There is a big hue and cry that Sakshi received Rs 371 Cr in advertisements during the reign of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The commotion is also extended for giving away Rs 488 Cr to all other dailies put together. But the fun fact is that there were clear reports that Chandrababu Naidu gave more than this amount to Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy during his tenure in the past.
Ultimately, it's mutual allegation between the ruling and the opposition parties in every term with no action being taken.
Sakshi is the second most circulated news daily in Andhra Pradesh. That is fine. Andhra Jyothy and Eenadu also have commendable circulation, but shelling out almost close to Rs 1000 Cr altogether for news dailies over five years is meaningless.
In this digital era, where news is spreading to people through social media channels and websites, concentrating ads solely on news dailies is ironic. It's a gross waste of public money and an unnecessary burden on the government exchequer.
Moreover, it is said that APDC (AP Digital Corporation), which was dedicated to digital media promotions, was allocated Rs 180 Cr in the last five years, according to the present government's mention.
It is not known where that money was spent and what the breakdown was as a whole. Which website and which social media channels were given how much based on their public reach also needs to be disclosed.
On the whole, it is clear that these allegations and pointing fingers at governments for giving thousands of crores to news dailies is a regular practice just to entertain the people, and no action is ever taken.
All political parties have been doing the same for many terms, and nothing has been answered with proper action. Distributing huge public money to the kith and kin in the name of media has become a regular practice.
The circulation, public reach, and impact are not being calculated while distributing money to the dailies and other media outlets.
Usha Chowdhary
