As the old saying goes, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy action. Or, as we say in journalism, a trend.
In the space of just 20 days, two Members of Parliament have been found dead.
The first, 7-time MP Mohan Delkar, was found hanging in his hotel room in Bombay in February. The second, Ram Swarup Sharma was found in his residence in Delhi on March 17.
Either death by suicide of sitting MPs is a routine matter, or it does not matter to urban “markets”, that only one prominent English daily The Times of India, has the news of Sharma’s death as a pointer on the front page.
Most of the rest have it inside, some buried deep into the paper.
Only The Pioneer, The Statesman and The Asian Age among 13 dailies surveyed has the news on page one. Hindi newspapers do a much better job with news on page one and inside.
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The Pioneer: page 1
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The Asian Age: page 1
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Hindustan: page 1
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The Statesman: page 1
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Navbharat Times: page 1 and 3
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Dainik Jagran: page 1
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Dainik Bhaskar: page 1 and 2
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Amar Ujala: page 1 and 5
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The Times of India: page 1 and 5
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Hindustan Times: page 3
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The Telegraph: page 3
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The Hindu: page 10
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The Indian Express: page 12
IJR 