Friday, January 13, 2006

"I don't want the first case of our Reader's Editor, K.Narayanan to be one that investigates charges of plagiarism from The Guardian- we've taken all the necessary permission from them." said N.Ram, just before the interactive session with the speakers- Alan Rusbridger and Ian Mayes of the Guardian was about to begin.
Subtle hint not to ask about this, Mr.Ram?

K.Narayanan only takes up his post on March 1st. And how independent an ombudsman he will be, I don't know. He's been with the Hindu since 1955.

14 comments:

Chrono Cr@cker said...

My Comments exactly.. A Readers editor from the name itself, suggests that he/she is a person who has and will have nothing to do with the management of various aspects of the paper and instead will focus on the the people's approach towards the paper.

But Mr.Narayanan seems to have been with the Hindu for 25+ Years and surely, what the heck did that guy from the guardian do when ram said about this? Eat Dung?

That, comment by N.Ram was quite funny!

Aswin said...

Hi Nina,
Are you sure that Ram wasnt talking in a lighter vein?? I mean...I have seen him comment(jovially) quite a few times on the amount of syndicated content that appears in The Hindu.

I simply dont see any reason as to why this particular case doesnt qualify for an apology!

Nina said...

Chrono: Narayanan has been with the Hindu for 50 years, not 25!
Aswin: Don't know, perhaps he was joking. Just wondering out loud what that particular comment could mean. And I'm not sure what you mean by 'I simply dont see any reason as to why this particular case doesnt qualify for an apology!'

Aswin said...

oops.. the 'case' that i was talking about is this
I hope that clarifies things.. :)

Nina said...

aswin: yes :)

Geeji said...

Hi Nina,
FIFTY years!!! Are you sure? I mean, did printing exist then? Or was the Hindu shouted out by criers running up and down Mount Road?

What Ram said was obviously meant as a joke, since they print so much stuff from the Guardian, no? Doubtful whether he knows about the your Bhaskaran expose`..

Nina said...
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Nina said...
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Nina said...

G: Heh heh, yeah K.N's been with them that long. Don't know what method they used to get the news out then, though. Criers, or maybe pigeon mail? ;)
And Ram knows. It may or may not have been a joke. Just wondering...

3:54 PM

bumpkin said...

If Ram didn't about GB he should quit as the editor.Of course he knows.And I am sure he was just sending a subtle hint that he did not want(wish?)anyone to ask any questions on the GB episode,at least on that day.

bumpkin said...

I think you are being unfair to K.Narayanan by prejudging him.He has a difficult task in his hands-considering the poor quality of news that appears in the paper-so my sympathies are with him and here's wishing him all the best.And before fellow South indians jump on me and condemn me for calling the Hindu names let me hasten to add that I consider the Hindu by far the best of the newspapers published from india,but compared to the NyT or the Guardian itself we know where it stands.

Nina said...

Bumpkin: The entire point of the reader's editor is that he would function independently & impartially from within the newspaper. How can a person who has been with The Hindu for 50 years be possibly either?

bumpkin said...

Nina,that's the way the system works.Even in the Guardian from where this idea is borrowed the Readers' editor is someone who has been with that publication for quite a while.Go to http://www.newsombudsmen.org/what.htm to figure out how the ombudsman system works for newspapers.

RTP said...

Actually the fact that he's been around for 50 years makes him perfect. He's now been around so long there's no reason for him to be cowed down. Besides, from what I can see, he's reached that age where he doesn't have to give two hoots about anything except doing the job he is supposed to. He is at point where he doesn't have to care, and I think that is precisely what will make him care.