Cost of producing a day’s newspaper : Understanding advertisements
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 14 2015 -
Rs 3 for the 8 paged newspaper and Rs 4.50 p for the 12 paged newspaper.
This is the price that has been worked out by the different newspaper firms in Manipur.
Now the important question is how do they manage to sell a 12 paged newspaper at just Rs 4.50 p not to talk about the costs that go into producing the day’s newspaper ?
Not only the cost, but remember a number of journalists from the Editors to the Sub-Editors, the Reporters, the computer experts, those manning the advertisement section, the machinemen, those at the distribution section etc all work together to produce the day’s copy of the newspaper that go to the hands of the readers early in the morning.
Good also to keep in mind that the distributors or the hawkers as they are locally known, do not buy the newspaper at the printed price but at a lower cost, for they too have to earn something from their trade.
And so it is that while newspapers are sold at Rs 4.50 p per copy to the readers, it is actually sold at a much lower rate to the distributors or hawkers.
Important to keep in mind too that producing the day’s newspaper here is much costlier than say at a place which is connected by train-the cost of transporting the newsprint, the ink and any other items necessary for producing the day’s newspaper entails huge expenses.
Also important to keep in mind that there are hidden cost while bringing in these goods from Guwahati by road.
The details need not be spelt out here.
Add the cost of fuel to run the power generator, the fees for the internet connection etc and one should get a fair idea of how much it cost to produce the day’s paper.
The natural question then is how do newspaper houses manage to sell the day’s newspaper at a price lower than say Rs 4.50 p or Rs 3 ?
A look at the day’s copy should be more than indicative that it is the revenue from advertisements that pay the bulk of the costs of newspaper production in Manipur.
The same is the case in other parts of the country.
This does not mean that newspapers should fill up all the pages with advertisements and this is the reason why efforts are made to maintain the 60:40 ratio, that is 60 pc of news and 40 pc of advertisements.
Also good to keep in mind that in many cases, advertisements are also sources of information and a look at some of the educational institutions highlighting its arrangements for students should drive home this point.
This is where a second thought is needed before training one’s gun on any newspaper for carrying advertisements, which may at times be more than what the readers would like to see.
Like any other venture, newspaper houses too need revenue to run and manage and when one talks about revenue, the salaries of the employees too should be kept in mind.
With the Government unable to provide employment to all the educated youngsters who pass out from university every year, newspaper establishments chip in by providing employment to many of these educated youngsters.
This is a point that should not be lost on anyone.
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