If “jetlag” can prevent a mighty editor from noticing that a tiger has slept with a tornado and their baby has married an earthquake in the “Indian State of Tamil Nadu”, what must it be for lesser editors* in other Indian states? Pradyuman Maheshwari, the group chief editor of the industry journal Impact (owned by…
Monthly Archives: October 2010
The ‘Lone Hindu’ gets it from M.J. Akbar’s paper
Dileep Padgaonkar, The Times of India’s former editor who once said he held the second-most important job in the country, has been named one of three interlocutors in Kashmir by the UPA government. However, the usually softspoken Francophile has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in his new job, even as he…
And thus spake the Editor-in-Chief of ‘Harijan’
The veteran editor, columnist, author and activist, Kuldip Nayar, recounting a seminar held recently in Thiruvananthapuram by the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, in The Sunday Guardian: “Mahatma Gandhi‘s is an example which every journalist must emulate. He tells us journalists that the sole aim of journalism should be service. “In his autobiography, he says: ‘The newspaper…
How much more interactive can it get?
The lineup of questions for readers to answer in the Open Space column of The Times of India.
Editors, designers, illustrators, graphic artists
A blank editorial, a black editorial & a footnote
When Indira Gandhi introduced media censorship as part of the Emergency in 1975, Indian newspapers ran blank editorials as a form of protest. The Kannada newspaper Vijaya Karnataka, belonging to The Times of India group, runs a blank (and black) editorial today, in protest against what happened in the State legislative assembly on Monday, during…
Survival of tallest when politics hits a new low
Initially barred from entering the Karnataka legislative assembly to cover proceedings on the day the trust motion moved by the BJP government of B.S. Yediyurappa was coming up, television cameramen compete with each other to capture the chaotic (and shameful) scenes in Bangalore on Monday. Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
‘If we don’t get it first, why should we want it?’
Network 18 bossman, Raghav Bahl, receives some loaded questions from Sunil Jain of the Financial Express, in an interaction with journalists of the The Indian Express group: Sunil Jain: The SEBI chief [M. Damodaran] once spoke of “anchor-investors”. Also, how do you justify your getting into private treaties? Raghav Bahl: On “anchor-investors”, I never quite…
Ramnath Goenka excellence in journalism awards
The Ramnath Goenka Memorial Foundation is inviting entries for the 2009 Excellence in Journalism awards. The awards are open for both print and broadcast journalists in 18 categories with cash prizes and scholarships on offer. The last date for entries is 15 November 2010. Visit http://www.expressindia.com/rngf for further details. Email: rngf@expressindia.com Image: courtesy The Indian…
B.G. VERGHESE: The declaration of Emergency
The former Indian Express and Hindustan Times editor B.G. Verghese has just released his memoirs, First Draft (Tranquebar). This excerpt, carried by HT last week, captures the declaration of Emergency and the introduction of press censorship by Indira Gandhi‘s regime in 1975. *** By B.G. VERGHESE A little before 2 am on June 26 [1975],…
Income, outgo, assets, liabilities, profit and loss
With journalistic integrity, both individual and institutional, increasingly under question with the spurt of paid news, private treaties, mediating, brokering and other wheeling and dealing, there have been growing calls for journalists to also declare their assets and liabilities, much like politicians, judges and bureaucrats. Ravi Belagere (in picture), the colourful and sometimes controversial editor…
Ayodhya headline gets Times of India in a jam
India’s “liberal” English media, the pet hate of the RSS-BJP-VHP for its “pseudo-secular” way of looking at its actions and transgressions, has once again become the favourite target of “pseudo-nationalists” emboldened by the Allahabad high court judgement in the Ayodhya title dispute. On the evening of the judgement, the BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad, a counsel…
A deep mind with a straight spine who stands tall
B.G. Verghese, the Magsaysay Award-winning editor, author and columnist, has penned his memoirs, First Draft, “a worm’s eye-view of history as an individual saw it“. “George”, as Mr Verghese is better known, did a stint as media advisor to then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Appointed editor of the Congress-friendly Hindustan Times in 1969, he grew…
IJR 