Editing The Times of India

{{Short description|Indian English-language daily newspaper}}
{{merge from|Bombay Times|date=January 2023|discuss=Talk:The Times of India#Merger proposal}}{{About|the flagship newspaper of the larger conglomerate|the latter's flagship internet operations|IndiaTimes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name               = The Times of India
| motto              = ''Let the Truth Prevail''
| logo               = The_times_of_india.svg
| image              = The Times of India cover 03-22-10.jpg
| caption            = 20 August 2013 front page of ''The Times of India'' ([[Kolkata]] edition)
| type               = [[Daily newspaper]]
| format             = [[Broadsheet]]
| owners             = [[The Times Group]]
| publisher          = 
| editor             = Jaideep Bose
| staff              = 
| foundation         = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1838|11|03}}
| language           = [[English language|English]]
| headquarters       = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
| publishing_country = India
| circulation        = 1,590,784 
| circulation_date   = June 2022 
| circulation_ref    = <ref name=ABCIND>{{cite web|title=Highest Circulated Daily Newspapers (language wise)|url=http://www.auditbureau.org/files/JJ%202022%20Highest%20Circulated%20(across%20languages).pdf |access-date=5 January 2023|publisher=[[Audit Bureau of Circulations (India)|Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC)]]}}</ref> 
| sister newspapers  = ''[[The Economic Times]]''<br />''[[Navbharat Times]]''<br />''[[Maharashtra Times]]''<br />''[[Ei Samay]]''<br />''[[Mumbai Mirror]]''<br />''[[Vijaya Karnataka]]''<br />''[[Bangalore Mirror]]''<br />''[[Times Now News]]''
| ISSN               = 0971-8257
| oclc               = 23379369
| website            = {{URL|timesofindia.indiatimes.com}}
| political          = 
}}
'''''The Times of India''''', also known by its abbreviation '''''TOI''''', is an Indian [[English language|English]]-language [[daily newspaper]] and digital news media owned and managed by [[The Times Group]]. It is the [[List of newspapers in India by circulation|third-largest newspaper in India by circulation]] and largest selling English-language daily in the world.<ref name=ABCIND/><ref>{{cite book|last=Natarajan|first=C. S.|year=2018|title=National Words: A Solution to the National Language Problem of India|url={{GBurl|H91LDwAAQBAJ|p=189}}|publisher=[[Notion Press]]|isbn=978-1-948147-14-9|page=189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaminsky|first1=Arnold P.|last2=Long, Ph.D.|first2=Roger D.|year=2011|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic &#91;2 volumes&#93;|url={{GBurl|VVxlfDHGTFYC|p=706}}|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|page=706}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Westhead|first=Rick|date=5 February 2010|title=It's the best of Times|newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/02/05/its_the_best_of_times.html|access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref>{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52–61}}<ref>{{cite web|title=National Newspapers Total Circulation|year=2011|url=http://www.ifabc.org/site/assets/media/National-Newspapers_total-circulation_IFABC_17-08-2012.xls|access-date=10 November 2014|publisher=[[International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations]] (IFABC)}}</ref> It is the oldest English-language newspaper in India, and the second-oldest Indian newspaper still in circulation, with its first edition published in 1838.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhattacherje|first=S. B.|year=2009|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates|url={{GBurl|oGVSvXuCsyUC|p=126}}|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-207-4074-7|page=A126}}</ref> It is nicknamed as "The Old Lady of [[Bori Bunder]]",<ref>{{cite book|last=Joseph|first=Ammu|date=2005|title=Making News: Women in Journalism|url={{GBurl|KQRlAAAAMAAJ|p=227}}|publisher=[[Penguin Books India]]|isbn=978-0-14-400057-9|page=227}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=24 April 2013|title=The old lady of Bori Bunder celebrates 175 yrs with panache|publisher=Exchange4Media|url=https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/the-old-lady-of-bori-bunder-celebrates-175-yrs-with-panache-50681.html|access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> and is an Indian "[[newspaper of record]]".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frost|first1=Corey|last2=Weingarten|first2=Karen|last3=Babington|first3=Doug|last4=LePan|first4=Don|last5=Okun|first5=Maureen|year=2017|title=The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students|edition=6th|url={{GBurl|7rGhDgAAQBAJ|p=27}}|publisher=[[Broadview Press]]|isbn=978-1-55481-313-1|page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Barton|first1=Greg|last2=Weller|first2=Paul|last3=Yilmaz|first3=Ihsan|year=2014|title=The Muslim World and Politics in Transition: Creative Contributions of the Gülen Movement|url={{GBurl|uZzNAwAAQBAJ|p=28}}|publisher=[[A & C Black]]|isbn=978-1-4411-5873-4|page=28}}</ref>

Near the beginning of the 20th century, [[Lord Curzon]], the [[Viceroy of India]], called ''TOI'' "the leading paper in Asia".{{sfn|Menon Malhan|2013|p=212}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/A-daily-in-the-life-of-India/articleshow/19684884.cms|title=A daily in the life of India|last=Bose|first=Jaideep|newspaper=TOI|date=23 April 2013|access-date=23 July 2017}}</ref> In 1991, the [[BBC]] ranked ''TOI'' among the world's six best newspapers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baxi|first1=C. V.|last2=Prasad|first2=Ajit|year=2005|title=Corporate Social Responsibility: Concepts and Cases : the Indian Experience|url={{GBurl|AB_u44-xJOUC|p=167}}|publisher=Excel Books India|isbn=978-81-7446-449-1|page=167}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Aggarwal|first1=Vir Bala|last2=Gupta|first2=V. S.|year=2001|title=Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication|url={{GBurl|sCIf8MM1ZlAC|p=128}}|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-880-6|page=128}}</ref>

It is owned and published by [[Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.]] (B.C.C.L.), which is owned by the [[Sahu Jain]] family. In the Brand Trust Report India study 2019, ''TOI''  was rated as the most trusted English newspaper in India.<ref>{{cite web|title=TRA's Brand Trust Report India Study 2019|url=https://trustadvisory.info/tra/fullReportPdf/BTR2019.pdf|access-date=29 July 2021|publisher=TRA Research Pvt. Ltd.|page=48}}</ref> [[Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism|Reuters]] rated ''TOI'' as India's most trusted media news brand in a survey.<ref>{{cite news|author=BS Web Team|date=23 June 2021|title=Business Standard among top 10 trusted media brands in India: Reuters Institute Survey|newspaper=[[Business Standard]] India|publisher=Business Standard Pvt. Ltd.|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/business-standard-among-top-10-most-trusted-media-brands-in-india-reuters-institute-survey-121062301620_1.html|access-date=29 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=25 June 2021|title=TOI is India's most trusted news brand: Reuters survey|newspaper=TOI|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/toi-is-indias-most-trusted-news-brand-reuters-survey/articleshow/83796119.cms|access-date=29 July 2021}}</ref> In recent decades, the newspaper has been criticised for establishing in the Indian news industry the practice of [[Paid news in India|accepting payments from persons and entities in exchange for positive coverage]].{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

==History==
[[File:TimesOf Buildings.jpg|thumb|left|Times of India Buildings, {{circa|1898}}]]

===Beginnings===
[[File:Machinemen, pressmen and sepoys, in The Times of India office in Bombay, November 1898.jpg|thumb|[[Diamond jubilee|Diamond Jubilee]], November 1898.]]
''TOI'' issued its first edition on 3 November 1838 as '''''The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce'''''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|date=15 April 2013|title=The Times of India|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Times-of-India|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="televisionpoint2006">{{cite web|date=26 April 2006|title=''The Times of India'' turns the Times of Colour|url=http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1146042260|url-status=dead|access-date=16 October 2007|publisher=Televisionpoint.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012225524/http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1146042260|archive-date=12 October 2007}}</ref> The paper was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian [[List of Marathi social reformers|social reformer]], and contained news from Britain and the world, as well as the [[Indian Subcontinent]]. J. E. Brennan was its first editor.<ref>{{citation|last=Parhi|first=Asima Ranjan|year=2008|title=Indian English Through Newspapers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-pPLnk1RyHEC&pg=PA32|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-507-0|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Parthasarathy|first=Rangaswami|year=1989|title=Journalism in India: from the earliest times to the present day|url={{GBurl|L_5kAAAAMAAJ|p=273}}|publisher=Sterling Publishers|isbn=9788120708976|page=273}}</ref> In 1850, it began to publish daily editions.

In 1860, editor [[Robert Knight (editor)|Robert Knight]] (1825–1892) bought the Indian shareholders' interests, merged with rival ''Bombay Standard'', and started India's first news agency. It wired ''Times'' dispatches to papers across the country and became the Indian agent for [[Reuters]] news service. In 1861, he changed the name from the Bombay ''Times and Standard'' to ''The Times of India''. Knight fought for a press free of prior restraint or intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by governments, business interests and cultural spokesmen, and led the paper to national prominence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hirschmann|first=Edwin|year=2008|title=Robert Knight: Reforming Editor in Victorian India|url={{GBurl|fpQLAQAAMAAJ}}|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-569622-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lalvani|first=Kartar|year=2016|title=The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|url={{GBurl|q4SlCwAAQBAJ|p=383}}|isbn=978-1-4729-2484-1|page=383}}</ref> In the 19th century, this newspaper company employed more than 800 people and had a sizeable circulation in India and Europe.

===Bennett and Coleman ownership===
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
Subsequently, ''TOI'' saw its ownership change several times until 1892 when an English journalist named [[Thomas Jewell Bennett]], along with Frank Morris Coleman (who later drowned in the 1915 sinking of the [[SS Persia (1900)|SS ''Persia'']]), acquired the newspaper through their new joint stock company, ''Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd''.

===Dalmia ownership===
Sir [[Stanley Reed (British politician)|Stanley Reed]] edited ''TOI'' from 1907 until 1924 and received correspondence from major figures of India such as [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. In all he lived in India for fifty years. He was respected in the United Kingdom as an expert on Indian current affairs.

[[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd]] was sold to sugar magnate [[Ramkrishna Dalmia]] of the industrial family, for {{INRConvert|20|m|year=1946}} in 1946, as India became independent and the British owners left.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kasbekar|first=Asha|year=2006|title=Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle|publisher=ABC-CLIO|url={{GBurl|Sv7Uk0UcdM8C|p=112}}|isbn=978-1-85109-636-7|page=112}}</ref> In 1955 the [[Vivian Bose]] Commission of Inquiry found that Ramkrishna Dalmia, in 1947, had engineered the acquisition of the media giant [[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman & Co.]] by transferring money from a bank and an insurance company of which he was the chairman. In the court case that followed, Ramkrishna Dalmia was sentenced to two years in [[Tihar Jail]] after having been convicted of embezzlement and fraud.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

Most of the jail term he managed to spend in hospital. Upon his release, his son-in-law, [[Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain]], to whom he had entrusted the running of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., rebuffed his efforts to resume command of the company.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

===Jain family (Shanti Prasad Jain)===
In the early 1960s, Shanti Prasad Jain was imprisoned on charges of selling newsprint on the black market.<ref>{{cite news|date=5 May 1964|title=Indian Millionaires arrested|newspaper=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]]|via=[[Reuters]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-2JAAAAAIBAJ&pg=3701,623038|access-date=6 May 2015}}</ref> And based on the Vivian Bose Commission's earlier report which found wrongdoings of the Dalmia – Jain group, that included specific charges against Shanti Prasad Jain, the [[Government of India]] filed a petition to restrain and remove the management of Bennett, Coleman and Company. Based on the pleading, the Justice directed the Government to assume control of the newspaper which resulted in replacing half of the directors and appointing a Bombay High Court judge as the chairman.<ref>{{cite book|last=Khandekar|first=Vanita Kohli|title=The Indian Media Business|year=2013|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]]|url={{GBurl|aeb3nQEACAAJ}}|location=Mumbai|isbn=978-8132113560}}</ref>

===Under the Government of India===
[[File:The Times of India 1988 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|''TOI'' on a 1988 stamp]]
[[File:The Times of India 2013 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|''TOI'' on a 2013 stamp]]
Following the Vivian Bose Commission report indicating serious wrongdoings of the Dalmia–Jain group, on 28 August 1969, the Bombay High Court, under Justice J. L. Nain, passed an interim order to disband the existing board of Bennett, Coleman & Co and to constitute a new board under the Government. The bench ruled that "Under these circumstances, the best thing would be to pass such orders on the assumption that the allegations made by the petitioners that the affairs of the company were being conducted in a manner prejudicial to public interest and to the interests of the Company are correct".{{sfn|Menon Malhan|2013|p=212}} Following that order, Shanti Prasad Jain ceased to be a director and the company ran with new directors on board, appointed by the Government of India, with the exception of a lone stenographer of the Jains. Curiously, the court appointed [[Nanasaheb Kunte|D K Kunte]] as chairman of the board. Kunte had no prior business experience and was also an opposition member of the [[Lok Sabha]].

===Back to the Jain family===
In 1976, during the [[Emergency (India)|Emergency]] in India, the Government transferred ownership of the newspaper back to [[Ashok Kumar Jain]], who was Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain's son and Ramkrishna Dalmia's grandson. He is the father of the current owners [[Samir Jain]] and [[Vineet Jain]]).<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Subramanian|first=Samanth|date=1 December 2012|title=Supreme Being: How Samir Jain created the modern Indian newspaper industry|magazine=[[The Caravan]]|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/supreme-being|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref> The Jains too often landed themselves in various money laundering scams and [[Ashok Kumar Jain]] had to flee the country when the [[Enforcement Directorate]] pursued his case strongly in 1998 for alleged violations of illegal transfer of funds (to the tune of US$1.25 million) to an overseas account in [[Switzerland]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Mitra|first=Sumit|date=7 July 1997|title=Trying times: Editorial changes in ''The Times of India'' raise disturbing questions|magazine=[[India Today]]|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/media/story/19970707-a-b-vajpayee-accuse-i-k-gujral-of-shielding-tois-proprietor-ashok-jain-from-feras-case-830332-1997-07-07|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=4 July 1998|title=Ashok Jain arrested|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/ashok-jain-arrested/|access-date=18 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Sudha|last=Mahalingam|date=18–31 July 1998|title=Ashok Jain is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate|magazine=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|url=http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=flonnet&rdurl=fl1515/15151170.htm|url-status=dead|volume=15|issue=15|access-date=10 November 2014|issn=0970-1710|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514051123/http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=flonnet&rdurl=fl1515/15151170.htm|archive-date=14 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|date=6–19 June 1998|title=A newspaper scandal: Editorial changes in ''The Times of India'' raise disturbing questions|magazine=Frontline|url=http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=flonnet&rdurl=fl1512/15120860.htm|url-status=dead|volume=15|issue=12|access-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514045521/http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=flonnet&rdurl=fl1512/15120860.htm|archive-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>

===During the Emergency===
On 26 June 1975, the day after India declared [[The Emergency (India)|a state of emergency]], the [[Bombay]] edition of ''TOI'' carried an entry in its obituary column that read "D.E.M. O'Cracy, beloved husband of T.Ruth, father of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justice expired on 25 June".<ref name=austing>{{cite book|last=Austin|first=Granville|year=1999|title=Working a democratic constitution: the Indian experience|publisher=Oxford University Press|url={{GBurl|r42bAAAAMAAJ|p=295}}|isbn=978-0195648881|page=295}}</ref> The move was a critique of Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]]'s 21-month state of emergency, which is now widely known as "the Emergency" and seen by many as a roundly [[authoritarian]] era of Indian government.<ref>{{cite news|date=30 May 2011|title=New book flays Indira Gandhi's decision to impose Emergency|publisher=[[CNN-IBN|IBN Live News]]|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/new-book-flays-indira-gandhis-decision-to-impose-emergency/706495.html|url-status=dead|access-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131123164002/http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/new-book-flays-indira-gandhis-decision-to-impose-emergency/706495.html|archive-date=23 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Desai|first=Akshayakumar Ramanlal|year=1986|title=Violation of Democratic Rights in India|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=Bombay|url={{GBurl|9i5sNMNh_uIC|p=208}}|isbn=978-0861321308|page=208}}</ref>

=== ''The Times'' in the 21st century ===
In late 2006, Times Group acquired Vijayanand Printers Limited (VPL). VPL previously published two Kannada newspapers, ''Vijay Karnataka'' and ''Usha Kiran'', and an English daily, ''Vijay Times''. ''Vijay Karnataka'' was the leader in the Kannada newspaper segment then.<ref name=VPL>{{cite news|date=15 June 2006|title=Times Group acquires Vijayanand Printers|newspaper=TOI|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Times-Group-acquires-Vijayanand-Printers/articleshow/1651347.cms|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref>

The paper launched a Chennai edition, 12 April 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=TN CM launches Chennai edition of Times of India|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tn-cm-launches-chennai-edition-of-times-of-india/articleshow/2949306.cms|date=13 April 2008|newspaper=[[The Economic Times]]|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref> It launched a Kolhapur edition, February 2013.

===TOIFA Awards===
Introduced in 2013<ref>{{cite news|title=TOIFA 2013 nominations|newspaper=TOI|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/category/media-center/articles-in/toifaarticle/18398495.cms|access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref> and awarded for the second time in 2016,<ref>{{cite news|date=21 March 2016|title=TOIFA 2016: 'Bajirao Mastani' Bags 6 Awards, Celebs Have a Rocking Night|newspaper=IndiaWest|url=http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/bollywood/toifa-bajirao-mastani-bags-awards-celebs-have-a-rocking-night/article_eb9c4f64-efba-11e5-a9e0-53e3fd5c3197.html|access-date=17 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522181810/http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/bollywood/toifa-bajirao-mastani-bags-awards-celebs-have-a-rocking-night/article_eb9c4f64-efba-11e5-a9e0-53e3fd5c3197.html|archive-date=22 May 2016}}</ref> "[[Times of India Film Awards|The Times of India Film Awards]]" or the "TOIFA" is an award for the work in Film Industry decided by a global public vote on the nomination categories.<ref>{{cite web|title=About TOI Film Awards 2016|newspaper=TOI|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-film-awards-2016/about-us/toifaabout.cms|access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref>

==Editions and publications <span class="anchor" id="City centric supplements"></span>==
[[File:Times of India Building.jpg|thumb|''TOI''{{'}}s first office is opposite the [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus]] in [[Mumbai]], where it was founded.<ref name="televisionpoint2006"/>]]
''TOI'' is published by the [[media group]] Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. The company, along with its other group of companies, known as [[The Times Group]], also publishes ''[[Ahmedabad Mirror]]'', ''[[Bangalore Mirror]]'', ''[[Mumbai Mirror]]'', ''Pune Mirror''; ''[[The Economic Times|Economic Times]]''; ''ET Panache'' ([[Mumbai]], [[Delhi]] and [[Bangalore]] on Monday to Friday) and ''ET Panache'' ([[Pune]] and [[Chennai]] on every Saturday); ''[[Ei Samay Sangbadpatra]]'', (a [[Bengali language|Bengali]] daily); ''[[Maharashtra Times]]'', (a [[Marathi language|Marathi]] daily); ''[[Navbharat Times]]'', (a [[Hindi language|Hindi]] daily).

''TOI'' has its editions in major cities such as [[Mumbai]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mid-day.com/news/mumbai|title=Online Mumbai Newspaper|newspaper=[[Mid Day]]| date=24 April 2014}}</ref> [[Agra]], [[Ahmedabad]], [[Allahabad]], [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]], [[Bareilly]], [[Bangalore]], [[Belgaum]], [[Bhopal]], [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Coimbatore]], [[Chandigarh]], [[Chennai]], [[Dehradun]], [[Delhi]], [[Gorakhpur]], [[Gurgaon]], [[Guwahati]], [[Gwalior]], [[Hubli]], [[Hyderabad]], [[Indore]], [[Jabalpur]], [[Jaipur]], [[Jammu]], [[Kanpur]], [[Kochi]], [[Kolhapur]], [[Kolkata]], [[Lucknow]], [[Ludhiana]], [[Madurai]], [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]], [[Mangalore]], [[Meerut]], [[Mysore]], [[Nagpur]], [[Nashik]], [[Navi Mumbai]], [[Noida]], [[Panaji]], [[Patna]], [[Pondicherry]], [[Pune]], [[Raipur]], [[Rajkot]], [[Ranchi]], [[Shimla]], [[Surat]], [[Thane]], [[Tiruchirapally]], [[Trivandrum]], [[Vadodara]], [[Varanasi]], [[Vijayawada]] and [[Visakhapatnam]].{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

==Times Group Network==
*''Speaking Tree'': A spiritual network intended to allow spiritual seekers to link spiritual seekers with established practitioners.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.exchange4media.com/Digital/Times-Internet-launches-Hindi-version-of-Speaking-Tree_55373.html|title=Times Internet launches Hindi version of 'Speaking Tree'|publisher=Exchange4Media|date=17 April 2014|access-date=1 November 2017}}</ref>
*''Healthmeup'': A health, diet, and fitness website.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.medianama.com/2011/03/223-indiatimes-launches-health-blog-healthmeup/|title=Indiatimes Launches Health Blog – HealthMeUp|first=Nikhil|last=Pahwa|publisher=Medianama|date=17 March 2011|access-date=1 November 2017}}</ref>
*''[[Cricbuzz]]'': In November 2014, Times Internet acquired Cricbuzz, a website focused on [[cricket]] news.<ref>{{cite news|date=10 November 2014|title=Times Internet acquires cricbuzz|newspaper=TOI|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Times-Internet-acquires-Cricbuzz-com/articleshow/45096951.cms|access-date=15 August 2015}}</ref>

==Criticism and controversies==
{{recentism|date=December 2019}}

===Paid news===
{{main|Paid news in India}}

''TOI'' has been criticised for being the first to institutionalise the practice of paid news in India, where politicians, businessmen, corporations and celebrities can pay the newspaper and its journalists would carry the desired news for the payer.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}{{sfn|Rodrigues|Ranganathan|2014|pages=121–127}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Mudgal|first=Vipul|year=2015|title=Media Ethics and Justice in the Age of Globalization|chapter=News for Sale: 'Paid News', Media Ethics, and India's Democratic Public Sphere|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|location=London|url={{GBurl|CkQOkAEACAAJ|pages=100-120}}|isbn=978-1-349-50520-3|doi=10.1057/9781137498267_6|pages=100–120}}</ref> The newspaper offers prominence with which the paid news is placed and the page on which it is displayed based on the amount of the payment. According to this practice, a payment plan assures a news feature and ensures positive coverage to the payer.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}} In 2005, ''TOI'' began the practice of "private treaties", also called as "brand capital", where new companies, individuals or movies seeking mass coverage and public relations, major brands and organisations were offered sustained positive coverage and plugs in its news columns in exchange for shares or other forms of financial obligations to [[The Times Group|Bennett, Coleman & Company, Ltd. (B.C.C.L.)]] – the owners of ''TOI''.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}{{sfn|Rodrigues|Ranganathan|2014|pages=121–127}} The B.C.C.L., with its "private treaties" program, acquired stakes in 350 companies and generated 15% of its revenues by 2012, according to a critical article in ''[[The New Yorker]]''. The "paid news" and "private treaties" practice started by ''TOI'' has since been adopted by ''[[The Hindustan Times]]'' group, the ''[[India Today]]'' group, the ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' group, and other major media groups in India including Indian television channels.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://specials.indiatoday.com/specials/slideshow/power_list/jainbrothers_9.htm|magazine=India Today|title=50 Powerful People}}</ref> This division of the company was later renamed Brand Capital and has contracts in place with many companies in diverse sectors.

The "paid news" and "private treaties" blur the lines between content and advertising, with the favourable coverage written by the staff reporters on the payroll of ''TOI''.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}} The newspaper has defended its practice in 2012 by stating that it includes a note of disclosure to the reader – though in a small font – that its contents are "advertorial, entertainment promotional feature", that they are doing this to generate revenues just like "all newspapers in the world do advertorials" according to ''TOI'' owners.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}{{sfn|Rodrigues|Ranganathan|2014|pages=121–127}} According to Maya Ranganathan, this overlap in the function of a journalist to also act as a marketing and advertisement revenue seeker for the newspaper raises conflict of interest questions, a problem that has morphed into ever-larger scale in India and recognised by India's SEBI authority in July 2009.{{sfn|Rodrigues|Ranganathan|2014|pages=121–127}}

Under an ad sales initiative called Medianet, if a large company or Bollywood studio sponsored a news-worthy event, the event would be covered by ''TOI'' but the name of the company or studio that sponsored it will not be mentioned in the paper unless they paid ''TOI'' for advertising. In 2010, a report by a subcommittee of India's Press Council found that Medianet's paid news strategy had spread to a large number of newspapers and more than five hundred television channels.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}{{sfn|Rodrigues|Ranganathan|2014|pages=123–125}}

Critics state that the company's paid news and private treaties skew its coverage and shield its newspaper advertisers from scrutiny. ''The Hoot'', a media criticism website, has pointed out that when a lift in a 19-storey luxury apartment complex in Bangalore crashed killing two workers and injuring seven, all the English language and [[Kannada]] language newspapers with the exception of ''TOI'' called out the name of the construction company, Sobha Developers, which was a private-treaty partner. An article titled "reaping gold through bt cotton," which first appeared in the Nagpur edition of ''TOI'' in 2008, reappeared unchanged in 2011, this time with a small print alert that the article was a "marketing feature". In both cases, the article was factually incorrect and made false claims about the success of [[Monsanto]]'s genetically modified cotton. According to a critical article published in the Indian investigative news magazine ''[[The Caravan]]'', when the [[Honda]] Motors plant in Gurgaon experienced an eight-month-long conflict between management and non-unionised workers over wages and work conditions in 2005, the ''Times of India'' covered the concerns of Honda and the harm done to India's investment climate and largely ignored the issues raised by workers.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

[[Vineet Jain]], managing director of B.C.C.L., has insisted that a wall does exist between sales and the newsroom, and that the paper does not give favorable coverage to the company's business partners. "Our editors don’t know who we have," Jain said, although he later acknowledged that all private-treaty clients are listed on the company's Web site.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}} Ravindra Dhariwal, the former CEO of B.C.C.L. had defended private treaties in a 2010 interview with the magazine ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' and claims that the partners in the private treaties sign contracts where they agree to clauses that they will not receive any favourable editorial coverage.

===Anti-competitive behavior===
There have been claims that ''TOI'' would strike deals with advertisers only if they removed their advertisements from other competitor newspapers.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

''TOI'' is also embroiled in an active lawsuit against the ''[[Financial Times]]''. In 1993, when the ''Financial Times'' was preparing to enter the Indian market, [[Samir Jain]], the vice-chairman of B.C.C.L., registered the term "Financial Times" as a trademark of his company and declared it his intellectual property in an attempt to stymie the ''Financial Times'' and prevent them from competing with ''[[The Economic Times]]'', which is owned by B.C.C.L.{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

In 1994, when the ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' was the top-selling paper in New Delhi, ''TOI'' slashed their prices by a third, to one and a half rupees after having built up their ads sales force in preparation for the price drop to make up for the lost circulation revenue. By 1998, the ''Hindustan Times'' had dropped to second place in Delhi. ''TOI'' took a similar strategy in Bangalore where they dropped the price to one rupee despite protests from [[Siddharth Varadarajan]], one of the editors of the newspaper at the time, who called the strategy "predatory pricing".{{sfn|Auletta|2012|pp=52-61}}

===Cobrapost sting operation===
In 2018, [[Vineet Jain]], managing director of B.C.C.L., and Sanjeev Shah, executive president of B.C.C.L., were caught on camera as part of a [[Undercover journalism|sting operation]] by [[Cobrapost]] agreeing to promote right-wing content through the group's many media properties for a proposed spend of ₹500 crore, some of which the client said could only be paid with black money.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thewire.in/media/times-group-vineet-jain-sting-operation-cobrapost|publisher=[[The Wire (India)]]|title=At the Times Group, Cobrapost Sting Shows How Cash is King}}</ref> B.C.C.L. has responded to the sting claiming that the video that was released by [[Cobrapost]] was "doctored" and "incomplete" and that the CEO Vineet Jain was engaged in a "reverse-sting" of his own to expose the undercover reporter during the filming of the video.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thewire.in/media/times-group-says-vineet-jain-was-conducting-reverse-sting-on-cobrapost|publisher=The Wire (India)|title=Times Group Says Vineet Jain Was Conducting 'Reverse Sting' on Cobrapost}}</ref> The company is yet to release the video evidence.

==Notable employees==
* [[Sham Lal (journalist)|Sham Lal]], Editor
* [[Girilal Jain]], Editor and Scholar
* [[Samir Jain]], Vice-chairman
'''Publisher'''
* [[Vineet Jain]], MD
* [[Jug Suraiya]] (associate editor, columnist, "Jugular Vein," [[cartoonist]], ''Dubyaman II'')
* [[Swaminathan Aiyar]] (columnist, "Swaminomics")
* [[R. K. Laxman]] (''You Said It'' editorial cartoon, featuring the famous [[The Common Man|Common Man]])
* [[M J Akbar|M. J. Akbar]], Columnist, "The Siege Within" and former Editorial Team
* [[Chetan Bhagat]], Columnist, Sunday TOI
* [[Shashi Tharoor]], Columnist of "Shashi on Sunday"
* [[V. D. Trivadi]], Humorist
* [[Twinkle Khanna]], Columnist of "Mrs. Funnybones"
* [[Swapan Dasgupta]], Columnist, Sunday TOI

==See also==
*[[Times LitFest]], an annual literary festival in Delhi, organised by the Times in partnership with Rajnigandha

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite magazine|last=Auletta|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Auletta|date=8 October 2012|title=Citizens Jain – Why India's Newspaper Industry is Thriving.|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/citizens-jain|access-date=20 April 2018|pages=52–61}}
* {{cite book|last=Menon Malhan|first=Sangita P.|year=2013|title=THE TOI STORY: How A Newspaper Changed The Rules Of The Games|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|location=Noida|url={{GBurl|ybzjAAAAQBAJ|p=212}}|isbn=978-9350296646}}
*{{cite book|first1=Usha M.|last1= Rodrigues|first2=Maya |last2=Ranganathan|title=Indian News Media: From Observer to Participant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RqJCwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-93-5150-158-9|pages=121–127|chapter=Paid News: Cocktail of Media, Business and Politics}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last=Hirschmann|first=Edwin|year=1986|title=An Editor Speaks for the Natives: Robert Knight in 19th Century India|journal=[[Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|Journalism Quarterly]]|volume=63|issue=2|doi=10.1177/107769908606300202|pages=260–267|s2cid=145297377 }}
* Merrill, John C.; Fisher, Harold A. ''The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers'' (1980) pp.&nbsp;330–333

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Times of India}}
* {{Official website|timesofindia.indiatimes.com|mobile=http://m.timesofindia.com}}
* [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/ ''The Times of India'' ePaper] (E-Paper – Digital replica of the newspaper)

{{The Times Group}}
{{Newspapers in India}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Media of India}}

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