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“What's new? Certainly not IRS 2014”

It appears that the ghost of IRS 2013 is yet to be buried. On Friday, April 3, 2015, The Times of India carried a notice that says IRS 2014 “once again presents fiction masquerading as facts”. Published below is the text of the notice

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“What's new? Certainly not IRS 2014”

“What's new? Certainly not IRS 2014”

It appears that the ghost of IRS 2013 is yet to be buried. On Friday, April 3, 2015, The Times of India carried a notice that says IRS 2014 “once again presents fiction masquerading as facts”. Published below is the text of the notice

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | April 6, 2015

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Filling a new bottle three-quarters of the way with stale wine, then adding some fresh spirit to it and trying to pass off the whole offering as brand new, isn't the most transparent thing to do. In fact, some might call it downright misleading. And yet, that is precisely what IRS 2014 is attempting to do.

The irony is that each of the six publications issuing this notice has grown readership in the latest round of IRS. Dainik Jagran has grown readership by 7% to 166.3 lakh, Dainik Bhaskar by 8% to 138.3 lakh, Amar Ujala by 10% to 78 lakh, Dharitri by 9% to 8.48 lakh.

TOI has grown readership by 5% to 75.9 lakh and Hindu by 10% to 16.2 lakh. All of us have grown faster than our key competitors like HT and Hindustan (both 4%).However, even though it would suit us to use these figures to blow our trumpet, in the interest of truth and fairness, we would not like to do so. Here's why. The very term `IRS 2014' seems to suggest that it is a fully independent chapter of the Indian Readership Survey. The fact is, three-fourths of the survey is the same as the discredited IRS 2013; only one-fourth of the sample is fresh.

Readers may recall that the same IRS 2013 had been unanimously condemned by 18 leading newspaper groups of the country, which had called it “badly flawed“. In a statement issued in public interest, the newspapers had stated, “The survey is riddled with shocking anomalies, which defy logic and common sense. They also grossly contradict audited circulation figures (ABC) of long standing.”

Among other major shockers, the survey showed Hindu Business Line having thrice as many readers in Manipur as in Chennai; Hitavada, the leading English newspaper of Nagpur with a certified circulation of over 60,000, not having a single reader; Amar Ujala's Moradabad edition with a certified circulation of 1.36 lakh, having readership of just 81,000; and Delhi showing a drop of 19.5% in overall English readership.

IRS 2013 was rejected by several media companies, including Dainik Bhaskar, the Jagran Group, The Hindu, Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (the publishers of The Times of India) and Amar Ujala. Many media houses have subsequently withdrawn from the IRS membership.

Given that IRS 2013 was riddled with biases and errors, it is obvious that many of the mistakes will be carried over to the new round, since three-fourths of the data used is the same. Worse, the field work for even the so-called `fresh sample' was done in January-February 2014... in other words, over a year ago. An accurate name for the report would be IRS Q1, 2014. Instead, it is being described as IRS 2014, which seems to suggest that it provides the latest findings for the entire year instead of what it really contains – data that is over a year old and hopelessly outdated. Indeed, we are at a loss to understand what possible reason a reputed organization like MRUC could have for releasing such stale data at this point of time even though it must surely be fully aware of its numerous shortcomings.

We look forward to a time when the IRS will actually produce a survey that is indisputably unflawed. Till then, we will continue to point out anomalies in their findings and not attach any credence to their numbers – even if they show us in a favourable light. Unlike others who perhaps adhere to the adage of lies, damned lies and statistics, we believe that numbers are meant to be sacrosanct, not massaged whenever required.

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Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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