Status and position of Kannada Journalism

1. Status of Kannada Journalism
Unit 4

2. Introduction
 Indian Readership Survey clearly shows that that it is
not so much the English-language publications in India
that are contributing to this vibrant growth as much as
it is their regional language counterparts.

3. Media
organisations
 Media organisations in Karnataka focused on local
news coverage
 Leading Kannada Newspapers- Vijaya Karnataka,
Vijayvani, Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, Udayavani
 the growth of Kannada journalism during literary
movement that shaped Kannada literature.
 The Vijay Karnataka was born at this juncture to
counter the half-century-old Prajavani, perceived to
have a liberal outlook and an essentially South
Karnataka influence.

4. CONT…
 According to the Indian Readership Survey, Vijaya
Karnataka was the leading Kannada publication
during December 2019 to March 2020.
 In 2001 and 2002 there were just 4 readers for a copy
of VK whereas in the same period the average number
of readers per copy of Prajavani was 12.
 In 2003 the number of readers per copy of VK has
increased to 12 to catch up with other newspapers.
 In 2020, the newspaper had the highest readership
with over eight million readers followed by Vijayavani
and Prajavani with over seven million readers each
during the survey period.

5. IRS
 According to the total readership numbers released by the
Media Research Users Council (MRUC) for Kannada
publications, Vijay Karnataka was the largest read daily
in the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2019 Q1 with a
total readership of 79,10,000, up 14.22% from 69,25,000 of
TR in the previous survey.
 The second largest Kannada daily Vijayavani also grew by
11.5%, recording a TR of 72,30,000 compared with
64,82,000 in IRS 2017.
 Prajavani remained a close No. 3 with a total readership
of 71,77,000, up 11.5% from 64,35,000 of TR in the
previous survey,
 Udayavani was a distant No. 4 with a total readership of
33,24,000 compared with 31,09,000 in IRS 2017.
 Kannada Prabha was at No. 5 recording a TR of
26,62,000, up 17.6% from 22,63,000 of TR in the previous
survey.

6. 2019Q1
2019Q2 2019Q3
Vijay
Karnataka
7860 8081 8018
Vijayavani 7191 7345 7500
Prajavani 7177 7372 7549
Udayavani 3184 3264 3465
Kannada
Prabha
2657 2599 2592

7. English
newspapers
 Bangalore Mirror
 DNA
 Deccan Herald
 Times of India
 The Hindu & Business Line
 New Indian Express

8. Problems
 The total reach of Kannada newspapers is well above
the national average but the Kannada newspaper
industry faces some peculiar problems.
 English newspapers are more widely read in
Karnataka than in any other state.
 In Bangalore particularly the Kannada newspapers
face competition from all other language newspapers
and in this respect Bangalore is the most
`cosmopolitan` city in the country.

9. Mere
Translation
 Readers who were used to the
respectable Prajavani, struggling Kannada Prabha,
and modest Udayavani and also there Samyukta
Karnataka found a new companion to the more
aggressive Vijaya Karnataka acquired by the BCCI
group.

10. Cont…
 Ownership of Indian language publications by the
more successful English newspaper groups is a
common phenomenon.
 Thus in Kannada, both Deccan Herald and the Indian
Express Group have their Kannada
newspapers, Prajavani and Kannada
Prabha respectively.


11. Contentsare
translations
 The acquisition of the new entrant Vijay Karnataka by
BCCI in 2006 had reinforced existing practices.
 It had also set in the price war dynamics.
 What is distinct about Times of India Kannada is the
name that is retained to further the brand , the
contents that are mere translations of the main
English newspaper.
 Underlying the launch was the move to capitalize on a
niche segment, the metro readers and P. 3 material.

12. Journalistare
mere
translators
 The paper and its launch have added another
dimension to regional language journalism-translation.
 The monopoly of news and content sources in English
had necessitated the need for copy translators who
could render the news agency and syndicated content
into the local language.

13. Secondclass
status
 Wage structure and other inherent bias factors had
definitely accorded a second class status to regional
language journalists.
 Question relates to the future role and status of
regional newspapers owned by organisations
publishing English newspapers.

14. Prosandconsof
translation
 Noted litterateur, Prof. U.R. Ananthamurthy in one of
his columns has analysed the pros and cons of
translation editions of the so-called mainstream
papers
 Kannada newspapers from the beginning until recent
times had certain flavour and were rooted in the
distinctness of the language and culture.
 The translation culture is reflective of the push
towards English language including forays into the job
market where it is not only imperative to know English
but also to know it the American way with regard to
expressions.

15. Cont…
 Brand newspapers and their Kannada editions have
become nothing but translations both in terms of
orientation of contents and language.
 Journalism if equated with mere translation has
certain inherent dangers.

16. Sub-nationalist
duties
 The most important point to be made with regard to
Kannada-language newspapers is that even 65 years
after the formation of Karnataka (initially known as
the Mysore State)
 newspapers treat their sub-nationalist duties as sacred
and inviolable, and continue to display unswerving
loyalty to Kannada causes.
 Never challenged on certain issues. Eg. Sharing of its
river waters, Karnataka’s borders or granting classical
status to the language
 With these issues, the publications do not make a non-
partisan, professional judgment based on ground
realities, echoing an emotional line.

17. Communalism
inKannada
newspapers
 Communalism in Kannada newspapers (and news
channels) has been growing since the late 1990s,
observes author and columnist Sugata Srinivasaraju
(The Caravan)
 “Kannada newspapers, which have never aspired for
diverse newsrooms, have a long history of
communalism and casteism.
 It became pronounced, though, in the late 1990s, when
the Sangh parivar became determined to aggressively
push its ideological agenda.
 )

18. Chauvinism
 The language movement too by then had embraced a
cruder variety of chauvinism.
 The majoritarian interest became a default journalistic
code of mainstream Kannada media.
 Today, a majority of the Kannada media is run by
companies/persons with great interest in the ideology
of the ruling dispensation.
 This is how fake news or fabricated news finds traction
and validity in the mainstream media. (An article by
Preethi Nagaraj

19. Recentnewson
hatespeech
 A new report titled “The Wages of Hate: Journalism in
Dark Times” released by the Bengaluru-based
collective Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS) on
September 8 looks closely at the reportage of these two
events in Kannada news media (mainly television).
 It concludes that “in both cases, the message from
sections of the media was that these individuals and
communities were not entitled to full constitutional
rights”.

20. Cont…
 The report dedicates one chapter to understand the
political economy of the Kannada media sector as “it
helps link various structural and social factors to the
need to amplify and promote instances of hate speech”.

21. Media
Ownership
 The report investigates the current ownership
patterns.
 It states: “Media houses are primarily owned by
businessmen, politicians and journalists.”
 It is because of this alignment of interests between the
owners and the ruling party that there is a systemic
bias towards the ruling party.

22. Rigid
organizational
policy
 Indian regional news sites only partially use the
internet’s potentials and are unable to explore some of
the internet’s features due to their rigid organizational
policies and a lack of multiskilled workforce.

23. Statusof
women
journalists
 In print industry one can discover women journalists
holding senior positions, men have still the lion's share
so far as print is concerned.
 In contrast with the print business TV is still male
dominated at basic leadership level.
 The key obstructions to ladies' prosperity as per the
media experts were fundamentally: states of mind, pay
variations, different weights, family and work, danger
of being sexually pestered

24. Betterstatus
enjoyedbythe
womeninEnglish
media
 Women in English language media enjoyed better
status at all levels than the women in Kannada media.
 The better facilities offered were in terms of wages,
terms and conditions offered, facilities at work place,
transport back home for the women working at night
shifts, promotions, increments in salaries, maternity
leaves, separate washroom facilities, and assignments
given.

25. Statusofwomen
inKannadamedia
 The rigid mindset and patriarchal supremacy was
highly visible in the news rooms of Kannada language
media.
 Women were not treated on par with men and women's
voices were rarely heard.
 Women in Kannada print and also electronic media did
not enjoy the status as the women in English media,
both in print and electronic media.

26. Cont…
 The facilities like promotions, increments in salaries,
maternity leaves, separate washroom facilities, and
assignments given were much better for the women
working in English language media.
 In the matter of facilities offered in the office,
livelihood, security measures, freedom, respect,
treatments etc. they stood far behind their English
language counterparts.
 Freedom was rarely observed in the offices of Kannada
language print media.
 The discrimination level was high with women
subjected to glass ceiling to a larger extent.

27. How toimprove
 The women working in Kannada language media in
the State capital Bengaluru and costal district of
Mangaluru and Udupi enjoyed better status than the
women working in Kannada language media in the
North Karnataka region.
 The treatment given to women was mainly based on
traditional values and external influence of that
particular area.
 The media organizations should also offer assignments
without gender discrimination, taking special needs
into consideration.
 More women should been rolled into the reporting
section.

28. GuariLankesh

Gauri was widely regarded as an independent and
outspoken journalist and activist, and a fierce critic of
hardline Hindu groups in Karnataka.

29. References
 Naik, Manjushree Ganapathy.(2016). Status of working
women journalists in karnataka a comparison between
print television and english kannada media, Manipal
University
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/180687
 http://asu.thehoot.org/media-watch/regional-media/toi-
kannada-journalists-as-translators-2465
 https://caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/sourced-locally
 https://uni-mysore.ac.in/assets/Downloads-2012/February-
2013/Pre-Indepdennt.pdf
 http://www.patrikakosha.com
 http://www.patrikakosha.com/digitalkannada.aspx
 https://thewire.in/media/covid-19-kannada-electronic-
media-tablighi-jamaat
 https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/lapdog-
narrative/article32633273.ece

30. Cont…
 http://www.auditbureau.org/files/JD%202019%20Highe
st%20Circulated%20(language%20wise).pdf
 http://asu.thehoot.org/media-watch/regional-
media/vijay-karnataka-and-kannada-journalism-part-
1-1373
 https://mruc.net/uploads/posts/195a27e70e0ddae2aa36
01970e191531.pdf