The other day when I removed the rubber band and unwrapped The Times of India, the front page was not that of The Times of India…it was an advertisement! Not just a part of the page but the entire front page. The same has happened with the Hindustan Times and yesterday I found the same thing with the Indian Express. Today, they are willing to sell any space including their faces!

Newspapers have come a long way over the years. They are no longer the traditional newspapers that they used to be. Today, you do not even know as to who calls the shots in a newspaper. It could be anyone except, perhaps, the editor of the newspaper! That’s because it is not the editorial policy but the advertisement revenue that sets the tone for the newspaper.

It might surprise many of us to learn that it is not the news or the views that are most sought after in newspapers these days. On weekends, the matrimonial columns or pullouts have the largest readership! Then come the astrology and other predictive occult sciences, vastu and feng shui, fashion, movies and many other columns which could be easily done away with. Then we have the property, motor vehicles and other classified columns. The list is almost endless.

News is perhaps the last thing one looks at in newspapers today. But, that is also because most of know the latest news by the time the newspapers arrive. Thanks to television and other modern media…we now have a minute-to-minute update on news.

Now the newspapers have been taken over by advertisements and news you cannot use! They are literally riding the tiger called advertisements. Advertisements are literally driving them. They are scared of dismounting for fear of being eaten up by the tiger. Today advertisements have come to dictate the policies of our newspapers. Today, advertisements are becoming the face of our newspapers!