Front Page

There was a time when the front page of a newspaper was a precious piece of real estate. Only the most important of the important news would find mention, and even then, the story would be cut short and continued elsewhere for it was unwise to waste so much space on a single story. (The exception being the Hindu, which always has complete stories.)

Although I dont have first-hand experience, I think there was a time when the front page determined newspaper sales. Especially during high profile murder trials or controversies, people would buy the paper after glancing at the headlines. Also shown in innumerable movies where paperboys at busy signals are carrying tabloids screaming with the latest headlines.

Well, all that would be history soon. Our newspapers have realized how precious these front pages are - literally. The front page has dumped news in favor of ads. I believe every single major newspaper now comes a "wrapper" with ads on both the front and back. The trend started with tabloids such as Mid day and Mumbai mirror but even TOI and HT have adopted this. I wonder how long before our dailies go the magazine way where ads dominate and content has a token presence.