Business reportage has three distinct elements:
Information
Analysis
Insights
Economic Times delivers on the first element but, by and large, fails on the other two. Business Standard is perhaps the only paper that consistently delivers across all three parameters. Sadly, that’s what makes it a niche business paper.
Over the past five years, I have been comparing the two business newspapers, and I admire Business Standard for the quality of its writing, the degree and accuracy of its background research, the depth of its reports and features, and the variety it provides.
Another key advantage offered by Business Standard is its distinctly global style. One never gets the feeling that one is reading a desi publication.
All in all, there is one key reason for which I consistently prefer BS to ET: when you put the paper down, your mind is alive with fresh ideas, alternative avenues of thinking, new analytical tools, novel concepts and different perspectives even on regular issues.