Policies/Regulation

As the National Democratic Alliance government ramps up its publicity in the build up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it is choosing the  media outlets it advertises in  to suit its self-interest. And the most conspicuous casualty of this approach is the Indian Express.  Not the group, but the paper. Because its sister publication, the Financial Express has not seen similar cuts. In fact, starting from financial year 2015-16 to 2017-18  FE has received more advertising than the Hindu Business Line.  Perhaps its editorial policy does not displease the government  as much.

The United Progressive Alliance government allocated a higher advertising budget to English newspapers. The data in this report has been obtained through RTI for a period covering two central governments: 2009-10 to 2017-18. Overall, government advertising routed through the Directorate of Advertising and Publicity in leading English newspapers came down in 2017-18, compared to the previous year.   The government spent  a total of Rs 178.2  crore on this segment in the latest year. The previous year it was Rs 207.7 crore.