LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, July 1: Lagatar Media, which started its hindi portal lagatar.in in October 2020, launched its hindi daily ‘Shubham Sandesh’ on Friday at BNR Chanakya Hotel, Ranchi.
Newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, Aditya Sahu and Khiru Mahto, Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, senior MLA CP Singh, former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahai, MLAs Saryu Roy, Manish Jaiswal, Lambodar Mahto, Samri Lal and others were present on the occasion with many public representatives and dignitaries.
During the launch, the editor-in-chief of Lagatar Media Pvt Ltd Surjit Singh expressed his aim and vision behind the Hindi daily.
“When I was working in another media house around 10-15 years back, I observed that majority of newspapers in the state had 40 to 50 percent news which was not worth publishing. That is when I decided that if I get a chance I would like to start a newspaper with the motto ‘Ek Rajya Ek Akhbar’ (One State One Newspaper). It is important to cover news of the majority of districts in Ranchi,” he said.
He added that the current scenario is that the people of Chaibasa don’t know what is happening in Palamu and the people of Palamu do not know what’s happening in Dumka. So having one newspaper with all the quality news is the main objective.
The theme of the event was ‘Vidhayako ke Sapne’ where many prominent MLAs shared their dreams and visions.
Former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, one of the chief guests, praised that the team of Shubham Sandesh consists of prominent journalists from Jharkhand who have been in this field for years and it will definitely have a big impact on the readers.
“I remember there was a time when there used to be one single newspaper that used to cover news all across Bihar. However, things changed and the newspaper became more district centric focusing only on local issues of a particular area. It is really nice to see that with ‘Shubham Sandesh’ people across the state will get to read about all the news that is happening in various parts of Jharkhand,” he said.
He added that the impact of the newspaper is very high in society. Even though there has been a rise in electronic media but without print media, the democratic system will be in a state of chaos.
Ranchi MLA and former minister CP Singh said that due to different editions in newspapers, he could not read the news of other districts. Recalling 1975-76, he told that he also distributed the newspaper during that period. During the Emergency, he used to distribute Lokvani Patrika in the colleges of Ranchi.
He added that now hundreds of newspapers are coming out of Ranchi. In such a situation, the challenge of making itself stand out from the crowd lies with ‘Shubham Sandesh’.
“There is also a compulsion with newspapers that it has to go back and forth between the government and the office bearers for advertisement, so they cannot write openly against the government. We expect ‘Shubham Sandesh’ to balance the news,” he said.
Senior MLA Saryu Roy said that he used to be the editor of the Lokvani Patrika. He said that a newspaper for the entire state has many merits and many shortcomings.
“Earlier, there was a single edition newspaper, it was a problem that the newspaper reached the readers in remote areas in the late evening. Sometimes two could reach on the second day. Having newspapers of different editions, readers get the newspaper early in the morning. The newspaper reaches the readers on time, so the newspaper has to be taken out on time,” he said.
He added that it is also difficult to do justice to all sections of the society in 15-16 pages of the newspaper, but the newspaper publishers should bring out the newspaper keeping in mind the mentality of the readers. He expressed hope that ‘Shubham Sandesh’ will be the most liked newspaper in Jharkhand.
Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth said that when he holds a program in his constituency, his press release has to be sent to four districts, as different editions of newspapers reach several constituencies. The people of Ichagarh do not know what they did in Silli, while Silli and Khalari do not know what they did in Ichagarh.
“In such a situation, Shubham Sandesh, which has come out with the concept of one state, one newspaper, will have news from all over the place. No matter how many phases of social media come, but no one can take the place of the newspaper. Newspaper strengthens us ideologically. Care has to be taken that the selection of news is correct. One has to find what interests the reader and deliver the news accordingly,” he said.
Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji said that ‘Shubham Sandesh’, which has come together with the thinking of one state, one newspaper, apart from the tradition of local news in newspapers, will be successful.
“Earlier the newspapers here used to be rough. There is still a lot of inclination among people towards print. For many, their day starts with the newspaper, so care should be taken that the front news is not negative in the newspapers. Like other newspapers, Shubham Sandesh should also organise extra activities and programs. This will create a hold of the newspaper between the people and the society,” she said.
