Multicolored Newspapers

For the past few days, the newspapers have become colorful. Not just the first and last pages, but many more. It’s like Holi has come late for the paper world.

The colors are due to the arrival of the festival season which has brought along with it an avalanche of print ads. For all those who feared that the internet was going to swallow the fourth estate whole, this must come as relief. After all, if advertisers are standing in queue to sell their wares using this medium then there must be some people out there reading it, right?

For the serious newspaper reader though, the people who start their day with a cuppa news every day, these past few days have been more of a treasure hunt. The first, second, third sheets are all colorfully hawking offers of different eCommerce sites and retailers, pushing the customers to help them reach their targeted billions.

Somewhere on the fourth sheet, a headline peeps out and just as one gets cozy internalizing the happenings around the world, on the very next page, another advertisement! Oh, and did I forget to mention that most of these are full sheet spreads? That’s right; each company wants a full sheet, at the very least. As one continues to read, one has to learn the art of searching for news. So, hopefully many have acquired that skill. I know I have.

I don’t know if all the etailers and retailers are making their billions, I know as a reader I am not thrilled by the new improved news presentation but one of the hearty threesome who is having a grand festival is the fourth estate. The newspaper companies are having a blast and laughing all the way to the bank.