Press-ing policies

The Bombay Samachar director Hor-musji Cama is the first person ever to hold the post of the president of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) twice.

The 48-year-old who was president of the powerful 880-member all-India association in 2006-2007 was once again elected to the prestigious slot at the 69th annual general meeting (AGM) held on September 19, 2008 in Bangalore. His grandfather Muncherjee N. Cama and his uncle Rusi M. Cama were also past presidents of the body.

Maybe "I’m a little more outspoken than the rest,” replied Cama modestly when asked why he was reelected. The night before the AGM Cama was surprised that he had not been invited for an executive committee meeting by the outgoing INS president Bahubali Shah of the Ahmedabad based Gujarat Samachar.

Later the phone rang in his hotel room asking him to join the group. Cama regretted saying he was already in bed, when Shah informed him the committee had "unanimously decided to appoint you,” president. What about the deputy president, Paresh Nath who should in the normal course have succeeded Shah? asked Cama. "He proposed your name,” replied Shah.

Aside from being outspoken Cama has devoted considerable time and effort to further the objects of the 70-year-old body formerly known as the Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society. In December this year the World Newspapers Congress will hold its 62nd meeting in India, the first time the function is being held in South Asia. "The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) which represents over 18,000 leading newspaper publications… organizes these annual events of the print media in different parts of the world in collaboration with a host country industry member association. The INS has successfully bid for hosting these events in India,” noted Cama in a press release circulated to all INS members. "Over 2,000 top cream of world’s most influential publishers, editors and media personalities are expected to attend. It is a great opportunity to showcase India to the rest of the world.”

Hormusji Cama: lobbying for the Press

On July 10, 2009 the Indian Newspaper Congress which was held for the first time last year is to hold its second annual meet in Delhi. "Everyone related to the media comes and interacts,” says Cama. The first congress was held in Bombay and attended by around 500 participants.

The meet will be held in different zones each year. "Next it will be the south,” notes Cama. Newspaper proprietors, editors, advertising agencies, corporate clients all come together to discuss "non-controversial (matters of) interest to all of us. This year the emphasis is on readership. (One of the) main focus of today.”

Discussions will focus on the two readership surveys, namely the National Readership Survey (NRS) and the Indian Readership Survey (IRS). Both surveys try to determine the total number of readers a particular publication may have. Once readership is estimated, the advertising tariffs are negotiated with media buyers, namely advertising agencies and corporations.

"We have a lot of problems with readership surveys,” states Cama. "Everyone is fighting.” The IRS is conducted by the Media Research Users Council and the findings are then purchased by media buyers. "They have a motive to see that readership figures are brought down (so they) can buy (advertising) space at the lowest possible price. They negotiate for better rates. Do we want to pay to see our figures hammered?”

The NRS has been inoperative for the last two years, observes Cama. Founded by the INS, the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) the NRS council has members from all three bodies and is run by ABC presently where the secretary general is Hormuz Masani. In the NRS the parties who want to be included in the survey have to pay beforehand.

"Members could not get their queries answered,” Cama stated. Publications that printed 20,000 copies for example found the readership survey showing they only had 10,000 readers.

In order to revamp the NRS, Cama says a secretariat has been put in place. A joint working committee with Ashish Bagga of the India Today Group has been formed.

In the past only 10 percent of the survey pertained to readership and the rest to consumer product information ("Which television do you have?” "Do you own a four wheeler?” and so on). Now a shorter 15 to 20-minute questionnaire would be formatted.

There is also a move afoot to "have one survey” instead of two, says Cama. The surveys cost upward of Rs 10 crore each. "Do we merge, separate or not have readership surveys at all?” he asks. Cama "serves on both NRS and IRS boards. I am taking a hard line with both…Abroad there is a healthy balance between ABC and readership surveys,” he notes.

Cama believes the best way to determine the reach and readership of a publication is through certification. "The ABC audits circulation. The certificate based module is better.”

The Bombay Samachar is "the only Gujarati daily to be ABC certified,” states Cama. "All the top line publications are ABC certified. Ones not up to scrutiny go out of ABC. Stringent rules (for certifying circulation) are good for the industry,” says Cama.

He believes that as the readers become more urbane, literate and affluent, the readership per copy goes down. Instead of sharing a copy of a publication they opt to buy their own copy.

Readership per copy for a handful of newspapers though is going up, however, he notes. Several have seen "increased circulation in rural areas. But many publications have not gone into multiple editions.”

Another project that Cama spearheaded, the construction of an INS building at the prestigious Bandra-Kurla Complex is well under way. A builder who is developing the premises will give space free of cost to INS. INS members will be allocated rooms on a leave and license basis at cost. A lottery for the 274 rooms will be drawn to select the lucky publications. Those who already have an office in Bombay will not be eligible for the draw and each newspaper group will be allotted only one room, notes Cama.

Lobby

An important function of the INS is to liaise with government. "We recently convinced the government to stop customs duty on newsprint,” observes Cama. In between newsprint prices had soared, touching a high of $ 975 (around Rs 48,750) a ton. With the ensuing global economic meltdown the prices are now around $ 460 (Rs 23,000). "We expect prices to plateau. It’s not viable for them to go lower,” he states.

Due to the declining prices "mills are changing from producing newsprint to other forms of paper,” says Cama. India imports 50 percent of its newsprint requirements, he notes. "A large number of private mills in India have started” making newsprint. The paper is manufactured from "waste paper.” But a few "rogue” mills have imported "hazardous waste” (paper mixed with other materials) which is damaging to the environment, remarks Cama.

To prevent this abuse the government has shifted imports from the Open General Licence (OGL) category to a licensed mode. "The genuine users are suffering,” points out Cama. Why did the newsprint prices shoot up? we inquired. Some "foreign manufacturers formed a cartel,” opines Cama. Also the US elections in 2008 saw demand increase. China which exported newsprint shifted supplies to meet growing domestic demand.

What about the trend in the West of newspapers going in the red and even shutting down? There is talk of San Francisco becoming the first major city not to have a single newspaper should the San Francisco Chronicle close down.

"Our unique advantage is we have a growing population,” replies Cama. "Our numbers won’t come down for a long time. People want to hold a newspaper, they are habituated to papers. Our economic mold is different.” Abroad papers are not cheap. They can cost over Rs 100 per copy. Even in places like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh newspapers cost Rs 15 to Rs 20 a copy, he says. Here it is two or three rupees.

"We never increased our copy price,” Cama observes. "Competition kept prices down. In the south, the prices are traditionally higher” yet they still maintain "good growth figures. The southern lobby got together. They are confident of their product.”

They also formed a cartel to buy newsprint. "They placed bulk orders and negotiated a better rate,” he notes.

Why is this practice not followed in the rest of India? we asked. Perhaps "there is more trust and honor there,” replies Cama. Or publishers believe they can negotiate a better deal individually. The "comfort level” of publishers may determine their policy.

Another reason for declining readership figures in the West could be that "people may be happy with snippets of news from the Internet or the mobile phone.” But as he observes in the case of the recent Air France plane crash, "the (entire) story can never be explained” on a mobile phone. People will want to know about the particular aircraft, the history of the airline, etc. For this newspapers are required.

Cama serves on the board of the Press Trust of India (PTI) and notes they have received inquiries from mobile phone companies asking for news content to upload onto consumers’ phones. "PTI has hundreds of journalists,” but its "major income comes from rentals. We have a huge number of properties.” The early directors bought property from the network’s profits. "They had foresight,” remarks Cama.

Once the government banned foreign news agencies decades ago from dealing directly with publications and required them to provide their news through PTI and United News of India (UNI), PTI and UNI received a fillip. It was only with the advent of modern telecommunication, especially the Internet, that they faced competition.

If the newspaper industry declines in India as it has in the West how would PTI survive as a news organization? we inquired. "We haven’t discussed the subject in our board,” says Cama. "The circulations of individual newspapers are coming up. The Times of India is showing an increase in sales.” With growing literacy and a middle class, the number of readers should increase.

An antique car enthusiast, Cama with his Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane, 1947 vehicle

Language publications

What about the language media? (Cama abhors the term "vernacular” claiming it to be a relic from colonial times. He wants the word banned. His dislike may be justified. Webster’s Dictionary defines vernacular as "using a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured or foreign language; of or being nonstandard language or dialect.”) Do Gujarati papers in Bombay suffer on account of Gujarati not being taught in the schools? "The Gujarati population is growing” in the city "but the readership is not. Gujarati language schools are vanishing. The younger generation are more English centric. None of the three morning (Gujarati) dailies are growing but we’ve held on to our markets.”

Perhaps as a concession to English reading Parsis/Iranis the Samachar carries a Sunday column on community issues in English. Though the columnist Berjis Desai, a lawyer by profession is liberal, Cama himself is middle-of-the-road (see "Press-ing ahead,” Parsiana, April 7, 2007).

Will there be a decline in the future? "Ultimately yes. Not only Gujarati but all Indian language papers. I intend to approach the government to say that Indian languages have to be given more prominence.” State governments should insist on one subject being taught in the regional language from the first standard till SSC, opines Cama. "Students must be forced to study in the state language” but he concedes the method suggested was "only a possibility to keep it alive.”

The government Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) reserves 30 percent of its advertising budget for English publications and another 30 percent for Hindi. The language papers receive the remaining 40 percent.

"Only seven percent of the population reads English,” points out Cama. He wants a higher share of the budget "for other languages.” Why was not the subject taken up with the government earlier? "I don’t think any INS president raised the issue,” he replies.

Cama who is often at loggerheads with the government says the new Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni is "a very nice lady. Someone you can talk to.” Cama had been instrumental last September in convincing DAVP to give a 24 percent increase in rates to publications.

The initial mandate of DAVP was to assist the Indian language newspapers and the publications with small and medium circulations. "The help is needed by the weaker papers. They did not get it to the extent” they required, he notes.

Even the large newspapers such as The Statesman, Hindustan Times and The Bombay Samachar that once refused to carry DAVP advertisements because of the low rate they paid (the government being bulk buyers negotiated the lowest rates) today publish them.

"Look at the (newspapers of the) last six months. A large portion of paid advertising is coming from the government.” Some of it Cama feels is a "sheer waste of public money.” He cites the example of a family planning program in "some town” in Tamil Nadu being advertised in a full page of a large English Delhi newspaper. Advertisements should be restricted to the state concerned according to the DAVP guidelines. "But ultimately they are only guidelines,” laments Cama.

So what does the future hold for The Bombay Samachar, the fourth oldest newspaper in the world which the Cama family took over in 1932? "We’re 13 years from completing our 200th anniversary,” says Cama. "Through the highs and lows we have survived. I don’t see us dying out fast.”