Deshonnati to launch a Hindi daily

The first edition of Rashtraprakash will be published from Nagpur in the second half of January 2009. The next edition will be launched in Mumbai

The Marathi daily, Deshonnati, is planning to launch a Hindi daily from Nagpur. The new daily, which will be called Rashtraprakash, will be launched in the second half of January 2009.

The Hindi daily will be edited by SN Vinod, who is also the chief executive officer and group editor of Deshonnati. It is learnt that Vinod also owns a stake in the new venture.

When asked about this, Vinod declined to divulge any details. “I wanted to move back to Nagpur from Delhi, where I was based earlier. Meanwhile, Deshonnati made me this offer, which I accepted. The rest are internal details, which I wouldn’t like to share.”

Vinod, who belongs to Ranchi, Jharkhand, was the founding editor of Hindi daily Lokmat Samachar from 1989 to 2001 in Nagpur. Later, he was the editor of Nava Bharat. He was also the founding editor of Prabhat Khabar, which was launched from Ranchi in 1984. Prior to starting his own venture, he was the editor of Hindi news channels S1 and India News in New Delhi.

Vinod claims that Rashtraprakash will be India's first news and analysis Hindi daily. It's being promoted as “desh ka pehla Hindi samachar-vichaar dainik”. The tagline of the daily is, ‘Khabar Bhi, Vichaar Bhi’.

All the members of a family, according to Vinod, form the target audience of the daily. “We are trying an experiment. We'll be providing not just news and views, but also imparting education. For example, if there's news of a road accident, we won’t just report it, but will also give details of the Road Traffic Regulation Act,” he says.

The 16-page daily will be all colour and available at a cover price of Rs 3. There will also be a four-page supplement every day. The initial print run, according to Vinod, will be close to 80,000 copies. The daily will cover areas of Vidarbha in Eastern Maharashtra, Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh and Bhilai in Chhattisgarh.

Rashtraprakash is being promoted through outdoor and on the Internet through Hindi media blogs and websites. The Nagpur based KK Agency is handling the account.

Soon after the Nagpur launch, the daily plans to go to Mumbai. Vinod refuses to divulge details, saying, "It is premature to talk about the Mumbai launch."

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