OPINION | The dramatic expansion of ‘Election Print Media’: Analysing MIB data for 2024-2025

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has released data for the year 2024-2025 regarding the development and expansion of media. The figures that suggest further progression in the media are based on developments in print technology and successive expansions.

Here, the medium of communication includes platforms of entertainment, education and information. At first glance, the data indicates a growth in the medium of communication. However, it also raises a critical question: Why is India continually falling on the global media freedom scale?

In a democracy, can an increase in the number of media outlets indicate freedom of expression, or is it the freedom to use the right to express more important?

The data imply that the expansion of the medium of communication cannot be equated with development in the democratic character of a country. Mere mention of the freedom of expression in the Constitution is not enough; there is a need to have platforms where citizens can freely and unhindered exercise the right.

Similar to the rest of the world, the media, based on print technology, has significantly impacted daily life in India. Since WWII, those in power have increasingly used media as a form of weapon. In India, there has been an increase in the political use of media; particularly the medium of news has often been criticised for siding with those in power. These criticisms have grown since the Emergency. Data, although presented in numerical values, brings to the fore the socio-political and economic realities of the society when analysed.

To borrow from Hindu mythology, the churning of the ocean can bring out the poison. When examining data about media expansion, it is worth noting that in 1857, there were 475 newspapers being published, mainly in regional languages. Relative to the size of the population, their circulation was limited. Compared to 2025, literacy was also fairly low.

After gaining independence from the British Empire, India adopted the Constitution and freedom of expression was enshrined as a fundamental right. The awareness among people regarding the right was so high that the dependence on the media to express themselves remained low.

This may explain why, compared to 1857, in 1957 there were only 446 daily newspapers. The data published on the MIB website clearly shows a pattern where the number of daily newspapers increased significantly around election years. The numbers dwindled in subsequent years after the election held in 1980. For example, there is a noticeable rise around the 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999 elections.

But growing numbers of daily newspapers are seen more frequently since 2012-13 (12,109 newspapers) to 2013-14 (13,350 newspapers), over 1000 dailies emerged, showing a growth rate of 8.43per cent. This trend continues up to 2024, with 2019-20 showing a growth rate of 19.52per cent.

India is a diverse country. The political power is shaped by economic, social and cultural factors. While caste and religion are deeply entrenched in politics, they are embedded in language as well. Language is a sensitive issue in India; therefore, it is important to pay attention to the growth of media in different languages. If we pay attention to competition between political parties and changes in the political scenario through the prism of the expansion of media in different languages, we can witness a clear relationship between language and politics.

Another table of data reveals that Hindi has the highest number of publications (60, 107), followed by English (20, 175) while Kashmiri and Dogri have the least; Urdu has 7,027 publications. If analysed based on language, the data on the expansion of media shows how the media serves as a tool for political propaganda.

India is a union of 36 states and Union territories, each with a different economic, political and socio-cultural scene. Therefore, development cannot be said to be uniform or have a similar base.

Can literacy rate, economic condition and population size affect the expansion of media? According to the third data table, Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, has the highest number of publications (22,741), followed by Maharashtra (21,522). Bihar, despite being the third most populous, has only 2,219, while Madhya Pradesh ranks third in publication. Tamil Nadu (9209 publications), being the sixth most populous state, surpasses West Bengal (7596 publications), which ranks fourth in the population size chart. Delhi, though ranking 19th in population size, is the national capital and hence incomparable to other states. Thus, it can be said that similar to lingual reasons, the rate of publication, per state, differs in economic policies and on political lines.

Ownership and the expansion of media further clarify this picture. Economic policies tied to capitalist growth show a strong correlation with media expansions. A fourth table of data related to print media reveals this relationship. The ownership of media is divided into six parts, with 78.85 per cent of all publications being owned by individuals. This could mean multiple publications owned by a single person or family.

Circulation figures tell yet another story. In 2010-11, total newspaper circulation exceeded 32 crores, with over 17 crore daily newspapers. By 2023-24, the circulation rate of the daily newspaper was over 21 crore.

Two trends stand out:

(1) modern digital media has expanded rapidly alongside print, and

(2) circulation spikes around election years.

This begs the question does circulation increases and decreases at an even rate? The sixth table in the print media category highlights the link between language, media and politics. Hindi dailies circulate over 10 crore copies per day.

In contrast, Kashmiri circulates only 19,668. Sanskrit surprisingly exceeds 185,000. Santhali has publications but no daily newspapers. These figures, when compared with the population of these linguistic groups, reflect political realities.

Urdu circulation exceeds 184 lakhs, and English over 225 lakhs. The strength of these languages’ media relates to both politics and the economic power of their speakers. Odia’s poor circulation (just under 225,000) is telling, and similar concerns can be seen with Maithili, Dogri, and Bodo.

The Ministry’s data calls for deeper analysis. The growing corporate control over media, rapid increases in corporate assets, and rising burden of government advertising are all interlinked. So are interlinked the growing incidents of attacks on press freedom and increasing apathy of the media toward civil rights.

The writer is the chairman of the Media Studies Group.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.

India