Dainik Bhaskar
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)D B Corp Ltd.
Founded1948 (1948) (as Subah Savere in Bhopal and Good Morning India in Gwalior)
1957 (1957) (as Bhaskar Samachar)
1958 (1958) (as Dainik Bhaskar)
LanguageHindi
HeadquartersBhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
CountryIndia
Circulation3,566,617 Daily [1] (as of April 2023)
Sister newspapersDivya Bhaskar
Dainik Divya Marathi
Websitebhaskar.com

Dainik Bhaskar is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group.[2] According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit Bureau of Circulations was the eleventh largest newspaper in India by circulation as of 2022.[3][4][5] Started in Bhopal in 1958, it expanded in 1983 with the launch of Dainik Bhaskar's Indore edition. The Dainik Bhaskar Group is present in 12 states with 65 editions in Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati.

History

Subah Savere was launched in 1948 to fulfill the need for a Hindi-language daily newspaper. It launched under the name Subah Savere in Bhopal and Good Morning India in Gwalior. In 1957, the newspaper was renamed Bhaskar Samachar.

In 1958, the newspaper was renamed Dainik Bhaskar. The word Bhaskar means "the Rising Sun" in English. Along with its rising sun graphic, was meant to represent a bright future.[6]

2021 income tax raids

On 22 July 2021, Income Tax Department conducted tax raids at 30 locations of Dainik Bhaskar Group in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra under charges of alleged tax evasion The homes of a few of the employees were also raided.[7] In a statement released by Dainik Bhaskar, they claimed that the raids have been done after they exposed mismanagement of COVID by the government and published true COVID-19 death statistics. They also alleged that mobile phones of the employees were seized and employees were barred from leaving.[8]

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the media house is "paying the price" for its coverage during the pandemic. "Through its reporting Dainik Bhaskar has exposed the Modi regime's monumental mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now paying the price. An Undeclared Emergency as Arun Shourie has said — this is a Modified Emergency," he tweeted.[9] Several other leaders including Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also condemned the incident and expressed the common viewpoint of the raids being a "mode of intimidation".[10] The Editors Guild of India also expressed concern about the income tax raids on Dainik Bhaskar.[11][12][13][14] Union Minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur has denied any government interference and claimed agencies are doing their job.[15] At last, it was claimed that tax evasion of 7,000,000,000 INR has taken place over the period of six years.[16]

High Court order directing corrigendum

In March 2023, Dainik Bhaskar posted a video on its Twitter handle stating Bihari migrant workers were attacked by people in Tamil Nadu for not speaking Hindi. Four months later, Madras High Court called the reporting "fake news" and directed Dainik Bhaskar to issue apology to the court and to the "people of Tamil Nadu" by issuing a corrigendum on front page of its print editions. During the investigation, Tamil Nadu police also released CCTV footage to prove the incident was a suicide, not a murder.[17][18]

Expansion

By 1995, Dainik Bhaskar had emerged as the number 1 newspaper in Madhya Pradesh (MP)[19] and was declared the fastest-growing daily in India by a readership survey. The newspaper decided to expand outside MP and identified Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, as the market with the highest potential.

In 1996, Dainik Bhaskar's goal was to enter Jaipur as the No. 2 newspaper (in terms of circulation) on its first day, with 50,000 copies. To achieve this target, an in-house team of 700 surveyors surveyed 200,000 potential newspaper households in Jaipur. Based on survey feedback, they went back to each of the households surveyed to show them a prototype of the newspaper and gave them the option of an advance subscription. The customers were offered a subscription price of ₹1.50 (a discount compared to the newsstand price of ₹2), and a refund in case of dissatisfaction. When Dainik Bhaskar launched in Jaipur on 19 December 1996, it was the No. 1 newspaper by selling 172,347 copies. Amar Ujala, is a Hindi-dialect day by day daily paper distributed in India. It has 19 versions in seven states and one union domain covering 167 regions. It has a course of around two million copies. Rajasthan Patrika, the former leader had a circulation of around 100,000 copies at that time.[19] Dainik Bhaskar successfully adopted a similar model in other cities of Rajasthan, including Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota, Udaipur, and Ajmer Sikar, becoming the No.1 urban newspaper of the entire state by 1999.

The next target was Chandigarh. It launched a customer survey in January 2000, covering 220,000 households. At that time, the English language newspapers in Chandigarh outsold the Hindi newspapers sixfold, with The Tribune as the leader with a circulation of approximately 50,000 copies. Dainik Bhaskar's survey suggested that residents of Chandigarh preferred English newspapers due to quality perceptions. As a result, the newspaper incorporated the local Chandigarh dialect in the design, mixing Hindi and English. Dainik Bhaskar launched in Chandigarh in May 2000 with 69,000 copies sold making it No.1 in the city.[19]

In June 2000, Dainik Bhaskar entered Haryana, with 271,000 copies.[19]

In 2006, Dainik Bhaskar launched in Punjab with the Amritsar and Jalandhar editions and became the No.1 newspaper on the first day, displacing established legacy players. Later, it increased its presence in Punjab in Ludhiana and Bhatinda.

In 2010, Dainik Bhaskar entered the Jharkhand market with the launch of a Ranchi edition, followed by Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions.

In January 2014, Dainik Bhaskar entered Bihar with a successful launch in Patna It followed with launch of Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya editions in 2015.

In April 2014, Dainik Bhaskar launched an online Hindi edition in Uttar Pradesh.

In June 2017, Dainik Bhaskar launched its Hindi News[20] on three different platforms: Android, iOS and Windows.

Editions

Dainik Bhaskar has five editions in Madhya Pradesh, one edition in Uttar Pradesh, four editions in Chhattisgarh, 12 editions in Rajasthan, three editions in Haryana, four editions in Punjab, four editions in Bihar, three editions Jharkhand and one edition each in Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir.

References

  1. ↑ "Highest Circulated Daily Newspapers (language wise)" (PDF). Audit Bureau of Circulations. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Parsad, Chandan; Prashar, Sanjeev; Sahay, Vinita (1 January 2017). "Dainik Bhaskar: live no negative". Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies. 7 (3): 1–22. doi:10.1108/EEMCS-06-2016-0106. ISSN 2045-0621.
  3. ↑ Milosevic, Mira (2016). "World Press Trends 2016" (PDF). WAN-IFRA. p. 58. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "World Press Trends 2016: Facts and Figures". wptdatabase.org. WAN-IFRA. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Highest Circulated Daily Newspapers (language wise)" (PDF). Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ Pandey, Alok; Gunasekar, Arvind (22 July 2021). "Tax Raids At Media Group Dainik Bhaskar, Also At UP Channel". NDTV. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "हमने अपना काम किया: गंगा में लाशों से लेकर कोरोना से मौतों के सही आंकड़े देश के सामने रखने वाले भास्कर ग्रुप पर इनकम टैक्स रेड". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). 22 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "I-T searches premises of Dainik Bhaskar Group, daily points to its Covid reporting". The Indian Express. ENS Economic Bureau. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Taskin, Bismee (22 July 2021). "Income Tax dept raids Dainik Bhaskar media group, 'Modified Emergency', says Opposition". ThePrint. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Govt agencies being used to muzzle media: Editors Guild | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "Concerned that govt agencies being to suppress journalism: Editors Guild". The Indian Express. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Editors Guild of India condemns alleged snooping, seeks SC-monitored probe". Hindustan Times. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Editors Guild Expresses Concern Over Income Tax Raids on Dainik Bhaskar, Bharat Samachar". The Wire. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "I-T raids on Dainik Bhaskar: Anurag Thakur denies govt interference, says 'agencies are doing their job'". The Indian Express. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  16. ↑ Gunasekar, Arvind; Dutta Roy, Divyanshu (24 July 2021). "Tax Evasion On Rs 700 Crore Found In Dainik Bhaskar Raids: Tax Department". NDTV. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  17. ↑ Team, NL (5 July 2023). "HC tells Dainik Bhaskar to apologise for fake news on Bihar migrants 'targeted' in Tamil Nadu". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Arvind, Ayesha (5 July 2023). "Tender unconditional apology to people of Tamil Nadu: Madras High Court to Dainik Bhaskar for fake news on migrant worker attacks". Bar and Bench. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Porus Munshi (2009). "Dainik Bhaskar: No. 1 From Day One". Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen. Collins Business. pp. 16–33. ISBN 978-81-7223-774-5.
  20. ↑ "Google Play Store App". Google Play. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
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