Local Dailies, Information and People : A Look Back

Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. Information and media. 3. On to the corridor of Indian Fourth Estate : a look back (Part I). 4. On to the Corridor of Indian Fourth Estate : a Manipur Chapter (Part II). 5. Information flow and print media : a study of Local Dailies in Manipur. 6. Designing a model of newspaper library. Bibliography. Annexures.

"Information is a socio-economic product. It is needed in all aspect of society and in all disciplines. People demand information that is timely, reliable, up-to-date and quickly available. Hence information in order to meet a need and acquire increased value must be provided in the appropriate format and level.

The newspaper, a medium of communication, usually published daily or weekly is intended to provide comprehensive and objective information in all aspects of a country\'s social, economic, political and cultural life. Newspaper is considered as the mirror of the world and society and as Fourth Estate in a democratic setup. The quality of a true newspaper that remains forever constant is its target to -- "the dissemination of information". Local daily is also a low cost medium of advertising, publicity, gathering information and updating knowledge. It provides an easy access to local information of immediate importance to the people of locality. In such background, it is urgently required to scale the role of Dailies (Print Media) in fulfilling the information needs of the society, particularly at the time when the electronic media are at command.

In India, very few studies have so far been made on the role of local dailies in dissemination of information. A similar work or a related work is not found to have carried out in the North East Region, which will be a pioneering one in the field of Library and Information Science.

This book is expected to serve teachers and researchers of Library and Information Science, media professionals, policy makers and the general public. Being one of the firsts of its kind the book will bring a new dimension in the field of Library and Information Science and its related disciplines--journalism, mass media, public relations, etc." (jacket)