Patrika's aggressive campaign against corruption strikes chord in Bhopal

When readers saw their paper in the morning, they felt it was burnt. But that was not the case.

The front page was designed in such a way that it gave such an impression. The colours were used intelligently and it succeeded in creating this impact.

The newspaper's aggressive campaign in Bhopal in the form of hoardings that read as, 'Burn Patrika', had already caught the imagination of citizens.

The paper gave the message that it stood for truth and was exposing mafia, the corrupt politicians and the bureaucrats, who were all hand in glove, and wanted the newspaper out of the town and wished to burn the paper.

The front page showed old reports published in the paper like the news about a Chirayu groups hospital which was given permission to construct its building in the Upper Lake despite objections and in violation of norms. The other report was about an IPS officer Sanjay Chaudhary who was Director Sports for a long period.

Dainik Bhaskar, the leading Hindi newspaper, is known to have become 'subdued'. The impression that Bhaskar doesn't expose corruption because it has stakes in numerous businesses, and has become protective of the regime, has been strengthened by rival Patrika's vigorous campaign.

The reports that targeted BJP ministers have also given the Rajasthan-based paper, which had started MP edition, a few years back, another fillip. After Raj Express that faced administration's action, Patrika's proactive journalism may enthuse other papers.

One hopes that journalists in Bhopal stop getting 'managed' and publish stories that hit the 'system' rather than reducing themselves to official mouthpieces and turning journalism into a PR exercise.

As Patrika is known to be sympathetic to RSS and BJP, this anti-corruption campaign and exposures are more praiseworthy. Right now, the newspaper's advertising campaign seems to have clicked.

Pradesh Today stirs Hindi evening newspaper market in Madhya Pradesh

Pradesh Today is the latest Hindi evening newspaper launched from Bhopal, which poses a serious threat to the hegemony of Sandhya Prakash.

The owners had put up hundreds of hoardings with the claim that they would expose bigwigs and the corrupt. In this regard, the the new 'eveninger' is yet to make any serious or sensational disclosure after its launch.

But it should be welcomed as it has ended the domination of evening newspaper market by the old 'Sandhya Prakash'. Sandhya Prakash was considered a pro-RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) newspaper but the reality is that it mainly has a bent towards BJP as it is the ruling party and for advertisements, it can go any far. Sandhya Prakash is mostly pro-establishment.

Unlike Indore, which has many newspapers that are published in afternoon and evening, Bhopal doesn't have such culture or readership. Agniban, Fine Times, Pradesh Times are small players and don't have much impact due to low circulation. Pradesh Today is attractive, colourful and has much more pages. It has some content also.

But Pradesh Today should be more aggressive in its journalism. If it goes about doing real 'patrakarita', it will give a tough competition to other papers, expand the market and also in process force Sandhya Prakash to improve its content and publish balanced and unbiased reports.