history of news paper

The New Indian Express

INTRODUCTION

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Organizations have gained momentum over the past decades as a

inevitable source to sustain business activities. An organization is a power

house of resources through which manufacturing and production

operations are effectively carried out. It comes in to existence when

several minds are bound together through effective and efficient

communication along with harmonious interpersonal relationships for

contributing toward a common endeavour. Organizations can be defined

as one with identifiable boundary, normative order, authority ranks,

communication system and membership coordinating the system that

collectively exists on a relatively continuous basis in a environment and

engages in activities that are usually relatively to goal or a set of goals.

Organization study’s primarily focus was to get a corporate

exposure in understanding more about the organization, its performance,

its functioning about the various departments and the structure as a

whole. It also upholds the close scrutiny of the market conditions

prevalent as well as the ongoing competition that reveals the pinnacle at

which the organization has strived to accomplish over this time span. The

study is based purely on the information and other relevant data and

materials obtained from the organization. Interviewing management staff

has been done to get more accurate and up to date information. Each

activity and operations performed have closely scrutinized with the

available data and materials.

Newspaper is one among the mass media available and probably

the most distinct and important achievement for the society. The

newspaper acts as the agency of “information and education”. It is also an

instrument of democracy. The role of newspaper during the independence

struggle was significant. The newspaper has not lost its importance with

the rapid development of the other media which can be seen from the

increasing circulation of various newspapers. Newspapers have become

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the tool for upgrading knowledge, overcoming fear and gaining

information about current affairs around the world nation, region etc.

The New Indian express is the one of the major English daily in South

India.

1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the study are:

To study the overall performance of The New Indian Express.

To study the functioning of various departments of the concern

and their correlation.

To identify strength, weakness, opportunities and threats faced by

the organizations.

To understand the extent to which management theories matches

with actual practices.

1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study was to get familiarized with the functions of

various departments in the organization. Newspapers are the instruments to

bring out the desire social, cultural and economic changes in the society.

They help in the formation of public opinion on the matters of national and

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international importance. They do not mould but also reflect public opinion.

Thus newspapers are the voice of the people who need special attention in

the society. Business dimensions of newspaper are quite obvious and it

cannot be ignored in any of its related studies.

This study analyses in detail about the functions of different

departments on the basis of which strength, weakness, opportunity, and

threats are arrived at.

1.3 METHODOLOGY

Methodology is a science that can be used to solve the research

problems. It helps how research is done scientifically. It provides various

steps for conducting research.

Sources of data

The main sources of data are primary data and secondary data.

Primary Data:

When the researcher himself is collecting the data for his particular purpose

from the source available, it becomes primary data. Various methods are:

Direct Interview

Observation

Expert Opinion

Questionnaire

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Secondary Data

These are the data which have been collected by some other person

for some other purpose.

Websites

Journals and Magazines

Catalogue

1.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The busy schedule of the departments restricted the collection of

detailed information.

Secondary data obtained is not that much reliable.

Time to time company meetings also restricted the visit to several

departments.

The confidentiality restricted the collection of financial accounts.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

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2.1 HISTORY OF NEWS PAPER

The newspaper as we know today is a product born of necessity,

invention, the middle class, and democracy, free enterprise and

professional standards. Before the advent of the newspaper there were

two major kinds of periodical news publications: the handwritten news

sheet and single item news publications. These existed simultaneously.

The Roman Empire published Acta Diurna, or government announcement

bulletins, around 59 BC, as ordered by Julius Caesar. They were carved in

metal or stone and posted in public places.

In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, circulated

among court officials during the late Han dynasty (second and third

centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the Kaiyuan Za Bao ("Bulletin of the

Court") of the Chinese Tang Dynasty published government news. It was

handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582 there was

the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the

late Ming Dynasty.

The increased cross-border interaction in early capitalist Europe

created a rising need for information which was met by concise

handwritten newssheets. In 1556, the government of Venice first

published the monthly Notizie scritte, which cost one gazetta. These avvisi

were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military and

economic news quickly and efficiently throughout Europe.

Early publications played into the development of what would today be

recognized as the newspaper, which came about around 1600. This was a

time in which, in order to be successful, publishers had to be up to date on

news. Around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in England and

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France, long news accounts called "relations" were published; in Spain

they were called "relaciones".

Single event news publications were printed in the broadsheet format,

which was often posted. These publications also appeared as pamphlets

and small booklets (for longer narratives, often written in a letter format),

often containing woodcut illustrations. Literacy rates were low in

comparison today and these news publications were often read aloud

(literacy and oral culture were, in a sense, existing side by side in this

scenario).

The term newspaper became common in the seventeenth century;

however in Germany, publications that we would today consider to be

newspaper publications were appearing as early as the sixteenth century.

They were discernibly newspapers for the following reasons: they were

printed, dated, appeared at regular and frequent publication intervals, and

included a variety of news items (unlike single item news mentioned

above). The first newspaper however was said to be the Strasbourg

Relation, in the early seventeenth century. The emergence of the new

media branch in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with

the spread of the printing press from which the publishing press derives

its name.

The German-language Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen

Historien, printed from 1605 onwards by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg is

often recognized as the first newspaper. At the time, Strasbourg was a

free imperial city in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation; the

first newspaper of modern Germany was the Avisa, published in 1609 in

Wolfenbüttel. The first successful English daily, The Daily Courant, was

published from 1702 to 1735.

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The rise of the middle class transformed newspapers in the 1800s. In

1847, the telegraph was used as a business tool, transforming far away

stories. In 1873, an illustrated daily newspaper can be seen in New York.

In 1878 the first full page newspaper advertisements appear and in 1880

the first photographs are seen in newspaper using halftones. With the

basic technical groundwork for the modern newspaper in place by the late

19th century, the story of the newspapers in the 20th century was about

professional development and adaptation to changing consumer and

media markets. By 2000, newspapers were juggling priorities.

2.2 HISTORY OF INDIAN NEWS PAPERS

Indian print media is at a massive business in the media world and

its newspapers are said to offer majority of national and international

news.

The history newspaper in India began in 1780, with the publication of the

Bengal Gazette from Calcutta. The advent of the first newspaper in India

occurred in the capital city of West Bengal, Calcutta (now Kolkata). James

Augustus Hickey is considered the "father of Indian press" as he started

the first Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the `Bengal Gazette` or

`Calcutta General Advertise` in January, 1780. This first printed

newspaper was a weekly publication.

In 1789, the first newspaper from Bombay (now Mumbai), the

`Bombay Herald` appeared, followed by the `Bombay Courier` in the

following year. Later, this newspaper merged with the Times of India in

1861. These newspapers carried news of the areas under the British rule.

The first newspaper published in an Indian language was the Samachar

Darpan in Bengali. The first issue of this daily was published from the

Serampore Mission Press on May 23, 1818. Samachar Darpan, the first

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vernacular paper was started during the period of Lord Hastings. In the

same year, Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya started publishing another

newspaper in Bengali, the `Bengal Gazetti`. On July 1, 1822 the first

Gujarati newspaper, the Bombay Samachar, was published from Bombay,

which is still in existence.

The first Hindi newspaper, the Samachar Sudha Varshan started its

circulation in 1854. Since then, the prominent Indian languages in which

newspapers had been published over the years are Hindi, Marathi, Tamil,

Malayalam, Telugu, Urdu and Bengali.

The Indian language newspapers eventually took over the English

newspapers according to the NRS survey of newspapers. The main reason

was the marketing strategy that was followed by the regional papers,

commencing with Eenadu - a Telugu daily started by Ramoji Rao. The

second reason was the growing literacy rate.

Increase in the literacy rate had direct positive effect on the rise of

circulation of the regional papers. The people were first educated in their

mother tongue according to their state in which they live for and

eventually, the first thing a literate person would try to do is read the

vernacular papers and gain knowledge about his own locality. Moreover,

localisation of news has also contributed to the growth of regional

newspapers in India. Indian regional papers have several editions for a

particular state to offer a complete scenario of local news for the reader to

connect with the paper.

Malayala Manorama features about 10 editions in Kerala itself and six

others outside Kerala. Thus regional papers in India aim at providing

localised news for their readers.

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Eventually, the advertisers also realised the huge potential of the regional

paper market, partly due to their own research and more owing to the

efforts of the regional papers to make the advertisers aware of the huge

market. These advertisers paid revenues to the newspaper house and in

return publicised their products throughout the locality. Thus, newspapers

in India not only acted as news providers but also promoters of certain

market products.

Some of the prominent newspapers in India in the recent times are :

The Times of India

The Hindu

The Hindustan Times

The Indian Express

The Economic Times

The Economic Times is one of the India’s leading business

newspapers; carrying news about the Economy, Companies,

Infrastructure, Trends in the Economy, Finance, Stocks, Forex and

Commodities, news from around the world and from the world of politics

besides editorial and various other features.

The Malayala Manorama releases daily, weekly, monthly and annual

publications from Kerala. Started in 1988 in Tamil and Telegu languages,

it is now published in other regional languages like Hindi, Bengali, as well

as in English. Among the various publications, the Malayala Manorama

Daily has the largest circulation, selling about 11 lakhs 50 thousand

copies daily. The Times of India was founded in 1838 as The Bombay

Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Company, a

colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian conglomerate. The Times

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Group publishes The Economic Times (launched in 1961), Navbharat

Times (Hindi language), and the Maharashtra Times (Marathi language).

The newspapers collected their news from the news agencies.

Newspapers and magazines in India are independent and usually privately

owned. About 5,000 newspapers, 150 of them major publications, are

published daily in nearly 100 languages. Over 40,000 periodicals are also

published in India. The periodicals specialize in various subjects but the

majority of them deal with subjects of general interest. During the 1950s,

214 daily newspapers were published in the country. Out of these, 44

were English language dailies while the rest were published in various

regional languages. This number rose to 2,856 dailies in 1990 with 209

English dailies. The total number of newspapers published in the country

reached 35,595 newspapers by 1993 (3,805 dailies). With a long history

behind, Indian press has evolved with a supreme power in the

contemporary times, where participation of press gives any incident a

special value.

2.3 INDIAN NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY

Newspapers in India have almost created a huge industry in the

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nation. It publishes the largest number of ‘paid-for titles' in the world. In

1997, the total number of newspapers and periodicals published in India

was around 41705, which include 4720 dailies and 14743 weeklies.

However, in the last one decade the news media in India has changed

rapidly. All the major news media outlets have an accompanying news

website. A new class of newspapers in India is entirely internet based.

Growing literacy and new technology have resulted in India emerging as

the second largest newspaper market in the world, according to latest

research by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). WAN, the global

organisation for the newspaper industry defends and promotes press

freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-

wide.

The new figures show that the four largest markets for newspapers are-

China, with 107 million copies sold daily; India, with 99 million copies

daily; Japan, with 68 million copies daily; and the United States, with

nearly 51 million. Indian newspaper sales increased 11.2% in 2007 and

35.51% in the five-year period. Newspaper advertising revenues in India

were up 64.8% over the previous 5 years. 74 of the world's 100 best-

selling dailies are published in Asia. India, China and Japan account for 62

of them. By 2007, 62 of the world`s best selling newspaper dailies were

published in countries like China, Japan, and India. India consumed 99

million newspaper copies as of 2007, making it the second largest market

in the world for newspapers.

The global paid-for circulation rose 2.57% year on year and 9.39 %

over the past five years. However, when free dailies were added to paid-

for daily circulation, global circulation increased by 3.65 % year on year to

573 million copies. Free dailies now account for nearly 7 % of all global

newspaper circulation. With 42% market share, newspaper continues to

be a dominant advertising medium across the world.

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As most of the cost is fixed, profitability of a newspaper company is

primarily driven by the circulation volume. Large newspaper companies

around the world are becoming multi-dimensional and are increasing their

stakes in television, radio, magazines and other businesses. They are also

operating online news websites to take advantage of economies of scale

achieved by sharing resources while providing a range of outlets to

advertisers.

The most important characteristic of Newspaper industry is the

significant start-up cost that is required for buildings, presses, establishing

distribution channels and large editorial staff to develop original content

on a daily basis. Building brand value and maintaining a large circulation

volume therefore is crucial to recover these high fixed costs. While the

rate of renewed subscription is usually high, gaining new subscribers gets

difficult in tough competition scenarios.

Advertising is a major source of revenue which directly depends on

the health of the economy. Advertising also depends on circulation, which

is the second most important source of revenue and is based on the

number of copies sold and subscription rate charged. As circulation drops,

advertising revenue also falls. Thus a small fall in circulation can have a

much higher impact on a newspaper company’s total revenues. Newsprint

cost comprises of a large proportion of newspaper publishing cost. While it

is procured by weight, its production is measured in number of copies

produced, commonly referred to as GSM (grams per square meter).

Historically, newspaper has always been a profitable industry.

Despite significant start-up and fixed costs, once a newspaper is able to

establish its brand, its dominance is indisputable. However, the last

decade witnessed melt-down of several large newspaper companies

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across US and Europe only because they ignored the threat coming from

growing Internet penetration. Several newspapers have filed for

bankruptcy or are already looking for a buyer.

Ironically, while analyst across the globe are debating whether any

valuation proposition still exists in the outdated newspaper model, one

industry continues to hold

promises for future growth; the Indian Newspaper Industry. While

American newspapers have been struggling to survive the competition

from growing internet advertising, Indian newspaper experienced

dramatic growth during 2000 and 2005.

Circulation of Dailies in India increased from 5,91,29,000 in 2001 to

7,29,39,000 in 2003 to 7,86,89,000 in 2005. The key drivers for the

growth of newspaper penetration in India are the expanding middle class

and improving literacy rates. Marginal (though increasing) internet

penetration is also one of the important reasons why Indian newspaper

industry has not yet come across stiff competition from this medium.

According to a KPMG-FICCI report, Indian print media can be

expected to grow conservatively at around 9% over the next 4 to 5 years.

However, the industry has been experiencing growing margin pressures

due to increasing newsprint costs which are not yet being passed on to

readers due to intense competition. Newsprint costs soared almost 50%

last year. While Indian newspapers are the cheapest in the world, industry

experts opine that it may not be long that newspaper companies will

increase their circulation charges and advertising rates to counter the

increasing newsprint costs.

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Last year, several publishers postponed their plans to expand their

capacity in the wake of drastically increasing newsprint costs. On the

other hand, they were unable to increase advertising rates as advertisers

are slowly moving to other cheap medium like the internet. Publishers are

not concerned about the slowly shifting advertising revenue to mediums

such as radio and internet. Despite such concern one important growth

area for Indian newspaper publishers is that several rural areas are still

untapped. Improving literacy rates, increasing income and benefits from

development schemes of the Government will definitely open up

penetration opportunities for Indian publishers.

COMPANY PROFILE

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

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THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

The New Indian Express: Type- Daily newspaper Format- Berliner

(format) Owner -Express Publications (Madurai) Limited Founded -1934 in

Chennai, Bifurcated from ‘Indian Express’ and Renamed 1999. Website -

Expressbuzz.com. ‘The New Indian Express’ is a newspaper with its head

office based in Chennai in south Indian.

HISTORY

Indian Express was first published on Sept. 5, 1932 in Chennai (then

Madras) by an Ayurvedic doctor and Indian National Congress member P.

Varadarajulu Naidu, publishing from the same press at which he ran the

'Tamil Nadu' Tamil weekly. But soon, on account of financial difficulties, he

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sold it to S Sadanand, founder of The Free Press Journal, another English

newspaper.

In 1933, The Indian Express opened its second office in Madurai and

launched the Tamil daily Dinamani on Sept. 11, 1934. Sadanand

introduced several innovations and reduced the price, but later sold part

of his stake in the form of convertible debentures to Ramnath Goenka due

to financial difficulties. Later, when The Free Press Journal further went

into financial decline in 1935, Sadanand lost ownership of Indian Express

after a long controversial court battle with Goenka, where blows were

exchanged between some of the parties. Finally, a year later, Goenka

bought the rest of the 26 per cent stake from Sadanand, and the paper

came under the control of Goenka, who took the already anti-

establishment tone of the paper to greater heights. Also at that time it

had to face stiff competition from a well established The Hindu and the

Mail, besides other prominent newspapers. In the late 1930s, the

circulation was no more than 2,000.

In 1939 it also bought out Andhra Prabha, another prominent

Telugu Daily. Later it gained the name Three Musketeers for the three

dailies. In 1940 the whole premises were gutted by fire. The Hindu, its

rival, helped considerably in re-launching the paper, by getting it printed

temporarily at one of its Swadesimithran’s press and later offering its

recently vacated premises in Madras at 2, Mount Road later to become

the landmark Express Estates. This relocation also helped the Express

obtain better high speed printing machines, while some claimed the

Goenka had deliberately set fire to escape financial embarrassment.

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In later years, Goenka started the Mumbai edition with the landmark

Express Towers as his office when the Morning Standard was bought by

him in 1944. Two years later it became the Mumbai edition of The Indian

Express. Later on, editions were started in several cities like Madurai

(1957), Bangalore (1965) and Ahmedabad (1968). The Financial Express

was launched in 1961 from Mumbai, Kannada Prabha (Kannada Daily)

from Bangalore in 1965 and a Bangalore edition of the Telugu Daily

Andhra Prabha, and Gujarati dailies Lok Satta and Jansatta in 1952, from

Ahmedabad and Baroda.

The Delhi edition started was when the Tej group's Indian News Chronicle

was acquired in 1951, which from 1953 became the Delhi edition of Indian

Express. In 1990 it bought the Sterling group of magazines, and along

with it the Gentleman magazine.

After Goenka's demise in 1991, two of the family members split the group

into Indian Express Mumbai with all the North Indian editions, while the

Southern editions were grouped as Express Madurai Ltd with Chennai as

headquarters. Initially, the two companies shared the Indian Express title,

and editorial and other resources. But in 1998, the northern editions,

headquartered in Mumbai, retained and renamed Indian Express as The

Indian Express, while the southern editions became The New Indian

Express. Today, the two newspapers and the two companies are separate

entities. The newspaper is known for its intrepid and anti-establishment

tone.

Editions

The New Indian Express is now published from all major cities in

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala besides Orissa,

including Chennai (Madras), Coimbatore, Hyderabad,

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indian_Express

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indian_Express

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Express

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai


Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Kochi and Bhubaneswar. In total, it

publishes from 22 centres in the south.

Circulation

The New Indian Express has a net paid circulation of 309,252 copies

(Source: ABC J-J, 2009). The NIE achieves its biggest penetration (paid

sales per head of population) in the state of Kerala. It also claims to be the

first Indian newspaper to give insurance benefits to its subscribers. The

New Indian Express is published in a geographical area that covers

approximately 24 per cent of the national population.

The New Sunday Express (the Sunday edition of the NIE) is arguably the

flagship publication, with magazine supplements incorporating both

national and international themes and sections on arts, leisure, travel,

lifestyle, sport, new age living, books, self-development, entertainment

and development issues.

Recent changes

During late 2007/early 2008, there was a big shakeout of editorial

staff, with many old hands leaving to make way for new. In April 2008, the

newspaper underwent a major, drastic and exceptionally modern layout

and design makeover and launched a huge advertising campaign.

In October 2007, The New Indian Express launched a 40-page Friday

magazine supplement (almost total colour) called "Indulge" exclusively for

the Chennai edition. It also renamed all the city supplements, calling them

Expresso and focusing more on the respective city's culture and lifestyle,

rather than hard news. A special Saturday supplement called Zeitgeist

was added during the daily's redesign and relaunch in 2008. The Sunday

magazines were christened i.witness and i.witness 2. Its other

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supplements, which appear on a weekly or fortnightly basis, are on career

and education. At present, The New Indian Express is the only national

daily which publishes news of far-flung Andaman and Nicobar Islands on

an everyday basis. The TNIE has a staffer at Port Blair, the capital city of

the remote archipelago.

Web sites

The Group runs the following websites:

http://www.expressbuzz.com (English)

http://www.indiavarta.com

http://www.dinamani.com (Tamil)

http://www.kannadaprabha.com (Kannada)

http://www.andhraprabha.com (Telugu)

http://www.apweekly.com (Telugu)

http://www.cinemaexpress.com (Tamil)

http://www.malayalamvarikha.com (Malayalam)

http://www.tamilanexpress.com (Tamil)

VISION

The New Indian Express to be the highest circulated news paper.

MISSION

The newspaper is known for its intrepid and anti-establishment tone. It is

neutral and unbiased publication, even while standing as a tough anti-

establishment organization.

FUTURE PLANS

1. To increase circulation.

2. To provide better welfare facilities.

3. To improve the newsprint quality.

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4. To introduce CTP (computer to press) procedure.

COMPETITORS OF THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

The Hindu

The Times of India

The Hindustan Times

The Deccan

The Tribune

ORGANISATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Organization follows the words of Shri. Ramnath Goenka,

These are,

”Be Forthright

Be Frank

Be Fearless

Whatever the odds”

AWARDS

Ramnath Goenka excellence in Journalism awards

Ramnath Goenka India press Photo Awards

Screen Awards

FE Women in Business Awards

Intelligent Enterprise Awards

Security Strategist Awards

Uptime Champion Awards

Express travel world Awards

Pharma Excellence Awards

Healthcare Excellence Awards

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PRODUCT PROFILE

Unlike any other industries the newspaper industry brings out

product every day. The newspaper published today will be entirely

different from the newspaper published yesterday. The company’s

publication includes dailies and magazines.

Dailies-

Dinamani in Tamil

Kannada Prabha in Kannada

Andhra Prabha in Telugu

Magazines-

Cinema Express (Tamil)

Tamalian Express(Tamil)

Malayalam Vaarika (Malayalam)

The price of the newspaper is fixed by the Indian Newspaper society (INS)

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THE MECHANICAL DETAILS OF THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Height

No. of columns

Column width

Screen

Front Page Size

52 cm

8 cm

1 Column-3.8 cm

2 Column-8 .0cm

3 Column-12.1 cm

4 Column-16.3 cm

5 Column-20.5 cm

6 Column-24.4 cm

7 Column-28.8 cm

8 Column-33.0 cm

B&W:65% Colour: 85-100%

8*8/3*20/4*25 column cm

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DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE IN THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS,

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

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BRANCH HEAD

SCHEDULING

REPORTING & EDITORIAL

PRODUCTION ACCOUNTSPRODUCT MARKETING

ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION SPACE MARKETING


REPORTING & EDITORIAL

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This department includes mainly two sections:-

1. Reporting Section

2. Editorial Section

Reporting section is concerned with news gathering.

News analyst, reporters and correspondents gather information,

prepare stories and articles that inform us about local, state, national

and international events; present points of view on current issues; and

report on the actions of public officials, corporate executives, interest

groups and others who exercise power.

News analysts examine and interpret news received from various

sources. In covering a story reporter’s look at documents, observe

events at scene and interview people. Reporters take notes and also

may take photographs. At their office they organize the material,

determine the focus or emphasis, write their stories and edit

accompanying material. Some journalists also interpret the news or

offer opinions to readers. Newscasters usually specialize in a particular

type of news such as sports or weather. Weathercasters also called

weather reporters report current and forecasted weather conditions.

They gather information from national satellite weather services, wire

services and local and regional weather bureau. Sport reporters write

and deliver sports news. This may include interviews with sport

personalities and coverage of games and other sporting events. Some

reporters specialize in fields such as health, politics, foreign affairs,

sports, films, consumer affairs, social events, science, business or

religion. Investigative reporters cover stories that may take many days

or weeks of information gathering. Some publication use teams of

reporters instead of assigning each reporter one specific topic allowing

reporters to cover a greater variety of stories.

News teams may include reporters, editors, graphic artists and

photographers working together to complete a story. Reporters on

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small publications cover all aspects of the news. They take

photographs, write headlines, layout pages, edit wire service stories

and write editorials.

The New Indian Express, Thiruvananthapuram

Reporting section

The Chief Reporter co-ordinates the activities of the bureau. The chief

reporter requires 5-10 years of experience and training of one year.

The important new agencies that cooperate with The New Indian

Express are PTI- Press Trust of India and UNI- Unite News of India.

These agencies collect news from outside India. In addition to this

Indian Express have city offices in all major Indian cities. Direct

reporting is also there.

There are 16 reporters and 2 photographers in Trivandrum bureau. The

NIE Trivandrum bureau is the biggest in Kerala. The reporters are not

given any particular target. At times they need to submit other special

articles and reports other than the regular news reports.

Reporting section:

Chief Reporter

Senior Reporter

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Junior Reporter

News photographers

Editorial section

Once the news is gathered by reporters the news is composed and

screened by the reporters and sub-editors respectively. The stories are set

aside respectively by allocating them to a certain page. Editing a news

story is perhaps one of the most important jobs within a publication. All

articles submitted for publication are reviewed by the editors to ensure

they meet their professional standards. They ensure that the articles and

information published are original and newsworthy. Without proper editing

skills, articles could potentially hit the page with disastrous spelling and

grammatical errors. News editors would edit the reports for any

corrections that have to be made regarding the spelling and grammar etc.

Editorial Section:

News Editor

Chief Sub Editor

Sub Editor

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PRODUCTION

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The production of the newspaper is carried out at the greatest

speed when all production stops at the most of the other industries. The

hectic activity starts at about 9:30 PM and ends at 3:30 AM. Coordination

plays an important role in the newspaper industry.

The Production Department manages the flow of advertisements and

news content into the actual printed newspaper pages. Production staffers

control press starts and stops to get newspaper bundles to delivery

vehicles on time, prepare operational budgets, investigate new

technology, manage computer system to produce text, graphics and

assembled pages, construct advertisements, calibrate cameras and

scanners to process photos and graphics, build pages and process press

plates.

This department mainly handles page, plate and printing. Printing is the

final stage in the publishing of a newspaper. This section mainly handles

the following function.

a) Plate making

b) Printing

c) Packing

d) Dispatching

RAW MATERIALS USED

1. Butter sheet

2. Colour separation large drafting film

3. White paper Pre sensitive plate

4. Chemicals

DISPATCH SECTION

The main activities in this section are

1. Packing

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2. Send this package to agents

PROCESS IN PRINTING

Prepare design and layout

Plate making

Electric beam is passed through the plate

Plate is washed

Final Plate

Send to roller for printing

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PRODUCT MARKETING

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The Product Marketing Department takes care of everything after

the newspaper is printed. This department is responsible for encouraging

people to start or keep reading the publication. Product Marketing

Department is concerned with promoting the news paper thereby

increasing its circulation. It is a source of revenue for the newspaper. It is

mainly concerned with distribution and collection of amounts from the

agents.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this department is to increase no of copies and achieve

100% collection. They use different methods for that, through different

subscription schemes, discount schemes, school scheme, Institutions and

through agents.

The number of copies distributed, either on an average day or on

particular days (typically Sunday), is called the newspaper’s circulation

and is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation

is not necessarily the same as copies sold, since some copies or

newspapers are distributed without cost. Readership figures may be

higher than circulation figures because many copies are read by more

than one person, although this is offset by the number of copies

distributed but not read (especially for those distributed free).

It also functions as marketing department. Its major function is market

development. This department helps the newspaper in two primary ways

in helping to identify and develop marketing opportunities and in

developing effective, well-branded customer communications. Marketers

research who readers and advertisers are, and how best to serve them;

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who are the competitors for those readers and advertisers and how the

newspaper can build new business.

The circulation department is very important one in the case of

newspaper industry. They handled the paper before and after the

newspaper is printed. The circulation department takes care of everything

after the newspaper is printed. This includes delivering the publication to

homes through their own or third party carriers to the post off to be

mailed into homes as well as to the newsstands, vending machines and

other places its circulated. They are also the department responsible for

encouraging people to start or keep the publication. Since people are

constantly moving out of the area or cancelling the subscriptions for other

reasons, the circulation department is always working to bring in new

people through direct mail, advertising, campaigns etc..

The overall functions of the Thiruvananthapuram office is controlled

by the branch head. The head of the circulation department is the vice

president sales (Chennai). The head of the circulation department in

Trivandrum office is sales manager.

Senior sales officer’s responsibilities are to guide and co-ordinate the

sales executives and increase the no of copies in the region and achieve

100% collection. The territories are divided and the sales executives are

given certain targets. They are appraised based on their performance. The

circulation department also includes three clerical staffs. They are

engaged in the circulation related activities. The customer care executive

overlooks the functioning of the above said department.

Product marketing department:

Sales manager

Deputy sales manager

Senior sales executive

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Sales executive

CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION

Printing press

Main distributors

Agents

Sub agents

Customer

SPACE MARKETING

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Advertisements, for long, have been a major source of revenue for

the newspapers and periodicals. Most newspapers make nearly all their

money from advertising. The portion of the newspaper that is not

advertising is called editorial content. Every ad, the company sell will

need to conform to the column widths of the newspaper. The width of

every newspaper page can be broken down into columns of equal size.

The advertisement department is responsible for collection of

advertisements and publishing them in the news paper.

FUNCTIONS OF SPACE MARKETING

Planning, analyzing and implementation of advertising

activities.

Monitoring advertisement collection activities.

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Coordinating the activities relate with publication of regular

and periodical supplements.

Coordinating the activities of the field executives both inside

and outside Kerala.

Research and development activities to update with changes

in the industry.

Arranging periodical get together of advertisement agencies

and regular clients.

The advertisements are divided into commercial, financial, notices,

appointments and classifieds respectively and the tariffs are also imposed

accordingly. There are rate cards for this purpose. Full page and half page

and quarter page advertisements are also accepted. The advertisements

are also received from the advertisements agencies which are given 15%

commission. The direct advertisements are also accepted. There 15% also

a small percentage of advertisement coming from the Indian Newspaper

society. The organization also employees field staff for procuring the

advertisements.

The advertisement department of Trivandrum bureau is headed by

the Group Accounts Manager. There are both field staff and office staff.

The office staffs are headed by sectional head. The office staffs handle the

scheduling billing, accounting and typing works respectively. The

advertising department depending on the size of the publication may be

comprised of many smaller departments. While most members of these

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departments are sales people, creative services may also be here. In fact

some publications subscribe to the “Team-approach” where each artist in

creative services is assigned to and is actually seated next to one or more

advertising sales people in an effort to better service their customers.

The sales people themselves are often grouped depending on where the

ads they sell will appear in the news paper. The classified department

handles all ads that run in the classified section. The remaining ad

representatives sell into the non-classified section of the newspaper often

called “Run of Press” (or ROP for short) and will probably be part of the

retail, major accounts, national, or retail telemarketing(Inside sales)

departments. In addition, occasionally there are sales people who may be

dedicated to selling those advertisers who want to insert into your

newspapers a separate one- or multiple-page promotional piece, often

called a Preprint Insert or Free standing Insert (or FSI). Other sales people

may only sell ads on your website. The classified department handles a no

of different types of ads. The line classified, which usually appear

somewhere near the back of the newspaper usually take the form of

narrow columns comprised mainly of text categorized under various

headings such as “ Help wanted”, “Car For sales”, “Home For Sale” etc.

some of these ads are sold by people known as inbound telemarketers,

are (inbound inside sales people ) who wait for

people to call them, such an individual who wants to sell his car. Also part

of the classified department is the classified display sales people. They

sell the larger display ads, that is, the ads with boxes around them that

could run multiple-column widths in the classified section. These ads

would include the larger automotive, real estate, and help wanted

(recruitment) ads. As a whole the classified advertising department brings

in huge revenue to the newspaper, and generally charges a slightly higher

rate for their ad space compared to ad rates for the rest of the

publication. Perhaps it is because the classified section is one of the best

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read parts of the newspaper. Ads in classified section are charged per

word.

This department includes mainly two parts-

1. Advertisement scheduling

2. Advertisement accounts

Advertisement scheduling department

The scheduling section has to make the lists of the advertisement

and allot the space for advertisement. They have to work according to

the instructions off the regional head.

Advertisement Accounts

In this section there is only cash collection, billing is done at Cochin

(i.e. final processing). Cash is collected and fed in computer and send

to Cochin, it is a daily process. The print of bill is send from Cochin. The

only accounting document used is the Receipt Book. The department is

working effectively.

Classification of advertisement-

Advertisements received are classified on the basis of its

appearance in the newspaper as-

1. To be appeared on the front page

2. On the back of the page

3. On the inner page

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ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION

Electronics and communication department aims at meeting the

information needs of managers, particularly with regard to the current and

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past operations of the enterprise. They offer summary report on the

enterprise and sometimes provide on-line-link to individual transactions as

well.

WEBSITE AS A MARKETING TOOL

Company’s website is central to its marketing strategy. TTP website

www.indpress.com developed by C-DIT contains all the information about

the organization. The website has full details about company and

company’s products, the price offered and other related information.

SOFTWARE USE

The application software used in The New Indian Express performs

specific data or text processing functions. Regardless of the source of

development, application programs are written to run under a specific

operating system. The software used is a FOXPRO based one. The can be

categorized into general purpose software. The general purpose software

is those that can be used in different levels in the organization with

different job titles. Different information is collected in the different faces

by the communication software developers exclusively by the NIE. NIE has

got highly automated communication software which has no need of any

man power to send the information from one centre to another. They are

sending and receiving new items, photo advertisements, and pager

messages from one centre to another as files.

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http://www.indpress.com/


ACCOUNTS

Accounts Department:

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Senior account officer

Accounts officer

Senior assistant

A newspaper’s account department is its central control point.

Departments rely on the business staff to provide the financial information

they need to manage their costs and maximize their revenues. Timely and

accurate financial reports and an efficient and supportive business office

are essential to a productive and profitable newspaper.

The business staffs at a newspaper is responsible for a wide range of

tasks, advertising and circulation billing, invoice payments, inventory

tracking and preparation of financial reports including yearly operating

and capital budgets.

Sample accounting section jobs

Accounting clerk

Credit assistant

Payroll

Accountant

Accounting manager

Credit manager

Cashier

Service clerk

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HR DEPARTMENT

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Personal department

There is no personal department working at Thiruvananthapuram office.

The Personal department activities of New Indian Express are conducted

from Kochi and Chennai.

The total employee at Trivandrum centre is 83, which includes 10 females

and 73 males. There are around 3000 -5000 employees working in the

whole

Recruitment and selection

Any vacancy will be notified to the HR department which will follow the

agreed and established recruitment policy. The vacancies are advertised

in the newspaper and the shortlisted candidates are called for the

interview. The step of the interview is held at the Kochi centre. Graduation

is must for every appointment. For the administrative post DGM conducts

the final interview and for the senior most position it is handled by GM.

Submission of Medical certificate is compulsory.

Induction and Placement

The basic objective of induction is to brief the policies, rules and

regulations and also complying with the joining and placement formalities.

Usually the induction program is for three days. It is conducted at the

regional office which is at Kochi or at the corporate office, Chennai. A

complete awareness of the company and product is given.

Hours of work

The working hour is 8 hours from 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM. Attendance is

compulsory and each employee has to in the office at sharp 9.30 AM and

can leave the office only after 5.30 PM.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

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A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part

of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the

firm usually can be classified as strengths(S) or Weakness (W) and those

external to the firm can be classified as opportunity (O) or threats (T).

Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT

analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the

firm’s resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which

it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and

selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into an

environmental scan.

Strengths

A firm’s strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a

basis for developing a competitive advantage.

Weakness

The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness.

Opportunities

The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities

for profit and growth.

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Threats

Changes in the external environment also may present threats to the firm.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

STRENGTHS

1. Strong brand name

2. Good relationship with agents

3. Good relationship with some customers

4. The management is very efficient in controlling the functions of the

organization

5. Organization maintains healthy relationship with the employees

6. Organization is blessed with dedicated and efficient employees

7. The publication of New Indian Express has goodwill and readership

8. The New Indian Express has a wide range of circulation in South

India

9. Freedom in news reporting

10. Drastic and exceptionally modern layout and design makeover

of the newspaper

11. .Absence of labour problems

12. Distribution network

WEAKNESS

1. There is no personal department in Thiruvananthapuram bureau.

2. There are a limited number of employees in TVPM edition.

3. Company does not have its own press for printing purposes.

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4. Paper quality.

OPPORTUNITIES

1. Publish financial papers

2. Making new offers for the subscribers and advertisers

3. Strengthening the distribution network through add more agents and

executives

THREATS

1. Competition

2. New medias with newer technologies

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

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FINDINGS

1. Most of the employees are satisfied with their relationship with the

superiors.

2. There is no HRM department in Thiruvananthapuram office.

3. The Thiruvananthapuram office has no press.

4. Relationship with the colleagues is better in the organization.

5. Company’s pay package is good.

6. Promotion policies of the company are good

7. The editorial features published are inadequate

8. Company has its own software.

9. Being an English daily it faces tough competition from Malayalam

dailies.

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10. Canteen facilities are inadequate.

SUGGESITONS

1. Improve paper quality.

2. Start a HRM department in Thiruvananthapuram office.

3. More features should be included so as to increase circulation.

4. Proper steps have to be taken to reduce the cost of production

5. Company has to establish its own press.

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CONCLUSION

The study at The New Indian Express enabled me to understand how

the key business processes are carried out in organizations and the use of

information at various levels in decision making. The study helped me to

understand the interconnection of various departments, there

communications and coordination. Above all, the study helped in relating

theory with practice. Even though the study had personal and time

limitations, it has perfection to the extension. Each of the aspects, where

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it was able to get information had relevant conceptual basis. The New

Indian Express is one of the major English dailies in South India.

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history of news paper

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