Mid Day (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011 the Delhi and Bangalore editions were closed down. In 2014 Jagran Prakashan shut down the mid-day Pune edition as well.
Establishment
It was established in Mumbai in 1979 as a family-owned newspaper by Khalid Ansari. Later, his son, Tariq Ansari led the paper, before it was sold to Jagran Prakashan in 2010. A Sunday edition, Sunday Mid-Day, began in 1981.
The Newspaper underwent an overhaul, both of its print editions and the website, in early 2014, creating several new sections in the daily newspaper, the Sunday edition and the website.
Relaunch of the newspaper and website in 2014
Originally, the newspaper published two editions in Mumbai: an early-morning and a noon edition. Since April 2009, only the morning editions have been published and the company has dropped printing a noon newspaper, citing positioning issues. During the overhaul and relaunch of the newspaper and the website in 2014, the paper’s slogan was also changed to Made in Mumbai. As of 2014, the paper had an estimated readership base of 5,00,000 for MiD Day (English) in Mumbai and was featured in the list of top 10 Indian newspapers by readership in the 2013 Indian Readership Survey list. The new look Mid-Day has received both positive and negative reactions.
In October 2019, the Sunday Mid-Day was relaunched with a new look.
Journalists jailed for reports on chief justice
On 20 September 2007, four journalists of Mid Day, including Resident Editor Vitusha Oberoi and City Editor MK Tayal, were sentenced to four months jail on contempt of court charges, because of a report they had filed on the ex-Chief Justice of India, Y. K. Sabharwal.
Many in the legal community feel that in the 2006 Delhi sealing drive, Justice Sabharwal may have had a conflict of interest since his sons own a firm with relations to the Delhi real estate. Former Solicitor General KK Sud had called this behaviour “the height of indiscretion.”
The High Court, however, sentenced the journalists without considering the veracity of the reports, and this led to considerable controversy. Ex-law minister Shanti Bhushan stated that the Parliament had in 2006 amended the Contempt of Courts Act to say that “if the allegations against a judge were found to be true, then they would not be considered contemptuous.” In view of this, the judgment, he said, may be “only aimed at terrifying the media and an attempt to curb truthfulness.”
Awards and other achievements
- Mid-day made it to the top 10 English Dailies at the IRS 2019 Q1
- Asia Multimedia Publishing Media Awards 2009
- INMA AWARDS 2008 at California – USA INMA AWARDS
- Amsterdam IFRA AWARDS
Senior staff
Jyotirmoy Dey, the Special Investigations Editor of Mid Day was shot dead on 11 June 2011 in Mumbai by unknown assailants.