Hard times at The Hindu

The Hindu, the 140-year-old newspaper published by Kasturi and Sons, is facing the heat thanks to declining advertising revenue. It needs to chart out its future. Fast.

The Hindu is one of the oldest newspapers in India, but it is now facing a crisis as ad revenue declines and newsprint costs rise

Going against its ethos, it is now asking employees to leave the company voluntarily in an effort to control costs

However, it also needs to look at editorial expenditure and reassess the level of autonomy granted to editorial

It has started a number of new digital experiments including a paid news app. But digital businesses take time to build

20/20. Perfect vision. An unimpeded view of what is and what lies ahead. Kasturi and Sons, the company that publishes the 140-year-old newspaper The Hindu, seemed to have found this clarity last year. In an email circulated among employees in May 2017, Rajiv C Lochan, the company’s CEO, spoke of a Vision 2020 for the company. It was aimed at revamping the business to keep up with the times.

AUTHOR

Shashidhar KJ

Shashidhar has been a journalist for over six years and has worked with The Times of India, The Financial Express and MediaNama, his last assignment. He is a fine bloke, and by that, I mean unusually quiet. Over the years, Shashidhar has written on several subjects. Banking, startups and technology, media, and also financial technology. He started his career on the desk at the old lady of Boribunder. At The Ken, Shashidhar works out of Mumbai and writes on telecom and financial technology. What he really wants to talk about though is his vinyl collection.

View Full Profile

Others tell you what. We tell you the ‘So What?’

Read articles that decode the most significant shifts happening around business, technology, startups and healthcare. 1000+ articles for subscribers of the India edition. 150+ articles for subscribers of the Southeast Asia edition. Plus premium newsletters that help you make sense of the world around you.

So much journalism in India is superficial.

Articles are generic, almost cookie-cutter in their approach. And they don’t provide enough context on the issues they cover. The Ken is different. I don’t always agree with everything they say but I appreciate their commitment to publishing deeply reported narratives and investigations. Their reporters find new ways to analyze tech among other industries. And that’s always worth a read.

Sid Talwar / Co-Founder and Partner / Lightbox Venture Capital

As entrepreneurs, we thrive on being in the know at all times.

A personal subscription to The Ken was a no brainer. But as startup founders, this isn't enough. Team members also need to be in the know, for everyone handles customer-facing responsibilities and an ecosystem change that impacts customers also impacts us

Kiran Jonnalagadda / Co-founder / HasGeek and Internet Freedom Foundation