Founded 1838, now criticized for institutionalizing “private treaties” and paid positive coverage
When The News Pays You Instead of The Other Way Around
The Times of India, founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, has evolved from a colonial-era newspaper into India’s largest English-language daily with a circulation exceeding 2.6 million copies. It’s also pioneered a business model that turns journalism on its head: instead of news organizations paying to gather news, companies and politicians pay the Times of India to publish favorable coverage. This practice, politely called “paid news” or “private treaties,” represents either innovative revenue generation or the complete corruption of journalistic ethics, depending on whether you value profits or principles.
Founded by the Coleman family and now published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., TOI wields enormous influence across India, serving as a primary news source for students preparing for competitive exams and professionals seeking current affairs. The newspaper employs over 800 people and maintains editions across 13 Indian cities, from Mumbai to Kolkata. Its reach is undeniable. Whether that reach serves the public interest or corporate interests has become one of Indian journalism’s most uncomfortable questions.
Jerry Seinfeld observed: “A newspaper that charges people to write positive things about them isn’t news. It’s advertising with a really convincing disguise.”
The Birth and Evolution of Paid News
In 2005, TOI began the practice of “private treaties” or “brand capital,” where companies, individuals, or films seeking mass coverage could receive sustained positive coverage and promotional plugs in news columns in exchange for shares or other financial obligations to Bennett, Coleman & Company. The newspaper essentially became a stakeholder in the success of entities it was supposed to cover objectively. This is journalism if journalism means “public relations with the credibility of editorial independence.”
The payment plan determines the prominence and page placement of the paid news, creating a literal price list for positive coverage. Want a front-page feature about your new business? There’s a rate for that. Prefer a favorable profile buried on page seven? Different rate. The transparency of the pricing structure is almost admirable in its brazenness. Most media outlets pretend their coverage isn’t for sale; TOI just publishes the catalog.
Dave Chappelle noted: “At least when you buy an ad, everyone knows it’s an ad. Paid news is like advertising wearing a fake mustache and a press badge.”
The Impact on Indian Journalism Standards
TOI has been criticized for establishing and institutionalizing paid news practices that have spread throughout Indian media. Once one major outlet normalizes selling positive coverage, the competitive pressure to adopt similar practices becomes overwhelming. Other publications face a choice: maintain journalistic standards and lose revenue to competitors willing to sell coverage, or join the paid news economy and compromise editorial independence.
The practice creates a journalism ecosystem where wealthy corporations, politicians, and celebrities can manufacture public opinion by purchasing favorable coverage. Readers consuming TOI content have no way to distinguish between genuine news coverage and paid promotional content disguised as journalism. The newspaper doesn’t label paid news as advertising, leaving audiences to assume they’re reading independent reporting when they’re actually consuming purchased puffery.
Bill Burr quipped: “If your newspaper’s business model is ‘pay us and we’ll say nice things about you,’ you’re not in the news business. You’re running a very expensive compliment service.”
The Bombay Times and Page 3 Culture
TOI’s free supplement, The Bombay Times, covers celebrity news, lifestyle, fashion, and the “Page 3 social scene” that has become synonymous with Mumbai’s elite social circuit. The supplement serves as the aspirational face of urban Indian culture, featuring society events, Bollywood gossip, and lifestyle trends. It’s also become a benchmark for what Indians consider newsworthy about wealthy people attending parties.
The Bombay Times retains the old Portuguese name for Mumbai, a choice that suggests either nostalgia for colonial nomenclature or recognition that “Bombay” carries more glamorous connotations than “Mumbai.” The supplement’s focus on celebrity culture and social events reinforces TOI’s broader approach: news as entertainment, journalism as lifestyle branding, and coverage as a product available for purchase to those who can afford it.
Chris Rock reflected: “A newspaper supplement about rich people’s parties isn’t journalism. It’s surveillance capitalism for the socially ambitious.”
The Digital Expansion and Cricbuzz Acquisition
Times Internet, TOI’s digital arm, acquired Cricbuzz in November 2014, a website focused on cricket news. The acquisition demonstrated TOI’s recognition that digital platforms would dominate future media consumption, particularly for cricket-obsessed Indian audiences. Cricbuzz provides live scores, commentary, and cricket news to millions of users, generating massive traffic and advertising revenue.
The digital expansion allows TOI to extend its influence beyond print, reaching younger audiences who consume news primarily through mobile devices and apps. The Times of India app offers personalized news feeds, live blogs, ePaper access, and daily puzzles, creating an ecosystem where users rarely need to leave the TOI universe for information. This vertical integration of news consumption means TOI controls not just what users read, but increasingly where and how they read it.
Amy Schumer observed: “Owning a cricket news site in India is like owning a football site in America, except Indians actually care about cricket every single day instead of just Sundays and when there’s gambling involved.”
The Free ePaper Model and Revenue Challenges
TOI offers a free ePaper version with limited content, while paid TOI+ subscribers access the complete digital newspaper. This freemium model attempts to balance accessibility with revenue generation, though it creates a two-tiered information system where comprehensive news coverage requires payment. The digital format includes the same content as print editions but in formats optimized for screens, tablets, and mobile devices.
The ePaper has become essential for students preparing for UPSC exams, banking exams, railways recruitment, and other competitive tests that require current affairs knowledge. TOI’s comprehensive coverage of national and international news, government policies, social issues, and international relations makes it a valuable study resource. The fact that this resource is built partly on paid news creates an uncomfortable reality: students studying for civil service exams are learning current events through coverage that may have been purchased by the subjects of that coverage.
Ricky Gervais deadpanned: “Studying for government exams using a newspaper that sells positive coverage to politicians is like studying ethics from a con artist. The information might be accurate, but the source is compromised.”
The Circulation Numbers and Market Dominance
With a daily circulation exceeding 3.3 million copies as of 2023, TOI is the world’s largest-selling English-language newspaper. It publishes from 13 cities across India, and its readership includes professionals, students, and business leaders who shape Indian public opinion and policy. This massive reach gives TOI enormous power to influence political discourse, business decisions, and cultural trends.
The newspaper’s market dominance means that coverage in TOI can make or break political careers, business ventures, and entertainment projects. This reality creates strong incentives for politicians and corporations to ensure favorable TOI coverage, whether through advertising spending, private treaties, or other financial arrangements. The newspaper’s influence becomes self-reinforcing: its large audience makes coverage valuable, and that value creates willingness to pay for favorable treatment, which funds the infrastructure that maintains the large audience.
Trevor Noah concluded: “When a newspaper is so big that everyone has to read it to know what’s happening, but what’s happening is partly determined by who paid the newspaper, you’ve created a circular system where money buys reality.”
The Journalistic Legacy and Future Questions
TOI’s history spans nearly two centuries, from its founding during British colonial rule through India’s independence and modernization. Robert Knight, who bought the newspaper in 1860, fought for press freedom from government interference and intimidation. He led the paper to national prominence by resisting attempts by governments, business interests, and cultural spokesmen to control coverage. The irony that today’s TOI voluntarily sells editorial influence that Knight spent his career defending against is not lost on media historians.
The newspaper’s evolution from independent journalism to institutionalized paid news represents either pragmatic adaptation to changing media economics or the abandonment of journalistic principles for profit maximization. TOI’s defenders argue that private treaties and paid news are transparent business arrangements that fund quality journalism. Critics counter that journalism funded by the subjects it covers cannot maintain independence, creating a conflict of interest that undermines the entire enterprise.
Kevin Hart summed it up: “A newspaper that started by fighting for press freedom and ended up selling that freedom to the highest bidder is either tragic or inevitability, depending on whether you believe capitalism and journalism can coexist.”
As TOI continues publishing across print and digital platforms, reaching millions daily with news and information that shapes Indian society, the question remains: can journalism serve both public interest and private profit simultaneously? The Times of India’s business model suggests the answer is yes, as long as you redefine journalism to include paid promotional content indistinguishable from independent reporting. Whether that redefinition represents evolution or corruption depends largely on whether you’re writing the checks or reading the coverage.
Auf Wiedersehen, amigos.
