In October 1989, when The Hindu‘s then associate editor, N. Ram, was stopped in his tracks by his uncle and editor, G. Kasturi, from publishing the third part of an investigation into the Bofors gun deal, Ram found a novel method of getting the story out. He called a press conference and handed out the…
Tag Archives: RTI
South media baron among top political donors
Mobile phone turned media baron and member of Parliament, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, continues to be a prominent donor to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, according to a list compiled by the asociation for democratic reforms (ADR). Chandrasekhar, an independent member of the Rajya Sabha elected with BJP support, who owns the Malayalam news channel…
How a letter-writer entered the Guinness Book
In The Hindu, Aman Sethi profiles Subhash Chandra Agrawal, the tetile merchant whose use of the right to infomration (RTI ) Act unceasingly shapes the news agenda. Before he donned his current role, Agrawal had entered the Guinness book of records for the most number of letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines: “His…
A town shuts down to protest media corruption!
Unbelievable as it may sound, residents of the town of Mudhol in North Karnataka observed a bandh (shutdown) on Tuesday, September 20, to protest “blackmail journalism” and the growing number of imposters masquerading as journalists to extort money. According to a report in the Kannada daily Praja Vani, the bandh in the town of 100,000…
In Bangalore, 14 parties for media in 36 months
PALINI R. SWAMY writes from Bangalore: Although the size of the Karnataka market is smaller than Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Bangalore probably has the largest news media presence than the other three southern capitals and perhaps most other cities, barring Bombay and Delhi. At last count, there were 14 major morning brands (eight…
How IIJNM students put the RTI to good effect
Only 10 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion population is said to be aware of the Right to Information (RTI) Act which grants citizens the right to access government documents. Nevertheless, its power and potential is unmatched. For a small fee, any Indian, male or female, rich or poor, can step up to “the scariest…
Tehelka promoters ‘vindicated’ by official papers
First Global, the brokerage promoted by Shankar Sharma and Devina Mehra which had a 14.50 per cent stake in the webzine turned magazine Tehelka, has scored a major victory with official documents reportedly showing that the firm had been harassed by market regulators on trumped-up charges, after the then BJP-led government had been shamed by…
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