Global Media Wooing Indian Readers; BBC Set To Launch India Online Edition

Even as the Indian print media continues to be largely a local affair due to the existing foreign investment norms, global media houses have become suddenly hyperactive with their India specific content on the Internet. After New York Times and Wall Street Journal, two others have announced their moves to offer more localised content for Indian readers online.

BBC Worldwide is readying to launch a new edition for India. According to a media statement, it has set up a new team of journalists in Singapore.

BBC already offers versions of its site for Indian readers in Hindi and Tamil. It has an Asia page, under which are two sections - Asia Business and a section specifically for China as of now. But the media firm is advertising about BBC India Edition on this page.

BBC is planning to offer analysis, breaking news and business bulletins for the Indian market. Worldwide, BBC claims to have 11.1 million unique users per month.

On TV too, the editorial focus has been ramped up. BBC World News has introduced two new programmes – Newsday and The Power of Asia – on TV. It will also showcase special features and reports titled India Direct and The New Middle Class.

In the meantime, Financial Times has chosen to re-launch its India section. On its updated site, readers can follow the latest headlines and gain expert FT opinion specifically for India. There is also a dedicated India news RSS alert being offered.

Recently, New York Times Company established a sub-site called India Ink, to showcase news, information, culture and conversations on the country. Wall Street Journal, on the other hand, chose a more informal path with its India Real Time blog section. The section offers analysis and insights on business, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment news. Wall Street Journal has also enabled a Hindi version of the blog.

Launching sections and pages for India will hopefully bring more interesting stories to the forefront of global media. India can look forward to more interest in the subcontinent; online users to more viewpoints, analysis and reading material and advertisers, to new media clients.