New Delhi : Team work does not always come from team bonding exercises, as prophesied by corporate trainers and motivators, it comes from the very basic instinct of crisis management which is ingrained in the human psyche. A fantastic case study for the media industry would be the unified voice of the vernacular print industry, rising beyond the recent upheaval in Haryana.
News headlines across the country reported flashes of killings and casualties and the impact on the lives of habitants of Rohtak and Jhajjar areas, as protests for quota by the Jat community took an ugly turn. Reports of clashes between Jats and Non-Jats also surfaced at Kalayat in Kaithal district and in Hansi area of Hisar district. The road and rail traffic through Haryana remained disrupted with authorities cancelling bus and train services on most routes in the wake of continuing blockade. Despite an army flag march and police patrolling in worst-hit areas, violence and stir in the state spread to more areas. Pro-quota protesters torched several roadways buses, railway stations, police station, ration shops and other important buildings in the state.
In the midst of this violent outburst, the print media industry in Haryana displayed a unique example of cooperation, proving once again the age-old saying ‘pen is mightier than the sword’. Media has the privilege of being the ‘voice of the masses’ and standing true to its commitment of reaching out to the households every morning with news and information, print media industry ensured that everyday newspapers were delivered at their doorstep of the readers.
Leaving aside the fight for market share, Hindi vernaculars supported each other during this agitation and exhibited amazing camaraderie. Dainik Bhaskar’s Rohtak and Bahadurgarh editions for 21st February 2016, were printed from Amar Ujala’s Rohtak printing facility. Similarly, Amar Ujala’s editions of Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa for 21st, 22nd and 23rd February 2016 were printed at Dainik Bhaskar’s Hisar facility.
Hari Bhoomi’s editions of Rohtak and Bahadurgarh were also printed from Amar Ujala’s Rohtak printing facility for 24th February 2016.
Competition brands aggregating in times of catastrophe is not only an outcome of their commitment to their loyal consumer base but also an example of collaborative working and project management at an inter-company level which further goes on to create a benchmark for best practices across the media industry.
Kudos to Dainik Bhaskar and Amar Ujala think tank teams to have created a new dimension to ‘news delivery’ mechanism ensuring no breakdown to the process of news dissemination.
