IS INDIAN MEDIA DIFFERENT FROM UK MEDIA?

Tips on what’s the Indian media like – is it different from the UK media?

Well, yes, to a large extent. While media anywhere in the world likes a good story, the one difference of the Indian media is that we are not as specialised as the UK media.

So, while in India there are technical, automotive or healthcare publications, they are not as widespread as in the UK. On the other hand, in India we have seen a media explosion and that explosion actually means that we have a resource crunch. Sometimes, rookie reporters meet you, leading to mistakes in the articles.

Delhi media has numerous newspapers, television channels and radio stations. There are several popular TV channels operated out of Delhi such as NDTV, India TV and Doordarshan. The newspapers that enjoy high readership in Delhi are The Times of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express. Hindi dailies such as Dainik Jagaran, Amar Ujala, Hindustan and Punjab Kesri are some of the other important ones.

According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), Hindustan Times tops the readership in Delhi, while Times of India dominates in Mumbai. While speaking to journalists, overseas companies venturing into the Indian market must talk about innovations and out-of-the-box ideas that it has implemented. They should also bring out the technology aspect of the idea and talk about the USP or how is it different from other companies and start-ups in the same sector. This will help in generating interest of journalists towards start-ups.

Delhi media would love to know how the mission companies will support the political initiatives of the government. They will be interested in knowing how technology interventions can support meeting some of the socio-economic challenges of the country such as education, healthcare, mobile commerce etc.

While speaking to the journalists it is very critical for the spokesperson to stick to key messages that needs to be sent to stake holders. This should be preferably backed by statistics and figures of the relevant industry. ‘Off-the-record’ statements should be completely avoided. There is no off-the-record scenario with any journalist at any point of time. One can stick to simple statements and avoid jargons. And, if jargons are used, it is important to explain.

That’s why business communication organisations like Avian Media are there to help the journalists write the right things or at least give them the right material so that they can write correct stories and consequently help clients to achieve their objectives.

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