Apr 25, 2002 02:23 PM
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(Updated Apr 25, 2002 02:23 PM)
Mid-Day is one of the hundreds of newspapers that find their way into the millions of homes in Mumbai and its surrounding areas everyday. It is published by Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd. which was promoted by Mr. Khalid Ansari, a renowned journalist of long standing repute. I have no idea for how long it’s been around but I have it from very reliable sources, thanks to the nature of my profession, that it’s the only other newspaper in Mumbai that makes money apart from the Times of India.
Layout and Content
Mid-Day (MD) comes in a size that varies between a normal magazine and the daily newspaper. It comes in three editions daily - one each in the morning, afternoon and early evening. Before you start stretching your eyebrows in wonder, please allow me to clarify that it’s only the front and hind pages that undergo the cosmetic changes. The rest of the contents remain by and large untouched in the editor’s hands through the three “avatars” during the course of the day. The paper comprises between 60-72 pages on any given day, depending on the supplements that go with it.
The front page features a huge colour picture, the theme being the news of the day followed by the day’s major headlines under it along with the reference page numbers where the said articles are covered in more detail. The actual news coverage spans around 28 pages and another 28 are dedicated strictly to classifieds and hundreds of myriad other trinkets. The supplements, which mostly cover entertainment, lifestyles, travel, etc. span another 4-8 pages depending on the content on hand, mood of the editor and time available for printing before the next edition…strictly in that order. At times, the ads that appear even the non-classifieds sections are so large in size and many in number that I’m forced to scout diligently for the news articles in a particular page before I find them. MD is virtually an advertisers paradise and one can find easily anything from pins to planes in the classifieds.
Coverage of News
The caption on top of the paper screams “We deliver Mumbai” and quite naturally, more than 70% of the newspaper is devoted to coverage of the local news with the National/International accounting for the balance space by default. The news could be as mundane as a celebrity losing her dear doggie (with a snap of both cuddling in happier times) or as outrageous as Britney Spears wearing her jeans so low that even a handicapped chap without the benefit of his “Aankhen” can see her underwear from behind (this one had two snaps!) Most of the other pages are filled with things like “Letters to the Editor or the Municipal/Police Comissioner”, petty crimes that happen everyday, etc. Here again, Mid-Day quite like the ToI cannot just avoid non-coverage of the glam events that happen with a surprising regularity in the social circuits that Mumbai is so famous for. 2 pages are for the Business news and the articles there are mostly condensed articles of the main news that appear in the business dailies in the morning. The only change would be in the coverage of the closing range of the BSE sensex. The redeeming factors are in the coverage of the sports news. The articles here are upto date and are quite helpful to the Mumbaiwallahs, especially when a cricket series involving India is on or in the midst of major sporting events like the soccer or cricket World Cup.
Quality of Authors and Correspondents
To its credit, MD has a good network of correspondents in and around Mumbai and that helps in giving near-live coverage even when the Chief Minister’s dog barks in his official residence. There are some really good authors who contribute good articles regularly like Anil Thakraney, Bachi karkaria, Anil Dharker, and Pramod Navalkar in the general section and luminaries of the status of Michael Ferreira, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, etc. in the sports section. Nisha Jamwal (interior decors and related stuff), Deepa Adhikari (travel and places), Narendra Kusnur (music and movies) are the other main regular contributors. Here again the sports section scores highly thanks to some excellent coverage of current events and some nostalgic articles by ex-greats.
Other Tidbits
The third page invariably is decked with an enticing snap of a semi-nude female model and the very intention of putting the snap at the very beginning smacks of an unbridled taste of voyeurism on the part of the powers that be. Why am I complaining anyway? I too devote a good minute or two exercising my eyes on the snap, the duration depending on how much or how less clothes the model has on her body. The standard cartoon also appears on page 3 and more often than not gives the impression that it was hastily sketched to fill up empty space there.
The only reason why I buy the paper on a daily basis while on the way back home is for the comics, horoscopes and crosswords section which hold my attention till I reach my destination, the journey spanning about 30-40 minutes. “Calvin & Hobbes”, “Crock” and “Born Loser” act as great humour stimulants and allow me that rare privilege of chuckling within myself at the end of a tiring day.
My Opinion
Mid-Day is not a paper to buy if one is looking for reading good National and International news because it caters more to the local news. It is priced at Rs. 2.50 for the first & second editions and Rs. 3.00 for the final one. I get full value for money because I not only get to go through the comic strips and do the crosswords but also grab the occasionally excellent articles by good authors.
