There have been a series of positive changes taking place in the print media — layout, design and improved print quality, But one wonders why pages have to be flooded with commercial advertisements, most with multicolour pictures. I was shocked and surprised by The Hindu’s ‘classified’ front page of the edition dated June 25. We live in a moral climate which is relative, where all that matters is sensuality, glitz and glamour as it makes selling easy. It may appeal to the next generation but for senior citizens like many of us we are distressed.
Joshua Dhanabalan,
Chennai
Twenty-five years ago, The Hindu set the bar high as far as advertisements were concerned. Certain subjects were never accepted. I say this as an art director with an advertising firm that worked with the daily earlier. The front page was also reserved exclusively for news reports; only 100cc was reserved for display advertisements. Times have changed as can be seen by what was advertised on the second page (June 25). Advertisements may be the mainstay in terms of revenue generation, but is it asking for too much that there be a balance? The Hindu is read by many school-going children who may find such advertisements to be embarrassing.
P. Subramanian,
Thrissur, Kerala
While the reader (June 26) may be right in saying the need to boost revenue and market conditions are what often dictate decisions made by the management, a fact is that The Hindu is steeped in tradition and follows its own path. Now, if it joins the crowd, it suggests that it may no longer be the paper of yore. The change in track is a bit surprising for its long-time readers who now have no option but to accept what happens with reluctance.
V.S. Jayaraman,
Chennai
Why should one of the daily’s readers (“Letters to the Editor”, June 26) be ‘startled’ by the ‘assorted business’ classifieds on page one? There is nothing new in the concept. When I started reading The Hindu back in the 1950s, its page one had only classified advertisements. News began from page three. This was an old British tradition. The Times also followed the practice. In fact the transformation of the media in India has been dealt with in my book, The Post-Truth Media’s Survival Sutra . The Hindu changed the practice some time in the mid-1950s.
P. Raman,
New Delhi
