It’s a pity that this development is undermining democracy. In a country which was so much proud of its values, where so many leaders sacrificed their lives for freedom, it is unfortunate. This has become popular because there has been a media boom, high growth of literacy, influence of print and electronic media, and the price for paid news is becoming more and more attractive,” he pointed out.

For all well-meaning publishers, editors and journalists in India, Radiagate has not only come as a rude shock, it is also in some ways a defining moment, a turning point in a profession. Change must come, change for the better, by gradually discarding all the rotten apples and the muck that has come to stay. Will it be possible at all, is another question worth asking.

Sashi Nair

Seminar on copyright and piracy issues

Building the graphic arts community

On 6 January 2011 at 2pm at the IIC Annexe, IppStar along with the newly formed CGIP will conduct an interactive seminar on copyright and piracy issues for Indian printers and publishers. (CGIP stands for the Community for Governance of Intellectual Property). The afternoon event is supported by the Delhi Master Printers Welfare Association.

The seminar which is free of charge will be led by the managing partner of Survan Attorneys-at-Law, Siddharth Arya, and feature panelists from the Indian Society of Authors, as well as the software and printing industries. Naresh Khanna, one of the founders of IppStar, which celebrates ten years of its existence in 2011, will also take part. Call: +91-9811664040.

‘Women changing India’ exhibition and book

25 October New Delhi. BNP Paribas India is celebrating its 150th anniversary in India this year and to mark this milestone, the bank commissioned and put on a major photography exhibition by the Magnum Photo agency on the theme of ‘Women changing India.’ The exhibition held almost simultaneously in Mumbai and Delhi will subsequently travel serially to Kochi, Chennai and Kolkata from November to December. It is accompanied by a book of photographs and essays by Indian authors, focusing on the vital role that women play in India today. Next year BNP Paribas will take the exhibition to Paris, London, Brussels and Milan.

This project, initiated by BNP Paribas, combines the talents of Magnum Photo Agency and Zubaan, a Delhi-based publishing house specialising in books for and about women in South Asia. Six subjects covered by six well-known Magnum photographers — Martine Franck, Alex Webb, Patrick Zachmann, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Olivia Arthur, and Raghu Rai highlight the cultural and geographical diversity of women’s lives in India. Photographs and accompanying comment by well-known Indian authors speak to the changing roles, aspirations, opportunities and challenges that Indian women face, whether they live in villages or cities, whether they are students, taxi drivers, lawyers, movie directors or business leaders. The Women Changing India coffee table book published by Zubaan and printed by Pragati Offset is available for Rs 2000 – although there was a steep discount offer at the launch.

At the launch of the exhibition and book release at the Habitat Centre in New Delhi on 23 October 2010, Baudouin Prot, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas said that the bank values its legacy in India and is active in Indian micro-finance and supports microfinance institutions, which allocate loans to entrepreneurs, most of them being women. Through SBI Life, a joint venture between BNP Paribas and the State Bank of India, it is also creating micro-insurance products such as Grameen Shakti and Grameen Super Suraksha, designed for self-help groups, 90 per cent of which are created by women. These products provide low-income populations with access to life insurance at extremely attractive rates. Geojit BNP Paribas has opened retail brokerage offices in several Indian cities that are dedicated exclusively to, and staffed entirely by, women.

Several of the women featured in the book were present at the Habitat exhibition opening including the painter Anjolie Ela Menon. Another subject Sivakami -- a government employee who resigned her job to become a full time activist — spoke of the paucity of women legislators in both the parliament and the state assemblies. With great dignity and eloquence she argued before the assembled glitterati the need for women activists to play an increasing role in the legislation of laws.

Although nobody in their right mind would praise almost any European or American bank’s performance in the past few years, the Women changing India exhibition and book wisely recognise Indian women. Together with Magnum and Zubaan, the bank has created a substantial visual and narrative document that upholds the better side of commemorative public activity and book making. — Naresh Khanna

Indian print barons: Conspirators in theft and in silence

Plagiarism, a pathetic apology, a conspiracy of silence in print — old journalism vs the new

Some of you may have come to know that Aroon Purie the owner and editor of the Living Media Group and Thomson Press India was caught this month for publishing a publisher’s letter in the Southern edition of India Today in his own name, which contained a blatant and sustained piece of plagiarism — theft of content — word for word from an article by Grady Hendrix about Rajnikanth, published by the online publication Slate. While this happens quite often in publishing (and it is one of the main tasks of editors to check if the stuff they are putting out is original or attributable), it is in itself reprehensible.

In this case, Aroon Purie’s apology to the author of the two long paragraphs copied verbatim was pathetic. To some extent we do not know how to say sorry in any meaningful way. And unfortunately, we are equally bad at accepting apologies. We suspect that the person saying sorry doesn’t really mean it. He does not take it too seriously and will definitely commit the same error again, planning and hoping not to be caught.

The second issue is that many of you have not heard about this incident which took up a good deal of our emailing space in October. The reason is that many, if not all, of our great print editors and publishers declined to print stories about the incident — including stories that contained reactions obtained from Hendrix and Purie. If the Indian publishing barons turn themselves into a conspiratorial mafia they will only increasingly damage their credibility and abdicate the discourse and narrative of everyday life to the internet. It’s bad enough that they steal, but by maintaining a conspiratorial silence for one of their own, they make it more clear that the ordinary journos out there who speak up may be left to hang out and dry. Only the ordinary people’s heads will roll. While Purie will go on as the chairman of the management board of the Federation of the Periodical Press till the 38th FIPP World Magazine Congress to be held in New Delhi from 10 to 12 October 2011.

Excerpted from Grady Hendrix’s comment on Purie’s apology:

“Plagiarism is the hobgoblin of journalism, and the Internet has been both a blessing and a curse: so many sources to steal from, but also so many people to catch you doing it. Back in 1999, VN Narayanan, the editor of the Hindustan Times resigned after being caught lifting entire columns from other journalists and publishing them under his own name, and India Today has been accused of plagiarism in the past. But one look at a photo of Aroon Purie and his sober suits and Serious Media Mogul haircut and you know that this is not a man who would want to write copy that reads: ‘If a tiger had sex with a tornado and then their tiger-nado baby got married to an earthquake, their offspring would be Rajinikanth.’

“Whether it’s intricate power politics — or intricate super-stupidity — that led to the plagiarism, how it’s played out has been a classic case of old journalism vs. new. The story was first broken by online blogs, including the media watchdog group, the Hoot, and when the cultural blog MumbaiBoss posted the story, India Today chose their comments section to issue their first public statement on what had happened. The apology was later printed in the Southern India edition of India Today.”

How can digital revenues for newspapers be increased?

Terry Maguire is more optimistic than Christof Reiss about the revenue that newspapers could get from the net. Especially if they can get their act together. In his presentation at the WAN-IFRA conference in Jaipur, he gave several examples of how disfunctional the Indian newspaper websites are when it comes to helping out a business visitor to Jaipur who might have an extra day to look around the city. He even had a hard time getting the weather forecast and gave another example of a news story about an American citizen who was accused of killing his mother in Rajasthan. He couldn't find a news follow up as to what happened in that case in court, and lamented the lack off attention to the continuing life of a story that newspapers and their web sites can provide. "Keep that story going," he said and suggested that more newspapers could follow the Wikepedia model of constant updatation.

Using the tagline,"First with the best, and the last with the most," Maguire essentially said that although newspapers could be quick and or comprehensive, they are, too often, missing the boat on the internet where they could be bringing together a host of information or be the entry point to stuff that people need to live their lives. Newspaper sites could easily include the connections that people need on a daily basis such as their food needs or even education in a far more dynamic way than they are presently doing.

WAN-IFRA Conference in Jaipur, India

The WAN-IFRA India conference began this morning in Jaipur in Rajasthan. The new CEO of WAN-IFRA Christoph Reiss made an interesting presentation on the The Future of Media Business. This was a refreshing presentation as far as this type of beginning of conference things go. Although there were the usual slides full of data, Reiss had used much of the data available about the Indian media industry particularly newspapers, to make his talk extremely relevant to the largely local news industry audience. Among the points that Reiss made two stand out: firstly that the Internet has been taking away ad revenue from print and not from television; and, secondly, that in India perhaps cellphones present a better window of opportunity than the Internet. He seemed to urge the audience that while Google continues to dominate the revenue from news on the net, the cellphone media is an opportunity that needs to be seized before the window closes for newspaper publishers.