Why Konkani failed its readers...
Raju NayakRaju Nayak, one of the home-grown products in
journalism that Goa can take pride in, has worked on
the newsdesks of mainstream Marathi newspapers in the
media-capital of Mumbai, has edited the Sunaparant in a
tumultous period (as this essays shows) and today tells
the story through the Indian Express to the ire of
politicians who would like a more flattering image to
be put out. Together with Devika Sequeira, he is behind
the recently launched and yet-unnamed forum that meets
monthly to discuss issues of relevance and concern to
the media profession.
If I am told to evaluate Marathi and Konkani journalism
in Goa, I would surely rank the Marathi media ahead of
its Konkani counterparts.
Despite of it being accused of creating a rift between
Hindu and Catholic masses over the issue of Goa's
merger with Maharashtra in the 1960s and 1970s, the
Marathi press has managed better to maintain the
standards of journalism. The Marathi media in Goa has
all along borne the torch of social activism, by
backing the cause of the 'bahujan samaj' or the
backward communities, and also fought hard to expose
corruption in Goa's polity.
In comparison, the Konkani press hopelessly failed to
live up to people's expectations. The only Konkani
daily, Sunaparant failed to instill journalistic values
in the Konkani media. The newspaper, which was
originally set up to promote Konkani, never became a
complete newspaper in its own right. Rather it has
become, in recent years, a platform for sections of the
Konkani language activists in Goa. The Konkani press in
general abjured professionalism in order to cosy up
with the political party in power.
On the other hand, the Marathi press was infused with a
new vitality following the launching of several new
publications at regular intervals. Gomantak, Tarun Bharat,
Navaprabha and Rashtramat have been product of
Marathi journalism flourishing in this
Konkani-dominated state.
A glance at the circulation figures of these dailies
unearth the story behind the real tastes of Goan
readers. It is estimated that Marathi newspapers
collectively sell more than 50,000 copies per day. In
comparison, the sole Konkani daily sells less than 500
copies per day.
The Goan newspaper reader's search for quality has
resulted in Tarun Bharat, for long published from
Belgaum, becoming the state's highest-read daily,
pushing even the market leader Gomantak to second place.
The success of Tarun Bharat stems from its management's
professional approach to journalism. With a wide
network of young stringers without any ideological
orientation spread across the state, Tarun Bharat
provides comprehensive coverage of Goa like no other
newspaper sold in the state. Tarun Bharat also ushered
in winds of change in the Goan media with supplements
and booklets to cater to popular tastes. While
cannibalising a large chunk of Gomantak readers, Tarun
Bharat also attracted new readers from among the youth
and women, thereby revolutionising Marathi journalism.
Gomantak's management never realised the threat posed
by Tarun Bharat till it was too late. In my opinion,
the Gomantak management's lackadaisical attitude
towards its readers worked in favour of Tarun Bharat.
For instance, Gomantak's staff strength is higher than
Tarun Bharat's, but most of them are concentrated only
in Panaji.
Tarun Bharat also invested heavily in news gathering
operations. Apart from widening its correspondents'
network, the newspaper also equipped them with
amenities like fax machines and cameras. Tarun Bharat
also set up district-level bureaus and local offices
all over the state as a strategy to source local content.
(Tarun Bharat then managed to steam-roll even smaller
newspapers like Rashtramat which lost its readership
base. Despite the backing of powerful industrialists in
Goa, Rashtramat lost out despite its history. The
newspaper, which swayed Goan thinkers during the
Opinion Poll, failed to instill a sense of
professionalism. Rashtramat is now trying to capture
lost ground with hard hitting editorials by Sitaram Tengse,
besides addition of supplements.)
Gomantak's failure in the face of Tarun Bharat's
onslaught is an example of how a market leader can fail
by sitting on its laurels. The Gomantak was originally
started in Goa to advocate the state's merger with
Maharashtra and furthering the cause of the Marathi
language. Gomantak owed much of its success to its
former editor, Madhav Gadkari. By the own admission,
Gadkari gave Gomantak a Hindu face and supported the
cause of Marathi through his speeches. Mr Gadkari's
enthusiasm, foresight and hard work were instrumental
in the growth of Gomantak. The newspaper's circulation
shot up from 3000 copies per day to 15,000 copies per
day and kept growing. His successor, Narayan Athavale,
known for his inimitable style of writing, kept up
Gadkari's legacy.
Madhav Gadkari has been always accused of fostering
pro-Maharashtra sentiments, fueling the language
controversy and creating disharmony between Goa's main
Hindu and Catholic communities. Konkani protagonists
continue to level these allegations and suspect that
Gomantak is still aiming to merge Goa with Maharashtra.
Gadkari admitted that he had come to Goa to campaign
during 1967 elections. Though initially he was not the
editor, he used to write regularly for Gomantak. In all
Gadkari spent ten years in Goa.
Despite being labelled an outsider, the Marathi press
in Goa owes its professionalism to Gadkari. He turned
Gomantak into a platform for the Goan bahujan
community. He started the Shiv Jayanti celebrations in
Goa and, in his tenure of 10 years, he fought several
intellectual and political battles.
To begin with Gadkari was very close to Goa's first
chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar. The relationship
proved profitable, with Bandodkar leaking several
stories to Gadkari that were published prominently in
Gomantak. Later on, the two fell out, and Bandodkar
stopped government advertisements to Gomantak.
Bandodkar went on to accuse Gadkari and the Gomantak of
vitiating communal harmony in Goa, in a complaint to
the Press Council of India.
Gadkari believed that in the Vishal Gomantak (a
'greater Goa' state that included within Goa areas
outside its current boundaries) he envisaged, the rift
between Hindu and Catholic communities in Goa would be
solved peacefully.
Gomantak has played a big role in the development of
Marathi in Goa, by creating two generations of writers
and journalists in the state. In contrast, the Konkani
media failed to create an intellectual constituency in
the state.
In Sunaparant
During my tenure as editor of Sunaparant, between 1989
and 1995, I strived to inject some amount of
professionalism in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I did
not receive the needed support from the stalwarts of
the Konkani movement. They never wanted the Sunaparant
to become a professionally-run publication. My efforts
faced severe opposition and I personally went through
acute stress.
Purshottam Kakodkar, Uday Bhembre and his group led the
movement against me. With the help of Congress
politician, and former chief minister, Ravi Naik, they
managed to have Uday Bhembre installed as Chief Editor
of the daily. Unfortunately, Uday Bhembre never had the
time for this newspaper. He just concentrated on how to
sabotage my attempts to professionalise the newspaper.
During my tenure, Sunaparant had the best of
supplements on Diwali and other occasions. We even
managed to bring out special evening editions during
Iran-Iraq war. Sunaparant's campaigns during the
agitations against the Konkan Railway and Nylon 6,6
projects was followed up by other newspapers in Goa.
We even started a fund raising drive during the 1990
Shiroda canoe disaster and helped restart the ferry
service. In addition, more than 20 books compiling
different articles, investigative series, fiction and a
dictionary was published during my tenure.
Only readers will tell whether during his eight years
tenure Uday Bhembre had taken up even a single issue
and fought it out till the end. Readers acutely felt
the non-professionalism of the product during Bhembre's period.
Bhembre held the position as Chief Editor for eight
years later when the newspaper had but lost all its
base. Sunaparant is owned by a mine owner and hence
protection of corporate interests, rather than the
fostering of Konkani, has played a big role in
Bhembre's continuation as Chief Editor at Sunaparant.
In the end, Bhembre had to go after running a series of
editorials against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Until then, the owners of Sunaparant were oblivious of
Bhembre's lethargy, inefficiency and inactivity that
took an immense toll on the newspaper. An example:
during his tenure, Bhembre failed to call even a single
meeting of staff reporters, let alone stringers.
Once again, Dattaraj Salgaocar, owner of Sunaparant,
has recently made up his mind to re-build and re-launch
the newspaper on a commercial basis. This is a welcome
step. Whatever may be the language of newspaper -- the
language is merely a tool for communication -- its
success depends on the information provided, in-depth
analysis and its commitment to important issues.
In an effort to make Sunaparant a 'mouthpiece' for
Konkani, Bhembre seems to have overlooked all these
issues. This is precisely why Bhembre had to seek the
support of a newspaper like The Navhind Times to
counter the likes of Jaisingrao Rane, despite heading
Sunaparant himself.
Needless to add, such incidents have proved detrimental
to the cause of Konkani. Almost 45 years ago, Konkani
protagonists had to depend on the crutches of Marathi
newspapers to enhance their cause. The situation is no
better today, largely due to the apathetic nature of
the leaders of the Konkani movement.
Vital ingredients
In my opinion, the major requirements for a successful
daily newspaper are: a state-of-the-art establishment,
a steadfast commitment to the reader, comprehensive
coverage of all sections of the society, and the
ultimate aim of becoming the voice of the Goan populace.
Sadly, all these factors remained low on the priority
of Konkani protagonists. Professionalism was never on
their agenda. With an eye on the leadership of the
Konkani movement, the likes of Bhembre used the
newspaper to carry out attacks against all his
opponents during the elections to the Konkani Bhasha Mandal
Bhembre has still not given up. He is now on the
advisory board of the soon-to-be-revamped Sunaparant.
This move obviously suggests the intention of halting
the progress of the restructured newspaper.
When I took over as an Editor of Sunaparant, Uday
Bhembre, then editor, was asked to vacate his post. Not
surprisingly, this angered Bhembre. Some of his
friends, who had been pampered with free publicity,
continuously worked against me.
To illustrate how this worked, one can cite here the
example of columnist Dilip Borkar whose satirical
column "Borkari", on various ills plaguing Goa, gained
all-round popularity. Borkar had even even taken
humorous digs at me through his writings. But, that
apart the column was a masterpiece as regards its
content and the lucidity of the language was concerned.
But it hurt a number of people, and added them to my
list of enemies. Uday Bhembre, on taking charge as the
Editor, stopped this column and replaced it with
another one penned by one of his supporters. However it
did not find favor with the reader and failed miserably.
Much of my work at Sunaparant -- like a supplement on
business, in-depth analysis of important events, expert
views and analysis by experts in relation to important
events, a well compiled Sunday edition -- continues
with little change.
Dattaraj Salgaocar himself admitted that Sunaparant had
become popular with readers, but reactions from
politicians made him restless. It may be recalled that
Sunaparant had mercilessly attacked Ravi Naik for
usurping the chief ministerial gaddi (throne).
Dattaraj, being close to Naik, could not digest this
criticism. What seems to have irked Salgaocar was
Sunaparant's highlighting, on its front-page, the news
of the nomination of Vasant Pilgaonkar (a family friend
and close aide-cum-adviser of Ravi Naik) as the Goa
Public Service Commission chief.
Strongly retaliating against this, Dattaraj called for
a meeting at Pilgaonkar's residence. And Pilgaonkar, at
this meeting, lectured me on journalism. A decision to
name Uday Bhembre as the Chief Editor was finalised.
Interestingly, Bhembre is a relative of Pilgaonkar and
close to Ravi Naik.
Bhembre got a dose of his own medicine when Manohar Parrikar
took over as chief minister. On realizing that Bhembre
refused to toe his line, Parrikar publicly blasted him,
and, in turn, Sunaparant. The age-old tradition of
industrialists supporting the government came into play
here. By the same token, Salgaocar unsurprisingly
supported Parrikar.
Most importantly, the group of journalists close to
Parrikar is now getting attracted to Sunaparant.
According to the grapevine, the government is doling
out a largesse of Rs 50 lakhs (five million rupees) by
way of advertisement revenue to Sunaparant. How can a
newspaper which expects revenue in the form of
advertisements from any incumbent government remain
loyal to its reader?
I believe, a Konkani daily has to follow an independent
line to succeed. It has to protect the interests and
self-respect of all Goans. In the process, a newspaper
like Sunaparant should not hesitate in stepping on the
toes of a section of the Konkani protagonists. Whoever
edits the newspaper should realise that a news item
killed by Sunaparant would be grabbed by the Marathi
and English-language press.
Any sort of defalcation, even if it pertains to the
darling of Konkaniwadis meaning the Goa Konkani Academy
or Asmitai Pratisthan, should necessarily find an
important place in the pages of this newspaper. And
that too, before any rival publication vigorously
pursues the issue. Various issues like the efficiency
of the teaching community, the state of education
institutions, or the pathetic condition of Konkani in
schools, have to be taken up with missionary zeal. Only
a relentless pursuit of such issues will take Sunaparant
to the masses.
Lessons to be learnt
It could probably draw on the lessons from the Marathi press
. It holds Marathi dear to its heart, without in any
way making reference to the Marathi movement. At a time
when veteran journalists like Gadkari and Athavale
forcefully argued the cause of Marathi, it was done
without prejudice to other issues of social and
political importance which continued to find place in
their newspaper.
Gomantak was always on the forefront in fighting
alongside Goans on vital issues that cropped up from
time to time. In my opinion, although Tarun Bharat has
a greater circulation than its immediate rival
Gomantak, I would still give full marks to the latter
for its vigorous fighting spirit.
During my involvement in the student agitation, despite
it being ideologically oriented towards our policy and
mindset, Rashtramat did not entertain us. On the
contrary, Gomantak, while holding diametrically
opposite views, gave us wide publicity. Further support
was found in the editorials. It has been the policy of Rashtramat
and Sunaparant to always be on the side of the Establishment.
The roots of the decline of Sunaparant lies precisely
in this same policy. It has always given a wide berth
to any agitation. Given the fact that Sunaparant is a
Konkani daily, it does not necessarily mean that all
literature pertaining to and written by Konkani
litterateurs has to find a mention in it.
Sunaparant has to nurture, cultivate and discover new
journalistic talent. I was instrumental in encouraging
Marathi protagonists to write for Sunaparant. As a
resultantly, Sunaparant found readers among the
supporters of Marathi as well. Such efforts have to be repeated.
To live long, Sunaparant has to sell. The issues
highlighted by the newspaper have to be discussed, and
a conducive atmosphere in favor of the newspaper needs
to be created. Is this too much to expect?