Despite the Information Revolution and the advent of first the web news, and then the social media, not forgetting the TV news channels, the old-world charm of the newspaper still persists.

Even though the expectation of the original 'hot from the press' calls by boys out on the streets of London, New York, Bombay and Delhi disappeared a long time back, as technology took over and the hot manual printing presses gave way to modern machines rolling out thousands and lakhs in more than one edition, one eagerly awaited the newspaper boy trundling on his bicycle (now overtaken by a motorbike!) and chucking the papers across gates and through verandas with great accuracy, without missing a step.

Like many others, the Lady of the House (LOH) ensured that a steaming cup of tea came in the veranda along with the fresh newspaper, either rolled or folded. One was in two minds whether to first open the newspaper and glance at the headlines or take a sip of the aromatic Darjeeling tea first.

This moment of bliss lasted for many years, but with the advent of TV News, while news became less important, the centre page editorials and op eds were first to be opened, but perhaps I am moving ahead too fast.

Like all one-time wonders, the TV News Channels hastened their own demise by repetitious stale news and churning out sensational news in the garb of "Breaking News!" They then hit rock bottom, as they became mouth pieces of political parties.

Now, in my view, they are rolling in the gutters on account of deliberately suppressing news at the behest of their owners and in a few cases even editors, who seem to love toeing the line of the 'powers that be'.

Reverting to the newspaper, I still subscribe to newspapers unlike many who have given them up. I actually get four newspapers, but with the odd exception they are no longer awaited with the old expectations, as to put it mildly, they have become purveyors of advertisements and not news (NORTH EAST WEST SOUTH), as they were meant to be.

To give you a few examples, when I picked up the first newspaper a few days back, I learnt that 'Hyderabad was forging ahead', with the by-line of the Chief Minister of Telangana, with his coloured photograph smiling away. After absorbing this vital news, I turned the page and found that the next three pages also told me everything I wanted or did not want to know about the State of Telangana – from Sewerage processing to 24/7 Assured Power Supply, as also about Health, but only of urban inhabitants; heritage; parks, Annapurna Meals, Safety and Security. One could call it an introduction to the State under its benevolent rulers!

In frustration, I picked up the second newspaper, at one time known as 'The Old Lady of Bori Bunder'. Till a decade back, it used to be my favourite newspaper, but no longer, but that is another story. Suffice it to say that it too has joined the ranks of most other newspapers as far as reporting unbiased news is concerned. Biased towards whom? Your guess is as good as mine, but the obvious culprit is the Delhi Darbar and its hanger-ons!

As I took another sip of my steaming hot tea, lo and behold, the front page was yet again a full-page advertisement of two, young smiling ladies advertising another cricket series in glorious colours. In a country that is cricket-crazy, every Tom, Dick and Harry (sorry, it should be Amar, Akbar and Anthony, as the present government abhors all that is 'Firangi'!) oozes cricket from all their pores, do we have to advertise cricket?

For those who no longer subscribe to newspapers, you may be surprised at the variety of entities who regularly contribute to the coffers of the newspapers. Naturally, the governments, both state and centre lead the pack, followed by Jewellers, car manufacturers, fashion designers and even hairdressers.

But Editor Sahib, where is my news, for which I now pay Rs. Four for 36 pages, but three fourth of which are advertisements!

I held my simmering anger in check by taking two deep breaths and turned to Page Two, but that too was only the second page of the same advertisement, but in a different colour! After four pages of these full-page wonders, what stared at me was a longitudinally cut half page of the first bit of news, but only half of the cut page, as the remainder was yet another advertisement.

The back of this cut half page had some mumbo-jumbo about the advent of 'Double Engine', maybe an advertisement by the Railways I thought, till someone more knowledgeable put me wise to this premier 'Rewari' culture! Finally, when I saw the smiling visage of the Prime Minister, with a V for victory sign in the top half of the page, I had finally arrived, though my tea was now cold!

Shri Editor Ji, no sign of any news so far!

I continued diligently to search for news, despite my no longer amiable morning disposition. When I turned the page, I nearly had a fit, for the next two pages were also full-page advertisements, one by the government, with smiling political faces of guess who?

Having seen so many advertisements placed by the government, I am now fully aware that no Sarkari text can be submitted without the photograph of the Prime Minister and if another needs to be also shown, it must be formatted below and never above that of Prime Minister Modi. Even in my old age I am learning and I no longer expect photographs of smiling faces and in colour, which were the exclusive forte of film stars earlier.

The rest of the newspaper continued in this vein, with advertisements pushing out the news; the next two pages were devoted to the Gazette of India, followed by a full-page advertisement in glorious technical colours headlined 'More Zip per Trip'. I was learning but not about local, national or international news.

Editor Sir, where is my news?

Earlier, one moved from the headlines of the front page to the centre pages for the Editorials and the Op eds, as well as analytical articles, but to my dismay, the centre pages had also been guillotined, as they could be placed anywhere where there are no advertisements. In addition, the contents of the two centre pages have been squeezed into one. Perhaps the filthy lucre is no longer considered filthy.

In the past, after glancing at the headlines on Page One, one went to the centre pages and then directly to the last page, which had all the sports news. Alas, the sports news of the last page is now only published if no full-page advertisement is available! Otherwise, it fights for space in some other in-between page.

Most newspapers have one or more supplements, which cover local news. Having been stumped by the content of the main newspaper, I thought I would enjoy the local news at least, but lo and behold, the advertisements, including the full-page ones, had encroached on the supplements too.

Once more, the Jewellers had taken over; even when gold and other metals used in jewellery were on the rise; they must be having sufficient clientele for their wares. One does get overawed when one is also informed that 81 crores of our population get a dole of grains every month for subsistence. Amazing priorities of the powers that govern us.

Editor Supplements Ji, where is my news?

Even with my limited knowledge, full page advertisements cost a lot and those in colour even more, but obviously the state and central governments, as well as businesses find that advertisements are the name of the game, whether you are selling a product or service or trying to win the next elections!

We do have one or more full pages of what are known as Advertorials, paid by governments or political parties beating their own drums, with of course the proverbial political leaders adorning the text with their own photographs, but in such features, everything highlighted is in future tense.

Some samples may sound familiar; like 'In the next 10 years, we will be a driving force in the world'; 'we would be developing world-class infrastructure to ensure connectivity to the last one mile'; 'we will create millions of jobs for our youth'; 'we will become a data centre hub and ensure one-stop solutions for investors'. What lovely thoughts for the future but what about the present?

Editor-in-Chief Sir/Madam, where is my news?

I do not know whom to blame for stealing my news, the newspapers who get big sums for the full/ half/ quarter page advertisements in colour; the sellers of products, who can obviously afford them and have huge budgets or loans from banks that are never paid; or the central and state governments for spreading their agendas.

Since TV news is already out as mentioned earlier and social media being most unreliable, one can return to the decades back communications of the radio, which faithfully reports Sarkari news, but that is now peppered with statements of Prime Minister Modi after every two sentences.

Can someone enlighten me as to how and why have we reached this atrocious state of affairs?

Lt General Vijay Oberoi is a former Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. Views expressed are the writer's own.

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