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(IANS) Overcoming technical and commercial challenges, Urdu media in India is now trying to re-invent itself as big corporate houses enter the market. But the wider problem of lack of readership persists.
The advent of the digital technology has made it easier to print Urdu. Gone are the days when ‘qatibs’ (calligraphers) diligently traced out the script on to transparencies and then the letters were inverted before printing them on a lithographic machine. Now it is done through desktop composing and printing, just like with other languages.
Financial constraints are also easing.
According to Aziz Burney, group editor of the Roznama Rashtriya Sahara daily, big corporate houses are now keen on entering the market and are investing in the Urdu media – something which was unimaginable about a decade ago.
‘There is a lot more job opportunities in the Urdu media today than what the position was in yesteryears,’ Burney told IANS, painting a contrast to the times when the media was facing a lack of good content.
The Roznama Rashtriya Sahara publishes 16 editions from 10 places across the country and claims a readership of over three million. It also publishes the Aalmi Sahara, a weekly newsmagazine, and the Bazm-e-Sahara, a literary and culture monthly.
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(Thanks to Asghar Vasanwala)