The Hindu : National : <I>The Hindu</I>'s commitment to serious journalism commended

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

National

National

The Hindu's commitment to serious journalism commended

By Our Staff Reporter

— Photo: M. Moorthy

The Mayor and Chairperson of the Committee of Hosts, Sarubala R. Tondaiman (third from right), and the convener of the Citizens' Forum, S. Pushpavanam (left), present a memento to N. Ram and N. Murali, Editor-in-Chief and the Joint Managing Director of The Hindu in Tiruchi on Saturday to mark the 125+ years of the newspaper. Also seen is the Union Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar.

TIRUCHI, APRIL 2. The unbiased and authentic reportage, the educative attributes and the journalistic values upheld by The Hindu since its inception, were recounted by speakers at the celebration of 125+ years of the national newspaper, organised by the Citizens' Forum here today.

A galaxy of speakers, drawn from various walks of life, paid tributes to the commitment of the newspaper to serious journalism even while facing the emerging challenges in the profession without compromising on its standards.

The Union Minister for Petroleum and Panchayati Raj, Mani Shankar Aiyar, the chief guest of the occasion, observed that no newspaper group could rival The Hindu stable, which he said had managed to keep away from the tendency to crowd out news by advertisements. It had also resisted the trend of "tabloidisation" even while retaining its capacity to be lively. He commended the accommodation of voices of dissent.

Mr. Aiyar suggested that the newspaper could consider publishing events dating back to a century in its `This Day That Age' column. Discourses of religions other than Hinduism could also be accommodated. No other magazine could match the depth and range of coverage and the top quality visual presentation of The Frontline magazine, brought out by the group, he said.

Fairness and justice

The Editor-in-chief of The Hindu, N. Ram, said that fairness and justice had been the two guiding principles of the newspaper. To be a `contemporary classical' is the objective of the newspaper now. Serious journalism had to go hand-in-hand with state-of-the-art business practices and a serious newspaper could perform credible-informational, the critical-investigative-watchdog, the educational and the agenda-building functions with benefit to society.

Pointing out that the press in India had a tradition of 225 years, Mr. Ram said there were reasons to celebrate the status of freedom of expression, speech and press in the country — a gift of the freedom movement and the authors of the Constitution — though there were specific grievances such as the law of criminal defamation, the law of criminal contempt of court and the doctrine of sky-high powers of the legislatures.

Describing the occasion as a special opportunity to interact with the readers, he said the gesture was a representation of the "citizens sector at its best." The insights and dissent expressed by the educated and informed readers were valuable and an important experience for a serious newspaper. Expressing his gratitude to the support extended to The Hindu by the readers, he promised that specific suggestions put forward by them would be seriously considered.

The Tiruchi Member of Parliament, L. Ganesan, said there was a need to guard against sinister attempts to "oust" English from Tamil Nadu.

The Mayor, Sarubala R. Tondaiman, presided over the meeting. The former MP, N. Siva, the Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, C. Thangamuthu, the secretary of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, S. Ranganathan, the former national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association, M.S. Ashraf, the wholetime director of Dalmia Cements, N. Gopalswami, litterateur Prema Nandakumar, the chairman, City Union Bank, S.Balasubramanian, the chairman, Karur Vysya Bank, P.T. Kuppusamy, the oldest reader of the newspaper in the region, G. Sundaram, and S. Pushpavanam, convener, Citizens' Forum, spoke.

The Joint Managing Director of The Hindu, N. Murali, and Mr. Ram were presented with a memento to mark the occasion.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National