This case study is an accompaniment to the previous piece titled, “Newspapers: Can you trust their online avatars?” To illustrate the point that newspapers online are not exact replicas of their print counterparts, we turn today to the website of The Hindu, one of India’s oldest English-language newspapers.
We recommend you watch the screencast below. (A text-only version follows below the video.)
Why The Hindu
I chose The Hindu as a case study because it is a relatively clean website, both journalism-and design-wise, and for the most part, what you see is the same kind of journalism you will see in print.
The Hindu began publishing in 1878 and about 117 years later in 1995, it launched its online avatar. So the website itself is about 25 years old this year.
The newspaper either inspires fierce devotion among its readers or apathy. It is serious in content and does not dabble in tabloid journalism.
When we scroll through the site
When we scroll through the website, we see a relatively clean layout. Stories are ordered as per the usual categories you see on most websites: home, news, coronavirus, sport, business, etc.
Interestingly, both the Code of Values and the terms of reference for the Readers’ Editor (someone who makes sure readers’ needs are met) are displayed prominently on the page. Not something you will find in other newspaper websites, at least not easily.
When scrolling, we would also urge you to look at the ‘byline’ and the ‘dateline’ of each article. A byline is usually the name of the reporter, but in The Hindu, you will also see bylines such as ‘legal correspondent’ or ‘special correspondent’. What this typically means is that a reporter went to a press conference but did not add any independent reporting to the story.
So when you see an article with a person’s name as the author, it is a little more credible.
Chumbox stories
When you go down any page on the website, you will find a bunch of stories known as ‘chumbox stories’. They are essentially sponsored stories, and clicking on them will take you to a different website altogether. For example, when you click on a story titled, “15 surprising foods that unclog arteries and blood vessels”, it takes you to a different website. For that, The Hindu gets a tiny payment from that website.
Sriram Srinivasan, the Digital Editor of The Hindu said to me, “what you see in The Hindu Online…the same values that drive the newspaper drive us too.” Referring to the pressure to be first to report news, he said, “we prefer to be right rather than being first.”
Sriram said The Hindu has a centralised team called ‘Media Neutral’, which edits stories regardless of whether they are bound for the print product or online. “It is a bunch of senior editors who edit, copy edit for style, language and fact, regardless of whether that story goes in print or only on the website.”
The exception to that, he said, was for live stories.
The Hindu’s ideology
This is another aspect that you will hear people talking about: how The Hindu is a left-leaning establishment. It is a bit like how the Hindustan Times is perceived as a pro-establishment newspaper and The Indian Express an anti-establishment one.
What this means is that The Hindu has given/gives more space to left-leaning op-eds and editorials in the newspaper. But this is opinion, not news. In its reporting, The Hindu takes care not to let opinions get in the way of facts or the accuracy of their stories (or at least as much as humanly possible).
This is unlike many other news organizations where the mixing of opinion and fact is far more regular. It is also unlike those ‘news’ organizations that peddle in made-up news.
In conclusion, The Hindu website does not publish poorly verified stories and pretty much everything you see on it is as trustworthy as what you see in print. Yes, it does use chumbox stories at the end of their articles, and you may be tempted into clicking on them. But that is OK because these stories take you to a different website altogether.
Was this helpful? Would you like me to do a screencast for other newspapers as well? Do let me know in the comments or by replying to this email.
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The Hindu is a pretty trusted organisation and I regard it's print variant in the highest regard. It has couple of pages dedicated to editorials and opinions (which even if left leaning), I like to read. And the supplement on Sunday is such a treat. I also like The Indian Express for its similar comprehensive coverage.