Neither Bengaluru’s notorious traffic nor the fact that it was a lazy Saturday morning kept readers of The Hindu from gathering in large numbers for the open house convened by the Readers’ Editor. Readers, while acknowledging the merits of the newspaper, did not shy away from offering constructive criticism.
The face-to-face meeting, which facilitated direct feedback from readers to the editorial team, was convened by Readers’ Editor A.S. Panneerselvan in the presence of Editor Mukund Padmanabhan and Karnataka Chief of Bureau Bageshree S.
“ The Hindu is one of the few media houses in the country to have a Readers’ Editor. The office of the Readers’ Editor allows us to do mending in a visible and transparent manner,” said Mr. Panneerselvan. “Issuing of corrections and clarifications are part of the process. It also allows us to fix responsibilities within the organisation without stigmatising any individual. It is a soft-touch approach for course correction and has in fact resulted in better quality.”
Ad-editorial divide
One reader, Pradip Phalat, was critical of the number of advertisements in the newspaper, especially on the front page. But can a newspaper that is sold to readers at a subsidised cost, afford to eschew revenue from advertisements?
In his reply, Mr. Padmanabhan touched upon how a reader’s sensitivity to advertisements has evolved over the years. He highlighted how way back in the 1880s, one of the first editions had a full-page advertisement on the front page. “This is how newspapers function. It is not a new commercial practice, even for The Hindu . On occasion, we have pulled out advertisements on days when there have been extremely important news developments at significant commercial cost,” he said.
(From left) Senior General Manager of The Hindu Group of Publications, Bengaluru, Meher Yerramilli, Readers’ Editor of ‘The Hindu’ A.S. Panneerselvan, Editor Mukund Padmanabhan, and Karnataka Chief of Bureau Bageshree S. at the open house convened by the Readers’ Editor in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Senior citizens who subscribe to The Hindu suggested starting a special column for them, which not only informed them of their rights and privileges, but also acted as a forum where they can contribute articles. Other suggestions included having a wrap of the news of the week every weekend, and more city, science, and defence coverage.
One young reader, Meera R., who introduced herself as a fourth-generation reader of The Hindu , spoke about how her parents forbade her from reading the main paper which sometimes carries news about heinous incidents. She suggested creating a section for “positive journalism”.
Data and news
Sai Deepti, a student, while praising the editorial pages of The Hindu , suggested creating a column for data journalism. Through the column The Hindu could distil data put out by the government in a manner that is accessible to the layperson. The newspaper’s editorial team acknowledged the importance of data in news gathering.
The selection process
Nirmala Narayanan asked how the newspaper sifts through information to decide on what is of public interest and the selection process for news items.
To this, Mr. Panneerselvan replied, “Three elements contribute to what goes into the newspaper: informational, critical, and adversarial. This is where the concept of editorial judgement becomes very important.”
A newsroom is not a silent place; there is a constant back and forth on news developments and the display they are given.
“The best thing about a newspaper is that the multiple viewpoints that readers express also get expressed within the newsroom. An editor must balance out these viewpoints and then come out with a decision,” he said.
