Does a fish know it is wet? Influential cultural and media critic Marshall Mc Luhan would often ask, the answer is ’NO” the fish’s existence is so dominated by water that only when water is absent is the fish aware to its condition (and then it’s too late).so it is with people and mass media. The media so fully saturate our everyday lives that we are often conscious of their presence, not to mention their influence, media inform us, entertain us, delight us, annoy us, the move our emotions, challenge out intellects, insults our intelligence, media often reduces us to mere commodities for sale to the highest bidder, media help define us, they shape our realities.

Exorbitant price charged for mainland based newspapers in the islands,is shocking, for example “The Hindu” News paper actual cost is Rs 3.50, but it reaches the reader at Port Blair at Rs 18/-per copy per day, the readers of inter islands may have to shell out more. “Enadu” also costs Rs 18/- “The Telegraph”, “Times of India”, “Jansatta”, “Indian Express”, Kolkatta  costs Rs 10/- per copy, Malayala Manorama and Mathurbhoomi costs Rs12/-.

IAS, IPS aspirants and others who want to keep abreast of the current affairs will have to pay through the nose, I think the press council can interfere and try to bring down to a reasonable rate so that readers are benefited, I would request the “The Hindu” office to consider to bring down the cost for the readers of A & N Islands and also request the concerned person of the airlines to carry newspaper at a subsidized freight charge considering the remoteness of the Andaman Island as there is no faster mode of transport to the Islands other than this.

Dr. Dinesh, Golghar, Port Blair