Readership or Impact?

A typical situation: An all-India entrance examination is conducted sloppily, loading the results in favour of some. The rest write to the institute about the faulty invigilation and mismanagement of time by the exam centre but receive no response. Frustrated, they decide to approach the Media.

The Times of India is the obvious first choice. The logic being: since it is read the most, it will cause maximum embarrassment and hence result in corrective action.

My experience tells me something else.

There are two kinds of newspapers:

1- those that are read the most by people-at-large (Times of India, Hindustan Times)
2- those that are read the most by bureaucrats but hardly by anybody else (Free Press Journal, Indian Express, The Statesman, Asian Age)

In my opinion, it is a better idea to approach the second variety for help. If one can impact the right IAS officer in-charge of education, there is a higher chance of corrective action happening.

I recall the IIPM story here. Soon after Rashmi Bansal and Gaurav Sabnis were hounded by IIPM, there were hectic attempts across the spectrum to push the story into the 'MSM' (Main Stream Media). A week of PR by the people involved got the story published in a few top dailies, even if as only opinion columns.

That IIPM is still enjoying the ride on inaccurate claims in full-page ads is there for all to see. As a bigger indicator of the failure of the bloggers' campaign, absolutely NONE of the senior IAS officers in the Union Education Ministry know about the IIPM matter even today. Moreover, none in the Union IT Ministry have a whiff of who/what bloggers are. That is how weak the blogger campaign was.

The catch here is, it was always going to be futile trying to push a story into commercially successfuls newspaper that place advertisements on a sacred high pedestal.

Though JAM magazine did commendable work in the investigative piece on IIPM, it can hardly expect a difference, just like MAD magazine cannot expect to influence world opinion on Iran's nukes.

I think, had a lesser known paper like Free Press Journal or Indian Express in New Delhi been provided with this story first, they would have badgered IIPM more successfully than others because of two reasons:
1- since they don't get any ads anyway, there is no risk in taking on IIPM
2- they are religiously read and taken seriously by IAS officers

The media that is read most is not necessarily a vehicle of change.