Headlines from the Heartland:
Reinventing the Hindi public sphere
by Sevanti Ninan
Sage Publications, 2007
When the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections this summer, the English-language media, pundits and political observers ensconced in Delhi were hit by a thunderbolt. None of the psephologists had predicted such a thumping majority for the unique Dalit-Brahmin-Bania grouping, which signalled a new trend in electoral alliances. But the Hindi press was not surprised. With a finger on the pulse of the people, the 'regional media' had long been tracking the Mayawati phenomenon and the realignment of castes, as well as the daily lives, tribulations and aspirations of the women and men of the kasbas and villages of the Hindi heartland. This, in spite of the accusations by Mayawati herself that the media (including the Hindi media) suffered from a pronounced upper-caste bias. And if regional parties, most importantly the BSP, are increasingly playing a significant role at both the state and national theatre, it is equally true that the regional press has put itself on the national media canvas – changing the discourse and realigning the frame.
This fact was confirmed by a survey completed this October. While India's largest-circulation English-language daily, the Times of India (TOI), has 13.5 million readers, it occupies only tenth place by circulation. The top four spots are occupied by the Hindi press: Dainik Jagran at 53.6 million readers, Dainik Bhaskar at 30.6 million, Amar Ujala at 28.2 million and Hindustan at 23.5 million. Besides Hindi, the various other 'language' presses also recorded higher readerships, with the Tamil Daily Thanthi garnering 20.9 million readers, followed by the Marathi Lokmat (20.7 million), the Bengali Ananda Bazar Patrika (15.8 million) and the Telegu Eenadu (14.2 million).
Interestingly, while the Hindi press has a larger readership, it is an English-language newspaper that has the highest circulation. According to the Registrar of Newspapers in India, the largest circulated daily is TOI (six editions), with a circulation of 2.5 million copies. The second-largest circulated multi-edition daily is the Dainik Jagran (15 editions), with a circulation of 2.1 million copies – evidence perhaps of the enthusiasm for news leading to a larger numbers of readers per copy of a Hindi newspaper.