2017 is turning out to be a bad year for journalists. After Hindustan Times’s massive retrenchment, on February 2 evening ‘Ananda Bazar Patrika’ and its English daily ‘The Telegraph’ have terminated more than 750 journalists. The journalists were shocked when the ABP Group served notices of termination with paltry compensation across their bureaus in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and New Delhi by the most “screaming liberal values” organisation headed by Aveek Sarkar, now sidelined by his younger brother Arup Sarkar.
The management says that this retrenchment is cost restructuring.
According to insiders, many journalists working in the Feature and Political Bureaus were the worst affected by this massive retrenchment in Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika and English daily The Telegraph. No Journalists Union or the now asleep, now awake Editors’ Guild has uttered a word till this time about the massive termination of media persons. There maybe more cuts coming as administrative, marketing and circulation staffers, who have been working with this group for past many decades, may also be pruned.
The Telegraph news paper is considered as the “big salaries” newspaper in the media world. The management says that this retrenchment is cost restructuring. The Kolkata centric Liberal-Left preacher news paper showed no mercy to their staffers while talking big about humanity in their editorials.
It appears that media is in a world of hurt. Considering that all these layoffs are happening after Demonetization, is there a correlation?
PGurus have reported a few weeks back that Telegraph was planning to do this onslaught on manpower to reduce the costs. For the past six months, Aveek Sarkar has been sidelined by his brother Arup Sarkar by putting him in a BJP ‘Marg Darshak Mandal’ like post in the company.
The new year witnessed Hindustan Times (HT) closing four editions viz. Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal and Ranchi. HT also closed three bureaus in Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur, when the state Uttar Pradesh was going to Assembly polls. Above all many journalists across all Bureaus were terminated based on the suggestions of some management consultancy groups.
Times of India has a recruitment freeze this year and owner Vineet Jain went ahead and supported Hindustan Times’ retrenchment. This goes to show that cutthroat capitalism is alive and well in India and all the homilies of liberal socialism is only for the rest.
This is not all! Two weeks back NDTV terminated 38 cameramen and asked the journalists to cover videos in mobile phones! It appears that media is in a world of hurt. Considering that all these layoffs are happening after Demonetization, is there a correlation?
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Before making comments such as demonitization is responsible for layoffs, please note that demonitization has been there for only 3 months. Decisions like these based on low margins in not taken based on 3 months. Unless 1 financial year close really points to permanent financial downturn such decision are not taken.
So what can be the other reason? It is a reality that the trend is more towards digital and social media than print and television media.
Most of the younger population prefer e newspaper and social media over print. Lesser number of people read newspaper today. I myself don’t.
People are no longer interested in being handed out opinion of others which may be biased. People want to express their own views like we are doing here. Hence, there will be a definite change coming over with current times. Slowly print media will be replaced by digital media.
It has got nothing to do with demonitization. When telegraph and postal letters were slowly replaced by emails we saw such cost cutting and closure of those establishments. Post offices now mainly thrive on parcel delivery and some banking facilities.
Its a change in economic and social fabric which result in some earlier methods to be slowly eased out as newer technology takes over.
This has always happened and will continue to happen. Where was demonitization when postal services took a downturn. Let us not fool ourselves with populist expressions that demonitization is the cause for media houses financial downtrend.
The definite reason is the change in preferences of people towards social and digital media and this change will continue.
Media houses should look at giving more importance to more interactive medium of communication and do neutral reporting else people will not be interested in them. They should have more policies to ride the growth of social media rather than fight it.
I only wish to add what the respected Sri Gurumurthy had written in one of his articles,that Modiji is oor last hope for restoration of integrity,true democracy and an able administration for future. We must make all efforts to support him now ,which is our term of trial.
https://www.assamtimes.org/node/18381
JFA message for ABP management
https://www.assamtimes.org/node/18381
Pls note TV channels/ HT /Telegraph/ABP are terminating the services of journalists/cameramen .Journalists are not being terminated. Pls understand the difference and make appropriate correction.
Sir, Is it not obvious that they want to somehow destroy the changing face and attitude of people in Mother India towards corruption and integrity which is what is happening ? people have borne the brunt of Demonetisation and silently suffered to improve the conditions of our beloved country. Is it not obvious that channels like NDTV which really speaking should have closed down long ago and their owners put in Tihar,are using corrupt politicians to stay afloat ,and if possible get rid of MODI at any cost ? Now the news of dismissing honest journalists and cameramen . Can Our Motherland be ever saved from Ettayappans,traitors and back stabbers and Sakunis? O My God please save my mother before i leave this world which is not far away.
Right
Team PGurus, if you are unbiased, accurate and factual, you don’t have to shout about it. Leave that to the readers to figure out!
Why news are not coming even in electronic media. News papers are criticizing other,s lay off and termination .Now what they will do.
The real reason for this retrenchment in primarily in the left-leaning Indian media houses pertains to the rejection of falsehood by the people at large. Social media has brought about a great awakening of Indian masses and has also distinctly highlighted the honesty gaps in the Indian journalism, where falsehood based propaganda still rules the roost. Since people have lost the faith in Indian legacy media (print and electronic) they have started refraining from buying the newspapers, magazines and paid TV channels, resulting in a drop in subscription revenue for these media houses which in turn is resulting in drop in advertisement revenues too. That is the real reason. The remedy is to get back to honesty and report what is happening and not what media’s foreign masters think should be happening in India. Unless media sheds Barkhas, Rajdeeps, Ravishs and the likes they have no future
STN,
Do you really think the media houses runs on the revenue generated from selling newspapers and magazines nowdays…gone are those days….they are now brought and paid by politicks or other bootlicking politician patrons..