The newspaper industry in India was once organized around unstated but fairly rigid regulations. Until the 1980s, when Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, owners of The Times of India, The Economic Times and other publications, rewrote the rules – whether they were about pricing, advertorials or editorial freedom. Over the next two decades, the Indian newspaper industry found itself utterly transformed.

In 1985, The Times of India had three editions with a circulation of a little over 5.6 lakhs. By March 2012, it had become the largest- selling English daily in the country, with fourteen editions and a circulation of over 45 lakhs. As it grew, the newspaper ended up reinventing the rules of reportage, editorial policies and marketing initiatives for the entire industry.

Yet, very little is known about how the Times Group changed the dynamics of the Indian media business. Sangita Malhan, a former journalist with The Times of India, set out to remedy this. She began by interviewing the journalists and corporate honchos who had played crucial roles in the transformation of the paper. What she has unearthed is a fascinating story of clashing egos, changing visions and corporate makeovers. A must-read for industry insiders as well as all those who are interested in the way news is produced and consumed in India.Sangtia P.Menon Malhan, forty-fie, worked as a journalist with The Times of India, Delhi, Mid Day and The Statesman before turning to creative writing. She has published Rastapherian?s Tales, a book of short stories for children and a collection of poems in Urdu, Nusrat-e-Gham. Formality a private pilot, she is fond of language and teaches French.