Feb 02, 2001 01:13 PM
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Ting..tong...Its morning 6.00 and there is some one on the door bell, in a sleepy way you go and open the door, and their stands a guys(Usually a south Indian ) with the morning paper. Arrives the morning tea and your favorite morning companion, your Newspaper.
This is the scenario with everyone and most of us wait for the paper to come and quickly grab the news so that you can get updated. Inspite of the technology advances with Internet & TV, people still prefer the morning newspaper.
Whether its the hot news or the cartoons or the juicy gossips, or the classifieds or the flashy advertisement. You have it all.
It depends on person to person as to what does he like in a newspaper. I prefer everything believe me whether it's the cartoons or the advertisements and above all the news. In most of the local trains or in buses you may find lot of people really submerged in playing crossword games(Which is hot cake in regional newspapers ). But over all newspaper can never be replaced.
For me my favorite Newspaper is definitely Times of India (TOI). Lot of people have written bad as well as good reviews about this paper, and I am gone combine both of them.
Profile
The first edition of The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, later to be called The Times of India, was launched in Bombay in 1838. After several years of change, evolution and growth in the paper's character,Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd(the proprietors of The Times of India Group) was established with the principal objective of publishing newspapers, journals, magazines and books.
Today The Times of India Group has emerged as multi-edition, multi-product organisation, and a clear leader in the segment it operates. Some of the brands owned by the Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. are The Times of India, The Economic Times, Femina, Filmfare, Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Times FM.
India's most widely circulated English daily and the group's premier mega-brand. The Times of India is rated amongst the world's six best newspapers and attracts a daily circulation level of more than a million copies. The Times of India is published from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna.
Lets begin the content...
1. News :
Good :
TOI has the widest coverage available with covering most of the main region in India. Delhi , lucknow and patna in the north, Bombay, Ahmedabad in the west, Bangalore in the south. Its got all the news with one of the best reporters available in India. Content of the news are always precise and never manipulated and its not handled by any politician , who can mould the news content.
Bad:
Inspite of having such wide coverage, it misses the important metros like Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad. Sometimes you have more space in the newspaper occupied by events organized by the Times group.
Advertisements:
Good
If you want your advertisement to reach the mass then this is the right newspaper. In fact nowadays you find more advertisement then News in the TOI. But nothing to take away from it. Its got the reach and it does create an impact on the people. This is the best place to give an advertisement on the upper range of products, because people reading this newspaper do have more percentage of upper and middle class people.
Bad
As I said earlier, you find now a days more advertisement than the actual news. Hence the actual purpose of the newspaper is not met. As TOI has got monopoly, placing an ad is not a easy task because the cost involved is astounding. Small companies will definitely find it difficult because they are pretty expensive.
Cartoons
Its got one of the famous figure,everyones Common Man. In the morning unless and until you don't read the jokes by the common man , your day is not met. It's the impact like an Amul Hoardings have made. Other cartoons like Nancy, Garfield, beetle, just are really a class apart. And for me its good way to start your day... LAUGHING...
Classifieds
As I spoke earlier its got one of the best reach and the classifieds are really very useful. You wont believe, I wanted to buy a Persian cat and this is were after months of searching, I got one.
They do no how to celebrate different events like Valentines Day, mother day, etc. You can reach your loved and close ones through giving messages. Good way to reach..Don't you guys think so.
Sports
They have really good content as far as sports is concerned. Reviews on cricket from Sunil gawaskar, G.eoff Boycott etc., reviews on tennis by V. Amritraj. They also give good coverage to the local games.
Business
They do have Economic Times, so most of the news on the business section is basically a reprint of the Economic Times.
Ascent
Man this is one section, which at least a person who is looking for job won't like to miss. Its again a good way to start a week for a person looking for a right opportunities. But guys , if your thinking of placing an ad, think twice and if your cash register is okay then go ahead as they are damn expensive. Its starts from Rs 50,000 to 4,00,000.
Bombay/Delhi/B'lore Times
I rarely think its of any use, as most of the time you will find the rich guys and gals showing off their wealth. TOI should really rework on Bombay times.
Sunday Times
This is one of the best, editions coming from the TOI stable. When your relaxing on Sunday, its good to start your day with lot of good content . Everyone like me, must be waiting for the movies reviews by Khaled and Rashid Irani. The other features like Astrology, features on the personalities etc.
I think so most of the newspapers work 247365 days but TOI takes liberty on not having issues on the Public Holidays. So In a year there are some 5 to 7 occasions where in the morning you don't have the TOI at your doorstep.
Overall, like most organization, they do have flaws but they are definitely the No 1 Newspaper in India.
