http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090222/FOREIGN/947470075/1103/NEWS
Kashmir witnesses print media boom Yusuf Jameel, Foreign Correspondent Last Updated: February 22. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 22. 2009 5:30AM GMT Residents buy newspapers from hawkers on the streets of Srinagar. Habibullah Naqash for The National SRINAGAR, INDIA // The newspaper market in Kashmir is booming with about 145 papers hitting the stands each day as literacy rates in the scenic Himalayan region rise. There are also 188 weekly papers and 94 fortnightly or monthly publications in the disputed territory, officially called Jammu and Kashmir, and about 150 applications have been made to register new newspapers. Authorities put literacy rates at 65.3 per cent, up from 55 per cent in 2001 and these are expected to increase further as education improves in the state of nearly 10 million people. The owners of top newspapers such as the Daily Excelsior (circulation 148,000), the Kashmir Times (145,000), the Greater Kashmir (66,000) and Rising Kashmir (40,000) say their circulation is increasing by two per cent to five per cent a month. Newspapers, most of which are published in Srinagar and Jammu, Kashmir's summer and winter capitals respectively, are being snapped up by people eager for the news affecting their lives. "One of the main reasons behind the boom is the simple procedures set for starting a periodical and greater interest envisaged by the people of Kashmir to learn about what is happening around them and the world over," said Khalid Bashir Ahmed, the director of information in the Kashmiri government. The industry is booming in Kashmir despite being blighted by years of violence from Muslim separatists seeking an end to New Delhi's rule. It is also growing despite an upsurge in internet use and cable television which have contributed to the demise of newspapers in many parts of the world, particularly the United States and Europe. In Indian-administered-Kashmir, a couple of papers have been launched each month over the past couple of years. Official statistics from the department of information and public relations show 36 new titles have come out during the past year and there are more than 150 applications seeking registration, including 51 new titles that have already been approved. Analysts say the newspapers are flourishing with the increasing rate of literacy. "Almost every Kashmiri family living in cities and towns now has more than one literate member and one of their obsessions is to see a newspaper or two on their breakfast table," said A K Raina, the state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abiyan, a group promoting primary education. Besides Kashmir's own newspaper groups being in the race to bring out new publications, one of India's largest circulated newspapers, the Indian Express, as part of a tie-up with Himalayan Mail, a Jammu-based newspaper, comes with a daily pullout dedicated to Jammu and Kashmir. The regional edition of another national newspaper, the Hindustan Times, dedicates two of its pages to the state. The Tribune, one of the oldest newspapers in India, launched a separate edition for Jammu and Kashmir in March last year. Kashmiri newspapers are being carried by the success of the industry in India, which is still growing despite the global economic downturn. The Indian media and entertainment industry has grown 15 per cent annually since 2006 and last year was worth US$11.68 billion (Dh43bn) with estimates that it will top $21bn over the next five years. But the growth projection for the whole media industry, including print, television and radio, for 2009 to 2013 has been lowered to 12.5 per cent per annum, down from earlier forecasts of 18 per cent, because of the global economic downturn, according to a recent study done by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). "In many ways, 2008 was a testing time for the industry," the study said. "With the global economic slowdown affecting advertising spending, sectors like TV, print, radio and outdoor that depend on advertising revenues were affected." Amit Mitra, the secretary general of FICCI said: "India is one of the few countries where economic growth will be led by domestic consumption." He also said India continued to be an attractive market for media and entertainment and attributed his outlook to the low cost of advertising, a growing consumer class, a young population, low media penetration and increasing spending. Despite the boom newspapers in Kashmir face many difficulties reporting in a disputed region. "It has been a sort of challenge to calibrate various pressures which are, of course, invisible from both parties to the Kashmir conflict," said Riyaz Masroor, the executive editor of Rising Kashmir, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month. Kashmir Media Group, which owns the paper, is planning to launch an Urdu daily, Buland Kashmir, to mark the occasion. Mr Riyaz also said it was hard finding good journalists. His team is mostly made up of graduates from Kashmir University's journalism department whom he described as "raw hands". "I found most of them obsessed with the conflict reporting. They would not think beyond killings and human rights violations. "But the situation has changed now for better. I do get good stories from them on a variety of issues," he said. [email protected]
