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Steta Publishers was a writing and brand language consultancy that ran from 2012 to 2016. We are no longer available for projects. Our founders now work here and here. 

Less TV, More Reading

11/11/2014

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For twelve years, from 2000 to 2012, I lived without a television. For the first six years I lived with my aunt in Mumbai. She didn’t believe in television. On September 11th 2001, a friend phoned me (it was landlines then) and shouted something about a terrorist attack on the US. It sounded so unbelievable, that I just pooh-poohed her and hung up. It was only later, when I watched the footage on my neighbour’s TV that I realised the magnitude of what had happened. 

My aunt has a large collection of books. Without a TV, and surrounded by lovely, old, hard-bound books, I spent more time reading. A TV-less house is very conducive to reading. In homes where TV and books co-exist, you’ll often see the books fighting a losing battle. In homes of avid TV watchers, you’ll notice fewer books, if at all. There are houses with two or more television sets, but without bookcases (sob sob!).

From 2006 onwards I lived in Ahmedabad, again without a TV, but this time with a constant free supply of internet. The internet is a great substitute for TV, and it’s even more addictive. It also leaves books in second place.

I’m pretty convinced that homes without TVs create more readers. A room where no ads are blasting at you, no sitcoms are playing their packaged laughter, and no news headlines are depressing all and sundry, is a room for reading. Reading requires a nice comfy chair, some good lighting, and peace and quiet.

I recently heard about someone who grew up in a house without a TV. He believes it led to him and his sister to read a lot, and by lot, I mean a lot. This guy has not only swallowed fat tomes of fiction, but also plenty of books on religion, philosophy, quantum mechanics and whatnot. And today, he is one of those people who has completed writing his first book (still to be published), and has started on his second. So, I conclude that TV-less homes make for great readers and future writers. I rest my case!

Armeen Kapadia
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Newspaper Addiction

29/10/2013

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We form habits—quite early in life—of reading certain daily newspapers. We can get surprisingly accustomed to a particular paper. It’s size, format, style of writing, headlines, comic-strips, puzzles, editorials, sports, business and film sections, all become part of our daily routine. Over time, these aspects get hard-coded in us. They are like old familiar friends; you expect to find them in the same place and form every day. I've tried to make a list of things that really hurt when you try to move to another paper - even one with better news reporting. Here's the list.

Format and layout: Print newspapers follow and S or Z pattern in laying out their articles. What this implies is that the reader browses the front page in the S or Z shaped pattern. If you read the Times of India, your eyes probably rest on the main article, then move to the secondary one to its right, then down, diagonally to the bottom of the page, where clusters of smaller articles live. There, you have your Z. It’s a very subtle movement, and we remain unaware of it. If you’re used to the Z format papers, landing on an S front page can leave you feeling you've been led astray. If you’re used to finding your editorial at a certain spot, you won’t enjoy hunting through the paper to find it elsewhere.

For the same reason, online news websites will rarely make a radical design change overnight. They will probably ease you into it by slowly and subtly.

Some online news sites do break convention, and very successfully too, such as newsmap.

Style: Every paper has its own style of writing articles. Length of sentences, use of active/passive voice and general tone can differ greatly. It’s sometimes surprisingly easy to see which newspaper has a more aggressive stance, which are hopelessly diplomatic, and where each one leans politically.

Typeface: We get very accustomed to certain typefaces. Just as human beings are made in a variety of personalities and characters, words appear in a variety of typefaces. We adore some, get along others, tolerate several, and abhor a few, depending on our own personalities, background, intellectual and aesthetic sensibilities.  After years of reading one paper, it can take a while to digest anything else, simply because the fonts may be different. 

Unsubscribe from your daily paper, and it can take several weeks of feeling lost without it, before you adjust to online news. Online news is freely available, but many of us still need our daily fix of a newspaper in print, with its delicious inky smell.

Armeen Kapadia
The author is co-founder and Director, Content Design at Steta

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    Authors

    Steta's founders, Urmilla Chandran and Armeen Kapadia author this blog. 

    We love letting our thoughts (crazy, stupid or smart) out for some fresh air.


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