Malayalam newspapers lead the pack in Qatar

With the launch of the Doha edition of Malayala Manorama, Malayalam dailies now outnumber the local Arabic and English dailies in Qatar.

Five Malayalam newspapers are being published from Qatar and more are in the offing.

The Doha edition of Malayala Manorama was launched yesterday. The other dailies that already have Doha editions are Madhyamam, Chandrika, Thejas and Varthamanam.

With the launch of Manorama, Malayalam newspapers now outnumber the local Arabic (four) and English dailies (three), The Peninsula reported today.

"We have found that people from Kerala living abroad like to read Malayalam papers to know about their native place and what is happening there. Our Doha edition will meet their expectations," Anand Mathew, Senior General Manager for sales at Malayala Manorama said.

The total circulation of the Doha editions of five malayalam papers may not cross five digits, but the actual readership is much more, the Qatari paper quoted media sources as saying.

A large number of Keralites here are skilled or semi-skilled single workers living in labour camps or shared houses. With their paltry salaries, many of them cannot afford to spend two Qatari Riyals daily for a newspaper.

So, they pool in money to buy newspaper(s) and share it. "The rise in shared accommodations in Qatar has boosted the readership of all Malayalam dailies here, although their circulation has not increased in proportion to the rise in population," said Harris Vallil, marketing manager of Gulf Madhyamam.

All these newspapers have their online editions, but the news-hungry Malayalee would like to read them in print, even if they have access to the Internet, Ashraf Tooneri, Resident Editor of Middle East Chandrika said.