There has been no dearth of earth-shattering images of natural disasters, scandals born of comments to the fourth estate, images of smooches on dance floors that made it to the front pages, and streets and houses clogged with rainwater, and people dying in stampedes to get relief. The people in Tamil Nadu, and more so Chennai, have seen a lot in recent times. There's more coming their way.
Assembly elections are fast approaching the people and politicians of the state. And the media fraternity is readying itself for it, for several reasons. Given the political climate and the scenario that is unfolding, it is a time for publications that remotely cover politics to celebrate an opportunity to present a plethora of news from an array of sources -
each publication, for its own reason.
Party organs like DMK's Murasoli, expanded. The party's Deputy General Secretary M K Stalin and his brother M K Azhagiri launched a new edition in Madurai, and another in Coimbatore too was launched recently. Members of the fourth estate did cover the launch events. It's not often that DNA's launch is covered by the Times of India, right?
Another party organ, a weekly in English, 'Rising Sun', was relaunched. A DMK press release said Karunanidhi would be the guiding spirit behind the magazine, and M K Stalin would play an important role in its publication. The agenda in the case of Murasoli and 'Rising Sun' is the election.
For some other magazines, the agenda is to ride on the wave of curiosity to get to know what's happening, and capture the reader's mind space long after the elections are over. General magazines abound in a reading-friendly Tamil Nadu, with
Ananda Vikatan and Kumudam having remained pillars of the Tamil weekly market for decades.
These and many more, will play a role in building the heat around the assembly elections. Many groups have come up with magazines ardently covering issues including politics, like Junior Vikatan from the Vikatan group. For many of the magazines, the spice of politics, and its relationship with the reader as a slice of his life, will mean more copies sold. Sun Network's Dinakaran is slated for a re-launch, and market sources indicate that it was to be relaunched around Pongal in 2006 (mid-January), but might be postponed by a week or two. There will be no dearth of content on the political news pages when it does, all the way up to April or May or whenever the election gets over.A former Dinakaran hand, who bought over a (then) defunct publication with a focus on politics in 1996, titled 'Alai Osai', has chosen this January to re-launch the daily not in its original slot of an eveninger, but as a morning daily. The reasons are obvious. No marks for guessing what sells before, and during the election campaign, and post the polls.
It is a time for publications to stretch out with the scintillating news of the day, or if possible, create the news of the day, and reach more audiences that are dying to know 'who said what'. The political cadre are also the reason for the booming circulation of many publications during elections, when their heroes and leaders are elevated to the front page, even if it is a single quote that gets them there. "This is the time when all the media involved in politics and political
Chennai! news can make a noise and build circulation. It is but obvious that the heat wave will be attempted to ride on by even existing players and market leaders. But it is interesting to see more new publications crop up. I don't know for how long they will be in existence. And we can't say why they are there either," said a senior media person from the city.
'Alai Osai' claims to be in the race as a newspaper, and is not the political tool of any one party, asserts A J Anand, its Editor and Publisher. The re-launch will commence with a Chennai edition, with 30,000 copies, and would soon be followed by printing from Tuticorn, Pondicherry, Vellore and Salem. Supporting his point is the fact that he is a veteran in the trade, having joined as an editorial trainee with the Dinakaran daily in 1985.
Admittedly, the business aspect will be affected by the daily's strong political orientation, but the editor insists that the same politics will be a key strength as the state gears up for polls. "Politics should not be kept away from day to day life. Everyone needs to follow what is happening, and everyone is interested in knowing what is happening. We are not saying that we are a purely political daily, and we are clear that the agenda is to build a newspaper, not a party. The business and political climate in the state are such that we think it is the right time to launch," said Anand. Anand explained, "We have waited for the right climate to set in, and we believe it is now. We're in the final stages of working out a distribution
and subscription model, and speaking to people on tie-ups, and we think it is possible to take the newspaper to the reader innovatively."
Priced at Rs.3, Alai Osai hopes to touch a circulation figure of 1,00,000 copies, and cater to those who seek to be politically aware, while simultaneously targeting the rest of the segments with other content. One of the selling points of the editorial content will be path breaking political reporting, is the promise. The scenario is compounded by the emergence of a new star from the large screen to the podium on a campaign trail with each passing election. The state has seen the emergence of two film stars as political factors who might just play a role in future - at least in the forthcoming
assembly elections. Vijayakanth and Karthik are the two, with the former floating his own political party, and the latter joining someone else.
Speculation of who will side which alliance, in a scenario where every alliance partner is beginning to make statements on a
respectable share of seats, will lead to more stories. What better time than now, for political reporting to be the selling
point of a publication in Tamil Nadu? Or for that matter, a Television channel. But then, we don't have too many choices on that front.
