TOI is nothing but local masala with clored photos..no stuff at all

Highly stale news

I had been switching between the two. When on DH, I found ToI covering more city news (volume). When with ToI, felt as if DH was  carrying 'better' local reports (quality). Just don't  have time to read two newspapers.

Currently with no daily english newspaper, plan to try DNA from next week.

I like DH for 'local' news. Also browse Hindu for more 'national' type reports.

Ravi

 I subscribe to TOI. Not because its content may be the best. It is because I find it cost effective. For the subscription I give it gives the best weight when I sell it off at old paper mart.

One gets used to regular features a paper carries. For example "To the point" by HS Balram and parting shot there in etc. One of my friends reads three papers. That may be better to really get to know different view points. But I am quite a lazy person.

I switched from TOI to Asian Age first - because I realised that the articles in TOI were just advertisements for Times Group products. The articles in Deccan Herald, while local, are usually quite badly written - I recall one article on some atrocity commited in a village - it was reported -`When this reporter reached the villiage it was peopled by a pall of gloom'.

The good thing about Asian Age is that most of their articles are stolen from better newspapers - they do, for example, publish articles from the Karachi Dawn, which is oftentimes interesting as it gives a different perspective on the Indo-Pak situation. The only problem with the  Asian Age is that they have very little local coverage.

However, Deccan Chronicle seems to have a combination of both The Asian Age  and local news - I think it has the same publisher as the Asian Age. And they have a jumble and are only Rs 72 per month.

Ramesh

There is a portal samachar.com which covers news of multiple news papers. Kannada news papers together can be seen on http://kannada.samachar.com

I have been getting DNA since Dec last year. The quality has been going down down down. I dont reccomend it.

The language is not crisp - but very casual. I have even spotted typos. They dont go deep into any issue - but just scratch the surface.

I fell for thier launch campaign and took a 1 year subscription - now I am regreting it! Maybe you can take my subscription?

Well, if you want serious news - read something like Tehelka - though it can be rather depressing.  A friend of mine who works for the TOI group said that Sameer Jain, the editor of TOI thinks that he is responsible for India's Economic Growth over the last few years since he only publishes good news and his newspaper is read by the 1% of people that matter in this country - if they are happy, the country does well ! 

The Hindu, on the other hand, while in general a  good newspaper tows the CPI(M) party line, since N.Ram is a great pal of the Karat's, so they can do no wrong.

Ramesh

There are good writers with all of them, but style or extent is not consistent all around (Hindu might be an exception)

It could very well be that one needs quality journalists and writers to convey even the boring subjects and non sexy developments in interesting and engaging formats. And like with every other field in our country, this field too is short on talent.

rs - thats true about Hindu, I have heard many people say that.

But there are two aspects to these newspapers. 1) editorials and opinions 2) pure reporting

Ideological bias will certainly show in editorials, opinionatorials and guest columns. But except fromthe general writing style, I would expect that reporting should be free from such "direct" leanings. Reports can have hard observation or statistical proof based "conclusions".

Its like give me all data and reports, and let me make my conclusions. But when I am on editorial page, I know that I am reading conlusions that you have dran based on data and reports that you have been carrying.

I know, now IDS will disagree here. His point is that if each report has to be covering only facts, then how will the newspapers differentiate. I bet they can - stories always have lot of backgrounds, statistical aspects, associated actors.

May be a journalist member can weigh in here as to what standards or styles they follow.

I have been reading 'the Hindu' from childhood. I learnt good English by reading it.

Even when I was in North India, I used to wait for it to be delivered after two days.

I am addicted to it.

Now, for local and juicy news I also get TOI.

K.V.Pathy

I get TOI but am horrified seeing the content.  It is a semi tabloid.  Bangalore Times seems to think that the only people who matter in this world are film actors and other such pretenders.

Nothing for children in it.  Planning to change to either Deccan or Hindu.

Srivathsa

to be brutally honest, if we could get a Hindu that is as focussed on KA, as the Hindu is on TN, i would not be cribbing at all. for those of us who remember, Hindu used to be the newspaper of record and high principles. It is only under the current editor, who usurped editorial previleges and authority in true oligarchical circumstances that Hindu is even suspect.

DH is ok. It has the basics right, but it lacks the fire and the spine that the Hindu has.ToI is to journalism what Karan Johar et al are to cinema.

I think in general we digas have way too much of a middle path attitude to life to be really of impact. We have a congenital distate for extremes - way too bo-jua if you will. way too used to the means and methods of a rajarishis like KW and CW. Ideally, to be dynamic we should have a ceratin amount of ferment and desire for change and have the yearning of a noble savage. any society that crosses that and gets blinded by its own hubris is doomed to complacency and as was said by our own ancients o the curse of a dheerga-tamas.

 It is a very scholarly analysis Tarale, a reason good enough for being near and dear to our hearts.

How ever I had no wicket to get bowled over. It is an age of MBAs. Success is what demand and supply is. I see Indian express employing dozens of personnel while on morning walk to distribute IE free for advertisement. TOI is way ahead of the nearest competition.