In the 1990s, a newspaper revolution began blowing across northern and central. India. When literacy levels rose, communications expanded, and purchasing power. climbed in these Hindi-speaking states, newspapers followed?picking up readers. in small towns and villages. Even while these newspapers surged to the top of. national readership charts, they localised furiously in the race for readers. But in this universe of local news, questions arose about what localisation was. doing to regional identity and consciousness. Using notes from her pioneering field-study in eight states, Sevanti Ninan.