'Give me skin," cried my boss as I struggled with a collage of pictures of a Bolly beauty on the page I was assigned to design. It was my Day One in MiD DAY. Coming from a conventional broadsheet background, I picked up the most non-controversial picture. "Darling, it's a tabloid and we love skin," she smiled. "But doesn't she look prettier in this picture?" I questioned, pointing at my selection. "But this one will have a stronger impact, sweetheart," she responded, tapping on my computer screen. Keeping this mantra in mind, I selected a bare chested Akshay Kumar image for a story on the new house that the actor had bought. The chief rejected that, too, and instead, picked up a lovely picture of the star and his wife Twinkle lighting a candle together. "This is far more fitting, and will have a stronger impact," she said, tapping on my computer screen yet again. So, it isn't skin or sex or scandal that's the soul of the paper, but impact, and only impact. It is perhaps the most important word I have picked up at MiD DAY ever since my initiation. It's been almost three years, and I can safely say there's just no room for monotony here. "We don't believe in routines," as my editor keeps parroting in every edit meet. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2009/jun/midday30.jpg" border="1" /> Novel in its approach and fresh in execution, MiD DAY loves doing things truly hatke. Be it the stories, the pictures or the layouts, this feisty tabloid has done things different, and does so keeping pace with time. Our critics pan us for being frivolous, for blowing things out of proportion. Sure we do. We screamed when a bunch of hooligans molested a young woman in full public view at a crowded Gateway of India on New Year's Eve, we blew the whistle as trading touts swindled public money, we questioned the CBI chief for his alleged involvement in botching up crucial evidence in Nithari case if this is what they mean by making a mountain out of a molehill, then we are proud of doing so. Having said that, I don't deny the presence of spicy and saucy stories in our editions. Kareena Kapoor's love-bites find a mention in the same edition that highlights the plight of employees embroiled in the Satyam fiasco. It is the fine mix of both hard-hitting stories and soft, harmless features that makes MiD DAY a complete product. Hence, even at the cost of sounding like a PRO, I say the product is wholesome, and has only evolved with time. The afternooner is, in fact, synonymous with Benjamin Button. The older it gets, the younger it appears. With every passing year, the stories have become brighter, the headlines crisper and the layouts, fancier. So, as we turn 30, our readers will savour a fresher, funner and feistier MiD DAY. Enjoy!

Et tu, MTV?

'Give me skin," cried my boss as I struggled with a collage of pictures of a Bolly beauty on the page I was assigned to design.

Thirty and getting younger

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Thirty and getting younger

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