Newspaper Supplements of Metropolitan City Publications: A Case Study of two Indian News Dailies

This article seeks to explore the narratives on metropolitan cities that appear in the supplements of the English language newspapers of India. The positioning of the city in these newspaper supplements predominantly projects the lifestyles of the rich and the famous, with an overt emphasis on a culture of conspicuous consumption. This is being thrust upon the public day after day. These supplements with their emphasis on gloss, glamour, gossip, and entertainment are predominantly projecting a high-end lifestyle, aiding and abetting the quest for affluence in the minds of the readers. Commercial interests are influencing the way news about the city is selected and written about in these daily supplements, resulting increasingly in the focus on issues considered by some to be of little worth culturally or socially. It is argued that there is a disconnect between the narratives on the city in newspaper supplements and public perceptions of the same.