In year 2000, when I started my career as a PR professional, media monitoring used to be done manually. There were no e-papers or AI (artificial intelligence) based monitoring. It involved scanning newspapers (physical copies) with eagle eyes for client, competition and industry coverages. These were marked, properly cut and neatly pasted on A4 sheets along with the newspaper name, edition and date (also cut from the newspapers). And at the end of every month, these would be segregated (client, competition and industry) and compiled into spiral bound dossiers for each client. Once ready, the dossiers would be personally hand-delivered or couriered to the respective clients.
I used to do the cutting and pasting job deftly right from Day 1, which actually surprised my first manager. What he didn’t know was that I had been doing it over the past 9 years as part of my hobby of collecting news clippings (coverages in newspapers and magazines) of important happenings in India, and few across the world too…events that can be truly classified as ‘Breaking News’ or ‘Front Page News’.
Beginnings of a Hobby
34 summers ago, on May 22, 1991, I was jogging on the Kadma – Sonari Link Road in Jamshedpur. It was around 5:00 – 5:30 A.M. types, and I could clearly sense that something was amiss. People were quieter than usual and their faces bore bewildered looks. Suddenly I heard a Bengali gentleman (a regular morning walker) shout out to someone, “Aarey soona ki nahiin…Rajib Gandhi ko Meddras mein ooda diya.” (Did you hear or not…Rajiv Gandhi has been assassinated in Madras)
I became curious to know more about the incident. At home, we subscribed to ‘The Statesman’, which used to come from Calcutta and got delivered only post noon. I couldn’t wait until then…in fact I couldn’t even wait for 15 – 20 minutes (such was my eagerness) to reach home and see everything on TV. So I purchased the first newspaper I could get my hands on…the Jamshedpur edition of ‘Awaaz’ from a newspaper vendor passing by on his bicycle. Then as the day unfolded and the happenings at Sriperumbudur started coming out gradually, I was sure that this assassination would be etched in the minds of people for years to come. That’s when I decided to preserve the coverage in ‘Awaaz’ and ‘The Statesman’. Little did I know then that this small act would be the beginning of a life-long hobby.
Since then I have collected more than 350 news clippings. I also keep full newspapers and magazines pertaining to certain extremely important events.
My collection includes clippings pertaining to Lord Ganesha idols drinking milk on a particular day in 1995; Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam becoming President; 26 / 11 attacks on Bombay; Bhuj earthquake; 9 / 11 terrorist strike; Parliament attack; Columbia Space Shuttle crash which claimed Kalpana Chawla; Sachin Tendulkar’s double ton; Osama bin Laden’s killing; Indian rupee getting a symbol; Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from cricket; the missing Malayasia Airlines planes; passing away of renowned personalities across various fields; December 2004 tsunami; A. R. Rahman’s Oscar win; Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic Gold; COVID-19 and its induced lockdown; Chandrayaan-3 making a perfect touchdown on the moon to name a few.
Few other newspapers, magazines, news, features that I have collected over the years are newspapers dated January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2001, days which marked the start of the new millennium (am still confused about whether the new millennium started in 2000 or 2001); around 25 news clippings pertaining to India’s historic win in the 2011 Cricket World Cup from newspapers and magazines from across the country; National Geographic issues pertaining to Neil Armstrong landing on moon, the finding of Titanic’s remains, and the issues of 1985 and 2002 with the cover pictures of the same Afghan girl, Sharbat Gula…both clicked by American photojournalist Steve McCurry.
My most prized possession is the full newspaper of ‘The Statesman’ dated August 15, 1947, the day our country got independence.
The Essence of Media Monitoring
Don Draper’s (the fictional ‘Mad Men’ character) iconic quote, “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation,” highlights the strategic importance of media monitoring for organisations. By actively tracking and analysing media coverage, companies can not only gain insight into their current reputation and brand perception, but will also be able to take proactive steps to influence the narrative and shape public opinion.
Also media monitoring is no longer the cutting and pasting job it used to be. Today it’s an innovative practice, where AI, ML (machine learning) and sophisticated algorithms have come into play. But the core premise remains the same, i.e. to track clients (organisation / brand), competition and industry. Only the process has become technologically advanced, wherein scissors have made way for software.
And when it comes to my hobby, revisiting old news coverages that I have collected over the years and reminiscing ‘Oh so this is how it happened’ gives me the ultimate kick.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Vijay likes to watch old Hindi classic films and listen to old Hindi film songs, and has an enviable collection of both of these. He enjoys reading autobiographies and biographies, and also short stories, his favourite authors being R. K. Narayan, Munshi Premchand, Leo Tolstoy and Guy de
Maupassant. Vijay also has a hobby of collecting news clippings (from newspapers and magazines) of important events across the globe…events that can be truly classified as ‘Breaking News’ or ‘Front Page News’.
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