As Media celebrates its first birthday with a special issue, there is another cause to cheer for the magazine. A recent write-up (Media, February 2013, pp 48–49) showed that studies on Kerala media were missing in this publication. At that time, it was unclear whether the needle of suspicion pointed to the journal’s editorial bias or the poverty of research on Kerala media. 

For those in the media it’s always interesting to learn how newspapers or television channels are faring, who the movers and shakers are, what the buzz is like, what the grapevine is, what the managements are up to, etc. So, a headline on the front page such as ‘TOI bigger than next 3 papers put together’ draws your attention immediately and gets you hooked. It’s not strange any more to see how newspapers or news publishing organisations use surveys to their advantage, the objective being to impress on the reader who is King.