India: Readers become writers for popular weekly supplement
During the Asian citizen journalism conference in Kuala Lumpur, The Guardian’s Kevin Anderson talked to Deendayal Vaidya about his work on an extremely popular supplement that featured only reader-submitted content.
Vaidya works for The Sakaal Group in Pune, India and since last year, has helped develop the reader-based supplement. Initially, the staff advertised the supplement in the print media and solicited reader submissions. Readers were asked to send in responses to 15 or so questions, such as “Who are you proud of?” or “How have you overcome difficulty in your life?” Nearly a thousand readers, the majority of whom were never published before, have since written for the supplement.
According to Vaidya, the supplement still features 100% reader-submitted content and has been a huge success; he reports that he sees people reading the supplement more often than the main newspaper. Because readers eagerly responded to requests for their stories, Vaidya believes that they think of it as their supplement, something to which they have directly contributed. Through the weekly feature, the newspaper has built a stronger connection with its readers, who are been more than willing to not only consume, but also participate in the news.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
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hi
Mr. vaidya is almost write, and its great that ppl gets their platform to contribute their content.(though once in a week !) ,
I know Deendayal very well, and has seen the contributions he has made in Sakal daily in Pune. It has been truely a success in Pune and has possible success in readership as well. I congratulate Deendayal for taking this idea to international level... cheers..!
I know Deendayal. He made platform for comman man. I congratulate Deendayal for taking this idea to abrod.