The season of scandals is still on for the Indian news media. This time it is about the tall claims that Indian newspapers often make.
The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has upheld complaints against advertisements of three newspaper brands Prabhat Khabar, DNA and Nai Dunia. All advertisements concerned were released in September this year.
The case against Prabhat Khabar was that it had staked claim to the number one position in Jharkhand by citing data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), July-December 2009. The ASCI council found that the ABC results for the said duration were not in sync with Prabhat Khabar's claims about circulation in Jharkhand. The advertiser, need we be told, has discontinued the advertisement.
The DNA advertisement had come up with the catchlines 'The No 1 daily for the independent people', 'The No 1 daily for the new Indian', 'The No 1 daily for the people's voice', and 'The No 1 daily for tomorrow's leader'. The ASCI council found that none of these claims were substantiated by any data or research from any independent organisation. DNA did not cite sources that would back up the claims. DNA too has discontinued the advertisement.
Nai Dunia's advertisement had stated, "This remarkable growth rate of Nai Dunia can perhaps be an indication of the future, as much as that of current value." This ad was considered misleading by ASCI since although the growth rate of Nai Dunia and Dainik Bhaskar may have been correctly depicted, the absence of a base index rendered the advertisement misleading. Nai Dunia's assurance of compliance was still awaited by ASCI.
In India it is not just about circulation wars, it is also one about claims over figures.
