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A Brief History of Newspapers

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Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. -Thomas Jefferson, 1787. For my part I entertain a high idea of the utility of periodical publications; insomuch as I could heartily desire, copies of ... magazines, as well as common Gazettes, might be spread through every city, town, and village in the United States. I consider such vehicles of knowledge more happily calculated than any other to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry, and ameliorate the morals of a free and enlightened people.- George Washington, 1788. Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press... -Article One, Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, 1789. Here is the living disproof of the old adage that nothing is as dead as yesterday's newspaper... This is what really happened, reported by a free press to a free people. It is the raw material of history; it is the story of our own times. -Henry Steel Commager, preface to a history of the New York Times, 1951

What is "News"?
Some preliminary remarks are in order on the subject of just what "news" is, anyway. We normally think of news as a particular kind of historical reality, which could probably be defined analytically. That is a mystification of the subject. If journalists are experts on anything, it is their audience, and not some other aspect of reality. Viewed "pheomenologically," news is simply what made it into today's paper or news broadcast. There are now 188 countries, 5 billion people, and thousands of things that "happened" yesterday. Only the ones that actually made the paper became news. Tomorrow will have its own news, so the rejected events will

never be news. Of course they might be part of later historical reconstructions of our time. One might think, in such a case, that the journalists just blew it - if you really thought that news was of the same nature as history. But news is not about history, really, but about profits, when publishers are thinking clearly, and newspaper publishers were thinking clearly from the very beginning. Definitions should come from general usage, and this is what we mean by "news" when we are not being confused with such notions as unimportant news or unreported news. There is no such thing as unreported news, because news is not natural. Events are natural but periodical news is a manufactured product. Of course, that is true of "history" too. History is what historians make out of everything left from the past. News is what newswriters squeezed into today's paper. If there is a point to histories, it is ultimately philosophical; the point of newspapers is to be recycled - the first product with planned obsolescence Our second preliminary point is that there is no necessity of thinking of news as daily. It used to come along irregularly when people, exercising their own judgment, decided that something they heard was unusually interesting or important, and passed it on. People maintained their normal standards of honor and truth in spreading this news, so everyone knew about how far to trust the information. They were not awed by the institutional stature of giant news corporations. That changed in the seventeenth century, when people got used to the idea that there was an absolutely regular quota of news, which was vouched for by transcendent sources. Daily news then became a steady stream of perceptions, the stream of society's consciousness. One participated in society in a new way. Third, not all of the content of the many kinds of periodicals published over the years is news, in the accepted sense of important social or political events. This study will be interested in all of it, however, because it all partakes of the same urgency with which we invest politics. There have been many occasions in the history of journalism where opinion has been published as news, where comments have been presented with the authority of facts. Everything becomes strange when it is cut out of reality in the same way as political or commercial reports are, so that our science, religion, ethics, and arts are becoming as curious as our politics. And it bears remembering that this cultural tempo, like our political tempo, is for the convenience of publishers.

Fourth, our most common mistake in thinking about news is to imagine that the most important events are those that get the most publicity. The reverse may be true. Powerful people do not usually like publicity. Celebrities like publicity, and the media have learned that customers will pay as much or more to read about celebrities as about the powerful. Given the accessibility of celebrities, reporters may concentrate on them while the powerful go about their business. So there is a good chance that the news will not cover what historians will later write about our times. The founders of this nation had a seemingly naive faith i9n the power of the "free" press to responsibly inform the nation's citizens of ongoing events, yet the press has never been "free" in the sense that it take money to purchase a press, and only its owner is guaranteed the right to publish with it anything he or she wishes. Those who hope that the news will keep them informed about the powerful forces in the world should consider that power might be defined as the ability to keep oneself out of the news. And further, an elite can be defined as a group that is able to monopolize a certain class of information, and keep it out of circulation. For even today all important news is transmitted orally, within elites. If important news is what gives one person an advantage over others, then it follows that valuable news is something you have to pay a lot for, one way or another. What is left over becomes the contents of the media. It is doubtless true that over the centuries media attention has helped the public to monitor and challenge elites. In time, this attention has eroded the power of some of those elites, but only at the point when the press itself became big business, an elite with secrets of its own. What the balance sheet would show of the new distribution of power, and whether the public has a right to feel included in the power structure because of its news consciousness, should get more attention than it has.

The Origins of Newspapers


The history of newspapers is an often-dramatic chapter of the human experience going back some five centuries. In Renaissance Europe handwritten newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and "human interest" features. The first printed forerunners of the newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400's in the form of news pamphlets or broadsides, often highly sensationalized in content. Some of the

most famous of these report the atrocities against Germans in Transylvania perpetrated by a sadistic veovod named Vlad Tsepes Drakul, who became the Count Dracula of later folklore. In the English-speaking world, the earliest predecessors of the newspaper were corantos, small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred. The first successively published title was The Weekly Newes of 1622. It was followed in the 1640's and 1650's by a plethora of different titles in the similar newsbook format. The first true newspaper in English was the London Gazette of 1666. For a generation it was the only officially sanctioned newspaper, though many periodical titles were in print by the century's end.

Beginnings in America
In America the first newspaper appeared in Boston in 1690, entitled Publick Occurrences. Published without authority, it was immediately suppressed, its publisher arrested, and all copies were destroyed. Indeed, it remained forgotten until 1845 when the only known surviving example was discovered in the British Library. The first successful newspaper was the Boston News-Letter, begun by postmaster John Campbell in 1704. Although it was heavily subsidized by the colonial government the experiment was a nearfailure, with very limited circulation. Two more papers made their appearance in the 1720's, in Philadelphia and New York, and the Fourth Estate slowly became established on the new continent. By the eve of the Revolutionary War, some two dozen papers were issued at all the colonies, although Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania would remain the centers of American printing for many years. Articles in colonial papers, brilliantly conceived by revolutionary propagandists, were a major force that influenced public opinion in America from reconciliation with England to full political independence. At war's end in 1783 there were forty-three newspapers in print. The press played a vital role in the affairs of the new nation; many more newspapers were started, representing all shades of political opinion. The no holds barred style of early journalism, much of it libelous by modern standards, reflected the rough and tumble political life of the republic as rival factions jostled for power. The ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 at last guaranteed of freedom of the press, and America's newspapers began to take on a central role in national affairs. Growth continued in every state. By 1814 there were 346 newspapers. In the Jacksonian populist

1830's, advances in printing and papermaking technology led to an explosion of newspaper growth, the emergence of the "Penny Press"; it was now possible to produce a newspaper that could be sold for just a cent a copy. Previously, newspapers were the province of the wealthy, literate minority. The price of a year's subscription, usually over a full week's pay for a laborer, had to be paid in full and "invariably in advance." This sudden availability of cheap, interesting reading material was a significant stimulus to the achievement of the nearly universal literacy now taken for granted in America.

The Industrial Revolution


The industrial revolution, as it transformed all aspects of American life and society, dramatically affected newspapers. Both the numbers of papers and their paid circulations continued to rise. The 1850 census catalogued 2,526 titles. In the 1850's powerful, giant presses appeared, able to print ten thousand complete papers per hour. At this time the first "pictorial" weekly newspapers emerged; they featured for the first time extensive illustrations of events in the news, as woodcut engravings made from correspondents' sketches or taken from that new invention, the photograph. During the Civil War the unprecedented demand for timely, accurate news reporting transformed American journalism into a dynamic, hardhitting force in the national life. Reporters, called "specials," became the darlings of the public and the idols of youngsters everywhere. Many accounts of battles turned in by these intrepid adventurers stand today as the definitive histories of their subjects. Newspaper growth continued unabated in the postwar years. An astounding 11,314 different papers were recorded in the 1880 census. By the 1890's the first circulation figures of a million copies per issue were recorded (ironically, these newspapers are now quite rare due to the atrocious quality of cheap paper then in use, and to great losses in World War II era paper drives) At this period appeared the features of the modern newspaper, bold "banner" headlines, extensive use of illustrations, "funny pages," plus expanded coverage of organized sporting events. The rise of "yellow journalism" also marks this era. Hearst could truthfully boast that his newspapers manufactured the public clamor for war on Spain in 1898. This is also the age of media consolidation, as many independent newspapers were swallowed up into powerful "chains"; with regrettable consequences for a once fearless and incorruptible press, many were reduced to vehicles for the distribution of the particular views of their owners, and so

remained, without competing papers to challenge their viewpoints. By the 1910's, all the essential features of the recognizably modern newspaper had emerged. In our time, radio and television have gradually supplanted newspapers as the nation's primary information sources, so it may be difficult initially to appreciate the role that newspapers have played in our history.

Before the invention of newspapers in the early 17th century, official government bulletins were circulated at times in some centralized empires. The earliest newspaper date to 17th century Europe when printed periodicals began rapidly to replace the practice of hand-writing newssheets. The emergence of the new media branch has to be seen in close connection with the simultaneous spread of the printing press from which the publishing press derives its name.[1]

Contents
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1 Early news publications of world 2 Sixteenth century (avvisi, gazettes) 3 Newspapers 4 Corantos in the Dutch Republic 5 British newspapers 6 British magazines 7 North American newspapers 8 English newspapers in Indian subcontinent 9 Industrial Revolution 10 Middle Eastern newspapers 11 See also 12 Notes and references 13 Further reading 14 Primary sources

[edit] Early news publications of world


Before the advent of the newspaper, there were two major kinds of periodical news publications: the handwritten news sheet, and single item news publications. These existed simultaneously.

The Roman Empire published Acta Diurna ("Daily Acts"), or government announcement bulletins, around 59 BC, as ordered by Julius Caesar. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places. In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, were commonly used among court officials during the late Han dynasty (second and third centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the Kaiyuan Za Bao ("Bulletin of the Court") of the Chinese Tang Dynasty published government news; it was handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582, there was the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the late Ming Dynasty;[2] In 1556, the government of Venice first published the monthly Notizie scritte ("Written notices") which cost one gazetta[3], a Venetian coin of the time, the name of which eventually came to mean "newspaper". These avvisi were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently throughout Europe, more specifically Italy, during the early modern era (1500-1700) sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.[4] However, none of these publications fully met the classical criteria for proper newspapers, as they were typically not intended for the general public and restricted to a certain range of topics. Early publications played into the development of what would today be recognized as the newspaper, which came about around 1600. Around the 15th and 16th centuries, in England and France, long news accounts called "relations" were published; in Spain they were called "relaciones". Single event news publications were printed in the broadsheet format, which was often posted. These publications also appeared as pamphlets and small booklets (for longer narratives, often written in a letter format), often containing woodcut illustrations. Literacy rates were low in comparison to today, and these news publications were often read aloud (literacy and oral culture were, in a sense, existing side by side in this scenario).

[edit] Sixteenth century (avvisi, gazettes)


One example of this type of merchant was the 16th century German financialist, Fugger. He not only received business news from his correspondents, but also sensationalist and gossip news as well. It is evident in the correspondence of Fugger with his network that fiction and fact were both significant parts of early news publications. Sixteenth century Germany also saw subscription-based, handwritten news. Those who subscribed to these publications were generally low-level government officials and also merchants. They could not afford other types of news publications, but had enough money to pay for a subscription, which was still expensive for the time. Avvisi, or Gazzettes (not gazettes), were a mid-16th century Venice phenomenon. They were issued on single sheets, folded to form four pages, and issued on a weekly schedule. These

publications reached a larger audience than handwritten news had in early Rome. Their format and appearance at regular intervals were two major influences on the newspaper as we know it today. The idea of a weekly, handwritten newssheet went from Italy to Germany and then to Holland.

[edit] Newspapers
See also: List of the oldest newspapers and History of British newspapers

Title page of Carolus' Relation from 1609, the earliest newspaper

The term newspaper became common in the 17th century. However, in Germany, publications that we would today consider to be newspaper publications, were appearing as early as the 16th century. They were discernibly newspapers for the following reasons: they were printed, dated, appeared at regular and frequent publication intervals, and included a variety of news items (unlike single item news mentioned above). The first newspaper however was said to be the Strasbourg Relation, in the early 17th century. German newspapers, like avisis, were organized by the location from which they came, and by date. They differed from avisis in the following manners: they employed a distinct and highly illustrated title page, and they applied an overall date to each issue. The emergence of the new media branch in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with the spread of the printing press from which the publishing press derives it name.[5] The German-language Relation aller Frnemmen und gedenckwrdigen Historien, printed from 1605 onwards by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg, is often recognized as the first newspaper.[6][7] At the time, Strasbourg was a free imperial city in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation; the first newspaper of modern Germany was the Avisa, published in 1609 in Wolfenbttel.

Other early papers include the Dutch Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. of 1618 was the first to appear in folio- rather than quarto-size. Amsterdam, a center of world trade, quickly became home to newspapers in many languages, often before they were published in their own country.[8] The first English-language newspaper, Corrant out of Italy, Germany, etc., was published in Amsterdam in 1620. A year and a half later, Corante, or weekely newes from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, France and the Low Countreys. was published in England by an "N.B." (generally thought to be either Nathaniel Butter or Nicholas Bourne) and Thomas Archer.[9] The first newspaper in France was published in 1631, La Gazette (originally published as Gazette de France).[3] The first newspaper in Portugal, A Gazeta da Restaurao, was published in 1641 in Lisbon. The first Spanish newspaper, Gaceta de Madrid, was published in 1661. Post- och Inrikes Tidningar (founded as Ordinari Post Tijdender) was first published in Sweden in 1645, and is the oldest newspaper still in existence, though it now publishes solely online.[10] Opregte Haarlemsche Courant from Haarlem, first published in 1656, is the oldest paper still printed. It was forced to merge with the newspaper Haarlems Dagblad in 1942 when Germany occupied the Netherlands. Since then the Haarlems Dagblad appears with the subtitle Oprechte Haerlemse Courant 1656 and considers itself to be the oldest newspaper still publishing. Merkuriusz Polski Ordynaryjny was published in Krakw, Poland in 1661. The first successful English daily, The Daily Courant, was published from 1702 to 1735.[8][11] News was frequently highly selective: rulers would often use them as ways to publish accounts of battles or events that made those rulers look good to the public. Sensationalist material was also printed, such as accounts of magic or of natural disasters; this material did not pose a threat to the state, because it did not pose criticism of the state. Printers readily printed sensationalist material because they faced a ready market, which proved lucrative for them. Printers found there was a market for news about rulers that did not cast those rulers in a favorable light. Printers could get away with doing so, because they would print the publication overnight and sell it quickly. This quick publication pace also resulted in quick returns on investments for printers. Private uses of early news publications: rulers and merchants both established networks of people who were employed to provide them news from other lands, and here is an early manifestation of correspondence in news writing. Rulers found out political information from these networks, and merchants found out business information, and also political information that directly affected their trade.

[edit] Corantos in the Dutch Republic


Newspaper publications, under the name of corantos, came to the Dutch Republic in the 17th century, first to Amsterdam, which was a center of trade and travelers, an obvious locale for news publication. The term coranto was adopted by other countries for a time as well. The coranto differed from previous German newspapers before it in format. The coranto dropped the highly illustrated German title page, instead including a title on the upper first page of the publication the masthead common in today's periodicals. Corantos also adopted a two-column format, unlike the previous single-column format, and were issued on halfsheets.

[edit] British newspapers


Main article: History of British newspapers

The coranto form influenced British newspapers. On 7 November 1665, The London Gazette (at first called The Oxford Gazette) began publication.[12] It is considered to be the newspaper that decisively changed the look of English news printing, echoing the coranto format of two columns, a clear title, and a clear date. It was published twice a week.[13] Other English papers started to publish three times a week, and later the first daily papers emerged. This was partly due to in the postal system between Dover and London. Newspapers in general included short articles, ephemeral topics, some illustrations and service articles (classifieds). They were often written by multiple authors, although the authors' identities were often obscured. They began to contain some advertisements, and they did not yet include sections. Mass market papers emerged, including Sunday papers for workers to read in their leisure time. The Times adopted new technologies and set the standards for other newspapers. This newspaper covered major wars, among other major events.

[edit] British magazines


The Gentleman's Magazine, first published in 1731, in London, is considered to have been the first general-interest magazine. Edward Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine", on the analogy of a military storehouse of varied materiel, originally derived from the Arabic makhazin "storehouses".[14] The oldest consumer magazine still in print is The Scots Magazine, which was first published in 1739, though multiple changes in ownership and gaps in publication totaling over 90 years weaken that claim. Lloyd's List was founded in Edward Lloyds England coffee shop in 1734; it is still published as a daily business newspaper.

[edit] North American newspapers


See also: History of American newspapers and History of Canadian newspapers

Untitled watercolor (c. 1863) of a man reading a newspaper by Henry Louis Stephens. The headline reports the Emancipation Proclamation.

Front page of The New York Times on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

In Boston in 1690, Benjamin Harris published Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. This is considered the first newspaper in the American colonies even though only one edition was published before the paper was suppressed by the colonial officials, possibly due to censorship and control issues. It followed the two-column format and was a single sheet, printed on both sides.

In 1704, the governor allowed The Boston News-Letter, a weekly, to be published, and it became the first continuously published newspaper in the colonies. Soon after, weekly papers began publishing in New York and Philadelphia. The second English-language newspaper in the Americas was the Weekly Jamaica Courant.[15] These early newspapers followed the British format and were usually four pages long. They mostly carried news from Britain and content depended on the editors interests. In 1783, the Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first American daily. In 1751, John Bushell published the Halifax Gazette, the first Canadian newspaper.

[edit] English newspapers in Indian subcontinent


In 1766, a British editor, William Bolts, offered the first ever paper to his fellow countrymen in Calcutta and helped them establish a printing press. He was against the East India Company Government, so after two years of establishing his press, he was sent back to England by the Company. He published a book of 500 pages which carried details of corruption in East India Company and hardships faced by Indian people. In 1780, James Augustus Hickey published Bengal Gazette/General Calcutta Adviser. The size of that four-page newspaper was 12"x8". Hickey too was against the Company Government and published internal news of the employees of the Company. Soon the Government withdrew the postage facility for his paper as a fallout of a news against them. Hickey still managed to circulate his paper by appointing 20 men to deliver it. Once he published a news against the Chief Missionary of the Main Church, Jan Zakariya. Jan complained to the Government for that fake news and filed a defamation petition against Hickey. Hickey was fined Rs 500 and sentenced to four months imprisonment. After that he was fined again which resulted in the death of the paper. In November 1781, India Gazette was also introduced; it was pro Government and against Hickey. Newspapers of that time were in English, and the news only related to British activity in India. As the readers were also British, the local population was not the target. But the Company feared that these Indian papers could get to England and may defame the Company in England. English papers used to take nine months to reach India.

[edit] Industrial Revolution


By the early 19th century, many cities in Europe, as well as North and South America, published newspaper-type publications though not all of them developed in the same way; content was vastly shaped by regional and cultural preferences.[16] Advances in printing technology related to the Industrial Revolution enabled newspapers to become an even more widely circulated means of communication. In 1814, The Times (London) acquired a printing press capable of making 1,100 impressions per minute.[17]

It was soon adapted to print on both sides of a page at once. This innovation made newspapers cheaper and thus available to a larger part of the population. In 1830, the first penny press newspaper came to the market: Lynde M. Walter's Boston Transcript.[18] Penny press papers cost about one-sixth the price of other newspapers and appealed to a wider audience.[19]

[edit] Middle Eastern newspapers


Main article: History of Middle Eastern newspapers

The first newspapers in the Middle East appeared during the nineteenth century.[20]

Sales and Distribution Management in Newspaper Industry


By

Vibhash Gaurav Lakshmi Narsimhan


Students (2006-08 Batch) ICFAI Business School Hyderabad

The selling process The selling process of newspapers in India involves various steps like: 1. Prospecting and Evaluation: This is the stage where potential customers are found and evaluated. It is first necessary to identify that the potential customer has the willingness, ability and authority to buy the product. This would involve first generating sales leads. In the case of newspapers customers could be Financial Institutions, IT employees, students preparing for their CAT examination MBA students and other institutions like Hotels, Airlines etc. Most of the times when a company or offices are approached with

subscription offer the gatekeepers are encountered who are actually the receptionists and security guards and they don't have the authority to buy the paper but pose a challenge to the final sale from happening. 2. Pre approach: In this stage the process of approaching the client is decided. This involves deciding on the approach establishing objectives of the sales call and preparing for a presentation. We need to analyze what are the product features in which the customer will be interested and focus on those during the presentation. This stage involves deciding whether it will be enough to do a simple cold call or to set up an appointment which is needed in case we want to set up a stall. Like in the case of setting up stalls in IT companies where a larger section of our targeted population can be met it becomes essential that we first fix up an appointment with the facilities manager asking his permission to set up the stall. 3. Approach: This stage involves getting in initial contact with the customer by meeting him and generating interest in the product. Once the salesmen we are with the customer they would make a presentation making him aware of the characteristics of the paper, the discount and the magazines that are on offer. While selling to Financial Institutions sales representatives focus on presenting the various Business magazines that the customer will get if he subscribes. While pitching to younger customer salesmen focuses on the monthly magazines which are more enticing to them. While making presentations to corporates the focus is on the operational efficiency and convince the Facilities Manager that the implementation will be starting in 2 weeks time from when the employees start signing up for the subscription. 4. Handling Objection: The most common objection which is encountered during the selling is the fact that most customers who are regular readers of others newspapers are very loyal and are unwilling to change. This is the time when distinguishing features of the products need to be highlighted for example Business Standard highlights the fact that it has has various sections like the BS 200 which gives the complete analysis of the 200 companies that were traded the most on the stock exchange the previous week. This section on the paper is something unique only to Business Standard. Also 'The Compass' which is a small segment in the Business Standard Newspaper assists people in making their investment decisions as to which sector they should invest their money in was also of interest to people who were more investment focused. And of course the magazines which are offered are another reason why most of these customers get ready to buy the subscription. Also the supplements like Brand Line, Life by Business Line, and The Smart Investor by Business Standard are highlighted to entice the consumers to purchase the subscription. Some of the customers are worried about the implementation time this is where sales person had to tell the customers about how we will be ensuring that they get a regular supply of their business standard by interacting with their vendors and start the delivery of their newspaper to their home in 2 weeks. 5. Closing:

At this stage the customer is more or less aware of the product and has made up his mind to either go ahead with the sale or not. If the subscription are attractively priced most customers prefer to go for the plan offered and want to first get a look at the service being provided. Thus most people will either back out at the middle of the presentation, while others stick around to try and see what they are getting for their money. By the time salesman pops the final question whether the customer wants to pay by cash or cheque the customer usually has made up his mind. Sales Management 1. Sales Planning: It is the first step in the sales management process Sales planning guides the organization in achieving its objectives in a systematic manner leading to profitability and success. In case of newspaper industry plans are formulated keeping in view the overall sales strategy and objectives of individual organizations. Since circulation is the main thing in the news paper industry, all the planning is intended to increase the circulation base of newspaper .The main source of revenue for a newspaper company is the advertisements and they can charge more for advertisements only if their circulation base is higher. This circulation base is increased by eating into the competitor's circulation. The head office decides the targets for all branches in the country and this is communicated to marketing manager of branches across the country. The marketing manager of the branch then allocates targets for every sales executive in the branch. The marketing manager asks each sales executive to target a particular segment. Segment can be hotels, educational institutes, corporate offices, IT companies, students preparing for competitive examinations like CAT, XAT etc. 2. Organizing and Directing Sales efforts: Most of the newspaper companies hire graduates who are well versed in local languages as selling newspaper require interacting with vendors and intermediate agencies. They generally do not hire MBAs or Post Graduates as they are more prone to attrition. The attrition rate is very high in this industry especially in the second rung companies. Time Management: Time management is very important as the executives have to visit morning centers at around 5 to 5.30 a.m. in the morning to meet the vendors to ensure the timely delivery of newspapers. Morning centers are places where all the newspapers are dropped and vendors come here to collect newspapers for their locality. Most of the activities happen between 3.30 a.m to 5.30 a.m. Within this short span they have to meet the vendors and ensure they are regularly supplying the newspapers. 3. On the job training: The sales force is briefed about the newspaper and supplements and then they are sent to the field for training. In this industry the training is mostly on the job where executives have to go and sell the subscriptions to the customers. 4. Compensation Plan: Generally combination salary plans are followed in newspaper industry. This type of plan includes a combination of salary, commission and other type of incentive plans. As sales people get regular income in the form of monetary incentives, they are continuously motivated and it also provides sales person with the advantage of both a fixed salary and variable income. Every executive is given a minimum target to achieve and on exceeding this target they are given an incentive.

5. Evaluating Sales Force Performance: The performance of sales force is measured in terms of the number of subscriptions generated by each sales person. At the end of the month they collate how many subscriptions have been generated by executives and on the basis of subscriptions generated salary is computed. Distribution Process of Newspaper Industry * The newspaper sales involve distributing highly perishable products under severe time constraints. * The printed newspapers have to be dispatched to various distributors across the region. Transportation is normally through private contract carriers within local area, public transport in case of longer distances and through couriers in other cases. * The newspaper distributor has the rights to distribute the newspaper in his area. The revenue of the newspaper distributor is based on a commission on the sale of every newspaper. The circulation is normally through salesmen appointed and salaried by the distributors, who in turn pass it on to hawkers. * Hawkers, vendors and book stall owners are the last link of the supply chain before newspaper reaches readers. The hawkers' remuneration is also normally based on the commission system and is generally the highest in the entire supply chain. * Responsiveness and efficiency play an important role in newspaper distribution channel. Responsiveness includes supply chain's ability to respond to wide a range of quantity demanded (due to demand fluctuations) and meet short lead times. On the other hand efficiency is the cost of making and delivering the newspaper to the readers.

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