Impending takeover is talk of town
Ranchi, Feb. 11: With news of the impending sale of Prabhat Khabar, the state’s leading Hindi newspaper, doing the rounds, politicians have jumped into the arena to condemn the “sell-out”.
A pamphlet circulated in the state capital over the weekend exhorted people to resist the sale.
The newspaper, declared the Jharkhand Jansangharsh Morcha, has been the voice of Jharkhand and is closely identified with the movement for the creation and thereafter reconstruction of the new state.
The sale for profit-motive, therefore, was not acceptable, it stated.
An agitated Ajay Kumar Kachchap of the Morcha states that the sale is a cons-piracy to suppress the voice of the people and “the deal must be stopped”.
Even employees and journalists at Neutral Publishing House at Kokar, appear restive and question the wisdom of Usha Martin Ltd. in selling out at this juncture.
“Usha Martin is not a sick company and is in no dire need to justify selling of family silver,” said a worried employee on Sunday while his colleague wondered why UMIL would take such a step at a time when it is planning to invest Rs 1,200 crore in Jharkhand.
The worry centred round reports about the probable take-over by the UP-based Jagran Group of publications.
Since Jagran has editions in both Ranchi and Jamshedpur and is seen as a rival newspaper, the employees wonder at the motive of Jagran.
“Surely they are not going to keep publishing both the newspapers from all the centres,” they wondered aloud.
Examples of a prominent English daily, buying out an English and a Kannada newspaper in Bangalore and even launching a Kannada edition of their own have not allayed their apprehension.
They cite an article by Dr B.P. Sanjay, former director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, in which he had claimed that the move was designed to take advantage of the marketing and distribution networks of the Kannada daily before stifling them.
The critics recall a similar experiment done by the English daily when it brought out The Independent to counter the threat posed by The Indian Post in Mumbai.
There are others, however, who believe that the take-over by Jagran could be beneficial for Prabhat Khabar.
“After all, no group is going to spend Rs 100 crore to buy a venture that it plans to close down,” they argued.
Usha Martin and Prabhat Khabar executives refused to comment.
The company, they said, will come out with a statement at the appropriate time and allay the apprehension of readers and the staff.
A few journalists of Prabhat Khabar maintained that they had nothing against Jagran or any other group.
“Our only worry is that the buyer would use the advertiser and distribution network to strengthen its base in Jharkhand, before closing down PK.
The management should have struck a deal with a group which does not have a footprint in the region, they said.
A pamphlet circulated in the state capital over the weekend exhorted people to resist the sale.
The newspaper, declared the Jharkhand Jansangharsh Morcha, has been the voice of Jharkhand and is closely identified with the movement for the creation and thereafter reconstruction of the new state.
The sale for profit-motive, therefore, was not acceptable, it stated.
An agitated Ajay Kumar Kachchap of the Morcha states that the sale is a cons-piracy to suppress the voice of the people and “the deal must be stopped”.
Even employees and journalists at Neutral Publishing House at Kokar, appear restive and question the wisdom of Usha Martin Ltd. in selling out at this juncture.
“Usha Martin is not a sick company and is in no dire need to justify selling of family silver,” said a worried employee on Sunday while his colleague wondered why UMIL would take such a step at a time when it is planning to invest Rs 1,200 crore in Jharkhand.
The worry centred round reports about the probable take-over by the UP-based Jagran Group of publications.
Since Jagran has editions in both Ranchi and Jamshedpur and is seen as a rival newspaper, the employees wonder at the motive of Jagran.
“Surely they are not going to keep publishing both the newspapers from all the centres,” they wondered aloud.
Examples of a prominent English daily, buying out an English and a Kannada newspaper in Bangalore and even launching a Kannada edition of their own have not allayed their apprehension.
They cite an article by Dr B.P. Sanjay, former director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, in which he had claimed that the move was designed to take advantage of the marketing and distribution networks of the Kannada daily before stifling them.
The critics recall a similar experiment done by the English daily when it brought out The Independent to counter the threat posed by The Indian Post in Mumbai.
There are others, however, who believe that the take-over by Jagran could be beneficial for Prabhat Khabar.
“After all, no group is going to spend Rs 100 crore to buy a venture that it plans to close down,” they argued.
Usha Martin and Prabhat Khabar executives refused to comment.
The company, they said, will come out with a statement at the appropriate time and allay the apprehension of readers and the staff.
A few journalists of Prabhat Khabar maintained that they had nothing against Jagran or any other group.
“Our only worry is that the buyer would use the advertiser and distribution network to strengthen its base in Jharkhand, before closing down PK.
The management should have struck a deal with a group which does not have a footprint in the region, they said.
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