Noting that the number of Urdu speakers was on decline, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari today said the Urdu media should ensure that it did not overlook the young readers.

Ansari was addressing the World Urdu Editors' Conference which started here today.

"Despite the overall increase in population, the percentage of Urdu speakers to total population has registered a noticeable decline. Thus the younger age group does get excluded in some parts of the country," he said.

"One implication is the effort by the newspapers to focus on the older age-groups. The development stories, of particular interest to the youth, tend to be downplayed; by the same logic, older and familiar grievances remain disproportionately in focus.

"Responsible publications can perhaps do more to mould taste and cajole the readership in the direction of contemporary issues," Ansari said.

The other problems of Urdu media related to resources, advertisements, news gathering methodology and adaptation of new technology, he said.

"Each of these is related to size and demands of readership. A good newspaper, however, should cater both to public demand and to the need to shape this demand. Only then it would be in a position of opinion-maker," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan said the media should not fall prey to commercial considerations.

Zahid Ali Khan, Editor of Hyderabad-based Urdu daily `Siasat' (which has organised the conference), called for formation of consortium of Urdu media to take up relevant issues.