Newspapers

                              Newspapers

 

  “North East West South; Past and Present Events Reported”

Such a majestic expansion for a commonplace newspaper!

But life without newspapers is indeed difficult to imagine.

In today’s households it has become a norm to subscribe to at least one national daily.  But do we realise its profound role in shaping our lives?

The invention of printing is an epoch making accomplishment in the history of human civilisation. The magnitude and wide reach of printed material is no longer astounding.    

 

The bunch of paper serves as a chronicle of past events, a report of present ones and a prediction for the future all at the same time.  

It is filled with windows of opportunities – big and small. The readers explore diverse fields, from sports to real estates and from cinema to science through it. It keeps the public entertained with its engaging puzzles and comic cartoon strips. It caters to the needs of a heterogeneous range of readership.

The newspapers are harbingers of change. They help us adapt to the perpetually changing environment. It presents the world the essential mirror to analyse itself. It keeps the citizens updated about current affairs around the globe. The interviews and articles that they publish also give vivid impressions of our contemporaries. A hot piece of news always comes handy in breaking the ice and beginning a conversation with strangers. As the idiom goes, “When in Rome do as the Romans do”, the newspaper helps us mingle with the common crowd. But in doing so, it does not fail to present us with opportunities to stand out too. Announcements of competitions, culture fests and talent hunts pepper the pages of its supplement. 

The great American write Mark Twain aptly said,

 “A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is but to make people mad enough to do something about it.”

Newspapers wield immense power in shaping public opinion and political outcomes by their persuasive reports. Upon the agathokakological globe, it is impossible to be free from bias and prejudice. Though some may accuse some newspapers of propaganda, gossip and exaggerations, it is irrefutable that other competitive newspapers in the market and alternate mediums of news provide a platform for the expression of opposing opinions and new realities to get an edge over their nemesis. Thus, ultimately at the end of enriching debates and exposures to different viewpoints, truth alone triumphs.  This liberty of the press when used appropriately can clear up controversies and expel social evils that feed on misconceptions and ignorance. An ideal newspaper will certainly act as the torch bearer of the educated society.

The bunch of papers create a system of checks and balances for the ruling government.  Politics is invariably intertwined with every newspaper. Since the time when the Vernacular Press Act was enforced in British India newspaper has been a symbol of non-cooperation and rebellion against injustice in our country, India, which itself wouldn’t have been formed if not for the then nationalist press that stirred up the Indians into a patriotic frenzy. Napoleon Bonaparte himself conceded that

“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”

The newspapers serve to preserve the spirit of democracy and ensure that power lies in the hands of the citizens at the end of the day. It is also an excellent example of unity in diversity.

 “Newspapers have become more important to the average man than the scriptures."

 

says the great father of our nation, Gandhiji.

 

It is time for the common man to realise it too.

 

In conclusion, I insist that one must not only wake to the face of the newspaper every morning but also awaken to the importance of the contents within.

                                                           

                                                                             Written by,

                                                                                            K.Jaithri