The Times of India, often abbreviated as TOI, is one of India’s leading daily newspapers, owned and managed by the Bennet, Coleman and Company, which is a family business tightly controlled by Indu Jain and Vineet Jain.
HistoryThe Times of India was founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, and served the British residents of western India. It adopted its present name in 1861. Published every Saturday and Wednesday, The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was launched as a bi-weekly edition. It contained news from Europe, America and the sub-continent, and was conveyed between India and Europe via regular steam-ships. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850 and by 1861, the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India. In the 19th century this news-paper company employed more than 800 people and had good circulation in India and Europe. Originally British owned and controlled, its last British editor was Ivor S. Jehu, who resigned the editorship in 1950.The Times of India is published by India's largest media group, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. This company, along with its other group companies, are more popularly known as The Times Group, which also publishes The Economic Times (a leading financial broadsheet), Mumbai Mirror, the Navbharat Times (a Hindi daily broadsheet), and the Maharashtra Times (a Marathi daily broadsheet).The Times Group has very recently added TIMES NOW a 24 hour English news channel to its chain of news organisations. TIME NOW is a JV between Reuters and the Times Group.
CriticismsThe newspaper has been criticized by some of its readers for its efforts to reach out to new market segments. The modeling of sections of the newspaper upon fashion tabloids is a case in point. The group has also been attacked by other media houses in India for its management interference in editorial policy and the policy of selling paid news. The Times Group has drawn some amount of flak for a scheme called "medianet", which other firms can use to purchase editorial coverage in the daily. More recently, the Times Group has started a focused practice on aquiring clients under a program named "Private Treaties", in which PR and advertisements are provided in return of purchase of client's company shares. The ethical problems for the group have been further compounded by allegations of extortion by a journalist employed by the group.Historically, The Times of India has been praised for its content. In the recent past, however, it is claimed that the newspaper's focus has shifted away from journalistic excellence, to tabloid-style pizzazz bordering on yellow journalism. It's reputation has taken such a plunge that The Times of India, abbreviated as TOI, has been labeled as the TOI-let paper in online articles and blogs. Blogs have also exposed instances of plagiarism in the paper, for e.g. The newspaper has at times been panned for its unabashed promotion of inhouse brands owned by its parent company, M/s Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, (such as Femina, Radio Mirchi, Planet M, Times Music). The newspaper has also been accused of overly sensationalizing news stories. An infamous example being the Rift in powerful biz family article, which detailed a rift within the Ambani family. Interestingly, the newspaper was the first to break the news six months before the feud became public knowledge.Though the Times has traditionally tried to portray an image of political neutrality, it has been by and large viewed as a pro-establishment paper. It tends to vary in its support between the BJP and Congress Party, depending on who holds the reins of the Central Government. Its whole-hearted approval of Indira Gandhi's excessive repression measures during the internal Emergency in the 1970s is not lost on political observers. Since the 1980s and early 1990s, the Times of Indihas consistently produced some of the country's finest journalists. Most of these journalists tend to move to other publications soon after (so as not to be in conflict with the Jain brothers).
Market shareThe newspaper today sells 2.7 million copies daily, and has an average issue readership in excess of 8.4 million, which makes it by far the world's largest English-language broadsheet newspaper.EditionsGlobal Edition http://timesofindia.com Delhi Edition Mumbai Edition Bangalore Edition Pune Edition Calcutta Edition Lucknow Edition Ahmedabad Edition Hyderabad Edition Mangalore Edition Mysore Edition Surat Edition* Opening very Shortly
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