One of the defining elements of journalism is its ability to balance continuity and change. Media historian Mitchell Stephens in his book, A History of News , observed: “Humans have exchanged a similar mix of news … throughout history and across cultures.” The best reporters and editors strive constantly to keep journalism from being subsumed by the larger world of communications. For a newspaper like The Hindu , readers are not consumers or clients. They are the sole purpose of the paper’s existence. Once the centrality of readers is acknowledged then it becomes easy to draw the perimeter, a protective ring that respects the intellect of the reader and restrains the publication from indulging in dumbing down practices.
My tasks as the Readers’ Editor are threefold: 1) to see that this perimeter is not breached, 2) to inform readers of the working of journalism in general and that of The Hindu i n particular, and 3) to act as an effective interlocutor between readers and the editorial team. The suggestions and ideas from readers are not only solicited but they are also acted upon. There have been moments where some of the good suggestions from readers could not be implemented due to either technical or economic reasons. For instance, the decision to suspend the Kolkata edition’s e-paper. I would like to inform readers that in reality the number of e-paper editions has gone up over the years to nine, offering a comprehensive footprint in South India and the national capital, Delhi.
Frequent questions Some of the frequent questions we receive are: How do we handle the suggestions from the readers? What is the mechanism that is in place to go through multiple queries, ideas and notions of journalism that come from readers? Why are some suggestions accepted and some rejected?
A three-member team at the Office of the Readers’ Editor reads every mail. Then, they are forwarded to the appropriate desk for follow-up action. Where it is possible, the suggestions are implemented right away. For instance, when readers asked for an increase in the space for ‘Open Page’ articles, a full-page was allocated to it. Some readers want more pages in the ‘Magazine’ section, and others like to see a general increase in the number of pages. I get mail from conservationists saying that news about heritage buildings that are destroyed by fire or natural causes is national news. They have cited the cases of the Marie building in Puducherry, the SBI building in Chennai and Gorton Castle in Shimla, among many others. They feel that this news should not be restricted to the city pages. Though everyone wants to read more, the economic reality of the newspaper business is limiting. The commitment is to stretch the feasibility to give maximum reading material to readers. Hence, the web edition of the paper carries all news that is published across the country in various editions of The Hindu .
‘Letters to the Editor’ May I share three recent letters to give you an idea about the range of ideas and suggestions we get on a daily basis? D.K. Oza, a retired IAS officer and the former vice-chancellor of Gandhigram Rural University, himself a regular writer, felt that the ‘Letters to the Editor’ section needed a revamp. He has come up with a set of ideas to make this section interesting: “ignore the pedestrian, the trivial, the commonplace, the insignificant, the rubbish, and, above all, the self-appointed Public Policy Advisor… Kindly focus on something significant.” Mr. Oza wants the paper to carry letters that “raise issues, analyse an important matter, or try to make a significant comment on some current happenings or anything which affects large numbers of people.” The ‘Letters to the Editor’ is a section that strives to give a voice to various readers. Editors try to give the space to the opinion of readers from various geographical regions. They do not want repeat the same writers and attempt to encourage new writers. Within a limit of 1,200 words, they try to accommodate eight to 10 letters that are selected on a daily basis from an average receipt of 200 letters.
Following my column, “The art and science of headlines” (December 15, 2014), another reader, Ravikanth, wondered about the role of the author or reporter in writing headlines. His suggestion was to request the authors and reporters to come up with a couple of headlines when they file their reports or essays. The desk, he contends, can then tweak it to suit the requirements and the style. His argument: “Can there be [a] better person [to] suggest a headline than the writer of the piece itself?”
Author-editor-translator, V. Geetha, felt compelled to write a mail to provide some precise chronological information with reference to A.R. Venkatachalapathy’s article on Pandit Iyodhee Thass (“From a footnote to the forefront”, December 24, 2014, ‘Comment’ page) because “the question of whether we value history has been raised in the article.” She recollected how the great Pandit was featured in the works of Pe.Su. Mani and K. Thirunavukkarsu in the early 1990s. She also cited two English essays on Iyodhee Thass: “Dalits and Non Brahmin Consciousness in Colonial Tamil Nadu”, Economic and Political Weekly , September 25, 1993, by S.V. Rajadurai and V. Geetha, and “Rewriting History in the Brahmin’s Shadow: Caste and the Modern Historical Imagination, Journal of Arts and Ideas , Vol 25-26, 1993, by V. Geetha.
Like most readers, I too would like to see a 50-page edition of The Hindu every morning. Let’s hope the Indian economy expands rapidly in this new year to make this possible.
> readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
