Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Save cHindu, prevent Sidd V from becoming editor

In a recent letter from N. Ravi to cHindu employees he alleged that LiC is planning to put his puppet Sidd Varadarajan as the editor of the cHindu.
We are trying to validate the authenticity of this report.
But per the email Ravi alleges cHindu has become another "Paid News" outlet in the lines of TOI and NDTV.
Very recently, those of us who were not privy to the deal making learnt to our shock that a major interview with A. Raja in defence of the telecom licensing policy published on May 22, 2010—that was referred to by the Prime Minister in his press conference--involved a direct quid pro quo in the form of a full page, colour advertisement from the Telecom Ministry that was specially and hurriedly cleared by the Minister personally for publication on the same day in The Hindu.

If this is true then its another nail in the coffin, log in the funeral pyre of a vaunted newspaper.
More on this soon...

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow...Thanks for the report and the link...Let us watch from the sidelines the much needed sinking of this commie-jehadi noose paper

CodeNameV said...

There was a story of a fox who wears the paint of a Tiger and poses as the tiger only to realize that when it rains, the paint is gone and its real face out in the open.

N Ram's face is out in the open.

mediathug said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mediathug said...

I am an old foggy who have been reading The Hindu for ages. I don't know whether the letter purported to have been written by Ravi is genuine, and whether my comments will reach Ravi. But, I cannot hold myself from posting my comments.
Ravi conveniently puts the blame for the downfall of The Hindu on Ram. But the truth is that the rot began when Ravi took over as Editor in 1991. To be more precise, when Ravi appointed Malini Parthasarathy as the Executive Editor. "The distortions that have crept into the editorial framework..." that now Ravi talks of, began during Malini's regime. The left began getting disproportionate coverage during her regime. The Hindu became an anti-Hindu news paper during her regime. The likes of Kancha Ilaiah, Gail Omvedt, Teesta Setelvad etc, had the monopoly on the edit and op-ed pages during her regime. As Editor of the paper Ravi was a complete failure to check this rot. It was actually to "rectify the aberrations that have crept into the editorial policy" that Ram was brought in as Editor-In-Chief in 2003. But, the cure proved to be worse than the disease. Going by the comments appearing in media, Malini is quite unapologetic about her reign and see the period of her executive-editorship as the glorious period of The Hindu.
However hard Ravi may try to portray it as a 'dharmayudha', this is only a battle among family members over the family heirloom. The interest of millions of readers never figure in the concerns of the Kasturi family.
The Hindu was famous all over the world for the legendary loyalty of its readers to the paper. During the last two decades, Ram, Ravi, Malini and their ilk, have done everything to waste away that loyalty. It was a feat of unbelievable arrogance typical of the India rich class - a class to which the Kasturi family belongs.

Anonymous said...

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1715043.ece?homepage=true

This Code of Editorial Values has been adopted by the Board of Directors of Kasturi & Sons Ltd. on April 18, 2011.

According to this Code: ".... secular editorial policy of maintaining the 'strictest neutrality' in matters relating to religion while offering fair criticism and comment 'when religious questions involve interests of a political and social character.'

"The Hindu" maintaing strictest neutrality in religious matters!Should qualify for the best "joke of the year".

Anonymous said...

The code is a compendium of 'the best jokes of all time'.
Here are some other samples
1."It requires our journalists to maintain independence from those they cover, be fair and just in their news coverage, and avoid conflicts of interest"
2"....to engage readers and promote a lively and mutually beneficial conversation with them"
3."The Company must endeavour to provide in its publications a fair and balanced coverage of competing interests, and to offer the readers diverse, reasonable viewpoints..."
4."...to create a professionalism in the editorial functioning independent of Shareholder interference so as to maintain an impartiality, fairness, and objectivity in editorial and journalistic functioning"

Anonymous said...

Oops... I have missed out on the 'Greatest Joke of All'.

"The greatest asset of The Hindu, founded in September 1878, is trust.Everything we do as a company revolves, and should continue to revolve, round this hard-earned and inestimable long-term asset. The objective of codification of editorial values is to protect and foster the bond of trust between our newspapers and their readers"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raj said...

you(this blog) should pat yourself on the back for your untiring and ceaseless efforts in unmasking this toilet wad masquerading as a newspaper !

Dirt Digger said...

Anonymous,
Yeah lets wait for it to be confirmed and celebrate. Hopefully the directors can get someone with credibility than Sidd V to lead this paper.

HHG authors said...

great work, cbcnn. Goes without saying, Whenever i feel like reading the trustworthy 'The Hindu' of the old, i come here.

Dirt Digger said...

CodeNameV,
Thanks for the story. Its fun times buddy.

HHG authors said...

great work, cbcnn. Goes without saying, Whenever i feel like reading the trustworthy 'The Hindu' of the old, i come here.

Dirt Digger said...

mediathug,
Reading cHindu these days makes all of us old very quickly. The sickular polarization of the paper with its painful addiction to leftist ideologies and blind bias to certain illogical principles has bled the paper dry of any credibility.
Lets see how this new game plays out.

Dirt Digger said...

Anonymous,
Yes the code of conduct or what ever is another lip service paid by the newspaper which it does not value.
I had a good laugh reading it.

Dirt Digger said...

Raj,
All credit goes to my fellow bloggers HF, Varshaneya, Pilid, Socal and Srivathsa for their tireless efforts to keep the fire on the newspaper.

hindu-hater said...

Ram should have made his pal Hasan Suroor the editor. He could have hit three goals.
1. He could have proved how secular his news paper was. Hasan would have kept "strictest neutrality in matters relating to religion while offering fair criticism and comment when religious questions involve interests of a political and social character".
2. He could have thumped the noses of all those bloody Hindus who are the only communal people in the world.
3. He could have pleased his masters in China and Muslim World, simultaneously ensuring an increased flow of fund to The Hindu.
4. He could have proved all those cynics wrong, who go on harping only Iyengars could become editor of The Hindu.

Anonymous said...

The rivals outside are only too happy!

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/the-hindu-editor-in-chief-n-rams-brother-n-ravi-says-he-has-turned-the-newspaper-into-an-apologist-for-a-raja/articleshow/8053829.cms

22 Apr, 2011, 08.34AM IST,OUR POLITICAL BUREAU

The Hindu editor-in-chief, N Ram's brother, N Ravi says he has turned the newspaper into an apologist for A Raja

CHENNAI: The long battle for leadership inside the family that runs one of India's oldest newspapers, The Hindu , took a new turn when its editor N Ravi publicly criticised his brother and editor-in-chief N Ram for, among other things, "turning the newspaper into an apologist for A Raja." Ravi made those allegations in a mail to all The Hindu group employees on Wednesday night.

By Thursday morning, the virtual world was abuzz with forwards of the mail. The Times group, of which ET is a part, competes with The Hindu in several key markets including Chennai. In his email, Ravi has alleged that Ram has turned the newspaper into an apologist for A Raja through the 2G scam coverage. "Very recently , those of us who were not privy to the deal making learnt to our shock that a major interview with A.

Raja in defence of the telecom licensing policy published on May 22, 2010-that was referred to by the Prime Minister in his press conference--involved a direct quid pro quo in the form of a full page, colour advertisement from the telecom ministry that was specially and hurriedly cleared by the minister personally for publication on the same day in The Hindu. The contrast between such a deed and pious editorial declarations including the campaign against paid news cannot be starker," Ravi said. In a detailed email to ET, Ram pooh-poohed the charges.

....Ravi also raised other charges and accused Ram for blacking out or downplaying any news that is less than complimentary to the Chinese Communist regime and termed it as "pro-China tilt" ."And contrary to the practice in any mainline newspaper, the editor-inchief indulging in an unceasing self-glorification campaign, publishing his own ribbon cutting pictures and reports of his activities and speeches with a regularity that would put corporate house journals to shame," he added.

Ram dismissed Ravi's allegations of power grab and unfair treatment and said that the group was following the policy of separating ownership from management.

Anonymous said...

Hi, hindu-hater,

I have another suggestion.

Sonia-bhakth Harish Khare, media advisor to Manmohan, should have been made the editor.

His appointment would have ensured seem-less integration between PMO and the the chindu, ensuring the flow of ads from government and PSUs.

Deshabhakta said...

Sid V is a US citizen. Can a foreign national become editor of an Indian newspaper?

indatora said...

I believe Advaniji is quoting Sidd V. Has he gone mad to rely on pseudo seculars?