For the longest time, journalists and physical fitness could never be used in the same sentence except in jest. Long and irregular working hours, fat and oily samosas, slouching at the desk, smoking, drinking and other vices took their toll on the aspirations of the newsroom Adonis. The self-obsessed millennial lot which frequented gyms rather…
Tag Archives: Prabhu Chawla
A Gandhian Editor—an oxymoron in Indian journalism—returns to a real farm house in the countryside, after staying 43 years in an orphanage
In Delhi, Editors living in farm houses are a benchmark for #PannaPramukhs still aspiring and perspiring to clamber up the greasy totempole. Sainik Farms has a number of #EditorialWarriors. A super-expensive mansion on Malcha Marg in Delhi’s diplomatic hub, allegedly owned by a “reporters’ editor”, has kept tongues wagging for years and even prompted a…
Are journalists already poised to ride Modi wave?
As the 2014 general election campaign gathers steam, the masks are beginning to come off, as journalists who make no pretence of their political and ideological inclinations (without disclosing it publicly) walk over to the other side, just as they did in previous elections. Ashutosh of IBN-7 is officially the Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate from…
A new paper in India’s most crowded market
With the South-based New Indian Express group of Manoj Kumar Sonthalia entering the Delhi market with the Sunday Standard, the North-based Indian Express group of Viveck Goenka has returned the favour by entering the Bangalore market with the National Standard. The 20-page daily, priced at Rs 4, has been launched on Independence Day with a…
Is the PM’s media advisor Missing in Action?
Former NDTV Hindi anchor Pankaj Pachauri took over from Harish Khare as prime minister Manmohan Singh‘s media Man Friday barely six months ago. It was seen as a scam- and scandal-tainted UPA’s desperate attempt to reshape the prime minister’s image in the eyes of the media and its consumers. Now, as the economy goes into…
Why Prabhu Chawla didn’t become media advisor
Prabhu Chawla, editorial director of The New Indian Express and Sunday Standard: “Personally, I’m against the idea of journalists associating with the government in a formal advisory capacity without joining the ruling party. When former Prime Minister V.P. Singh offered me his media advisor’s job in 1990, I reluctantly declined. I suggested Singh not to…
Should ‘media corruption’ come under Lokpal?
The more-than-just-a-neutral-observer position taken by sections of the media on the Anna Hazare agitation has clearly begun to rile politicians, and at least two of them cutting across party lines have argued in the last couple of days that the media too must be brought under the purview of the proposed anti-corruption legislation. Exhibit A: Union…
When Prabhu Chawla called up Amar Singh…
The Supreme Court has lifted a five-year ban on the airing of the infamous Amar Singh CD which, along with the Niira Radia tapes, must be made required listening in journalism schools for the unvarnished view it offers of how politicians, industrialists, bureaucrats, film stars, celebrities, middlemen and journalists operate. Among the two-dozen conversations on…
Shekhar Gupta on journalists in Radia tapes
The May issue of the men’s fashion magazine, GQ (for Gentleman’s Quarterly), has a six-page interview with Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of The Indian Express and host of the NDTV 24×7 interview programme Walk the Talk. In a cover-mention titled “Is the Indian Express running out of steam?”, Gupta takes questions from the adman-columnist Anil Thakraney…
Prabhu Chawla: ‘TV is dishing out cheap opinion’
Prabhu Chawla, the editorial director of the New Indian Express, delivered the convocation address to the class of 2011 at the Indian institute of journalism & new media (IIJNM), in Bangalore, on Monday. Chawla’s salient points: # Something is rotten in the state of Indian media: Journalists have forgotten that they must report violations, not…
Scribe says tribe crossed line in Niira Radia tapes
Several print and television journalists found their voices on the Niira Radia tapes. Some expressed remorse at such a cosy relationship with the lobbyist; some like you-know-who brazened it out. Now, The Hindu reports that one senior unnamed scribe who was caught on tape lobbying has candidly admitted that what they did was “utterly unprofessional”.…
‘Media doesn’t need a regulatory mechanism’
Prabhu Chawla, editorial director of The New Indian Express, in his “Ask Prabhu” column on the website of the South-based paper. Vol I. No. V. *** What is the real motive in having “Ask Prabhu” forum in NIE? I am following your Q/A season from very beginning but sorry to say that 90% of questions…
‘No one can destroy Ramnath Goenka’s Express’
In which, Prabhu Chawla, the new editorial director of the South-based The New Indian Express, tackles readers’ queries on the media and the launch of The Sunday Standard from Delhi, with trademark frankness. Vol I. No.IV. *** Q: How much did Jayalalitha and her associates pay to get paid news published in your daily? Not…
‘A heritage title’ returns to the capital of India
The Sunday Standard, the new weekend paper from the Madras-based New Indian Express group, has been launched from Delhi. The 16-page paper with a 16-page magazine section, lists former India Today names Prabhu Chawla as editorial director and the writer-cartoonist Ravi Shankar as executive editor. The paper is priced at Rs 4. The launch issue…
Prabhu Chawla: My greatest feat, and failure
A fresh selection of media questions from readers to the editorial director of The New Indian Express group, Prabhu Chawla, and answered with trademark candour. Vol 1. No III. *** Q: Why did you quit India Today group? I am asking this question because I am a big fan of your show Sidhi Baat. A:…
Will The Sunday Standard set the Yamuna on fire?
Dummy editions of The Sunday Standard, the weekly newspaper from the Madras-based New Indian Express group, have begun doing the rounds. The eight-page dummy printed on standard newsprint seems to suggest that the 21st century weekend paper will have a conventional, 1990s design. Edited by former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla, the paper was originally…
Home truths from the man behind Sachchi Baat
Former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla continues to enthrall with his answers on the website of The New Indian Express. Volume I. No II. *** Q: I haven’t got any news on the launch of Sunday Standard in Delhi. Have you shed your plans or postponed its launch? If so, when are you going to…
Straight drives from the man behind Seedhi Baat
Former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla has taken his interactive “Ask Prabhu” column to The New Indian Express, which he recently joined as editorial director, answering questions on this, that and the other with earthy candour. Many of the media questions directed at Chawla and his responses are illuminating. Chawla confirms market rumours that the…
‘Indians trust magazines* more than newspapers’
Trust in the Indian media is down sharply by 15 percentage points over the last two years. One out of every two Indians distrusts what they read, see, and listen but—surprise, surprise, OK, no surprise, no surprise!—trust in magazines* is higher than for newspapers, TV news or radio. These, in short, are the major highlights…
Prabhu Chawla: A post-dated announcement
A front-page notice appearing in The New Sunday Express, the Sunday edition of the Madras-based The New Indian Express, on 23 January 2011, announcing the arrival of former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla as the editorial director of the paper. Chawla, who also hosted the Seedhi Baat show on the Aaj Tak channel, has launched…
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