Consider the following statements about newspapers in India:
(A) English newspapers, often called national dailies, circulate across regions.
(B) The readership of English dailies has stagnated.
(C) The Times of India and The Hindu are heading the list of dailies by readership.
(D) Indian language dailies as a whole have grown substantially in readership.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A, B and D only
(A) English newspapers, often called national dailies, circulate across regions. — Correct. English newspapers are called national dailies because they are read across regions. Vernacular papers have grown mainly within the states and the rural hinterland.
(B) The readership of English dailies has stagnated. — Correct. The readership of English dailies has stayed flat at around 31 million. Indian language dailies have grown in the same period.
(C) The Times of India and The Hindu are heading the list of dailies by readership. — Incorrect. The Hindi dailies Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar head the readership list. The Times of India and The Hindu are only the leading English dailies, with 15.2 and 5.3 million readers.
(D) Indian language dailies as a whole have grown substantially in readership. — Correct. Indian language dailies as a whole rose from 191 million readers to 425 million readers in 2019. Most of this growth came from the Hindi belt.
NCERT (2026-27): “Print Media … “According to recently published data of Indian Readership Survey, the largest growth in readership has been in Hindi belt. Indian language dailies as a whole have grown substantially from 191 million readers to 425 million readers in 2019. The readership of English dailies on the other hand, has stagnated at around 31 million. In 2005, Hindi dailies— Dainik Jagran (with 74 million) and Dainik Bhaskar (with 51 million) are heading the list, while The Times of India and The Hindu are the English dailies with a readership of over 15.2 and 5.3 million respectively. …” |