Newspaper is a powerful means of mass communication conveying current information. Its basic function is to provide info-edu-tainment (information, education and entertainment).

You pick it up, carry it, read it and move on. It is a serial publication containing news about politics, sports, religious topics, art, music, classifieds, obituaries, letters to the editor, advertisements, and other informative articles and so on. They are found all over the world and published in different languages. It has become a part and parcel of our daily life.

Newspaper is a powerful mass- media force. It caters to the needs of various sections of society. Newspapers shapes public opinions and influences government policies and discussions. It is the freedom of human rights and custodian of truth. Newspapers can mislead and misguide public opinion on important matters. They also help in educating the masses on important problems.

Those interested in Sports can learn about their favorite sports stars. They help the job – seekers in finding jobs of their choice and preference. Newspapers gives a report about important business activities. A business can relate about the moods and trends of markets, fashions etc. Newspapers provide weather forecasts. This immensely help the farmers in deciding about their crops and activities. There are candidate appearing in various competitive examinations who regularly read newspapers to keep themselves ahead of current affairs.

Some of the pros are random access – you can easily determine which content to consume in which order. Newspaper production is cheaper, no electronic limitation, in depth information provided.

Some of the cons – it takes a lot of time to get the information edited, laid out, printed and delivered. There is a lack of format freedom. Print distribution isn’t very scalable. There is no world – wide production. A newspaper offers limited space for content. Once printed, errors cannot be corrected.

Thus, one can conclude that newspapers are the spokesmen of human conscience and mouthpiece of the human minds.

Mary Pinheiro