Too newsy

When I first joined a newspaper in 2005, one question that was often asked by friends and relatives (albeit relatives more than friends) was how newspaper editors make sure that every day they have the right amount of news to fill up all the space and not leave anything blank. I did not know what to say the first few times when this was asked. It took me some time to realise that what was basically being asked was what happens on a day when there isn't enough news. How do newspaper editors fill up pages on such days? This question came from the fact that no newspaper has ever carried a blank space saying 'this space is blank because we ran short of news today'. Or why just a newspaper? No other form of media reporting news operates like this. Basically, the answer to this question is that there is never really a shortage of news - at least not in a country like India. Yes, there are what we call news-light days, but they are few and far between. On such days, newspapers either cut down on the number of pages or tend to carry more interviews, features, bigger pictures and s

This article was originally published on January 20, 2021.