Raju Narisetti stepped down as Mint editor effective 1 January 2009. His Mint blog, A Romantic Realist, will be archived after this last post. Thank you for reading and reacting to it and we look forward to your continued involvement with Mint’s blogs. Livemint Read More →
Readers of this Romantic Realist are used to seeing a lot of posts on Indian media. Since there is now some published debate on this particular issue, I thought it might be interesting to post this open clarification that ran on the front page of Mint on 22 December in relation to a previous “Open Letter” by an unnamed IAS officer that had run in Mint. (more…) Read More →
Stories in Indian media about estranged billionaire brothers, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s most valuable company by market capitalization, and Anil Ambani, of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, shaking hands at a meeting of industrialists, and resulting, usual speculation of a potential thaw between them, reminded me of this legal notice. Anil Ambani has formally sued his brother Mukesh Ambani along with Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of The New York Times Co; Clark Hoyt, public editor of The New York Times; Anand Giridharadas, an India-based reporter... (more...)
In one of those typical company-wide emails that only IT people can send, one landed in my in box a little while ago, titled “How Can I Contribute in Saving Corporate Costs?” The IT department has decided that sending me an excerpt from a speech, supposedly given by former Indian president and now major gadfly, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, titled “Be the change you want to see!” (which in my book is now clearly up there in recently overdone cliches) is the perfect way to try and make me conserve energy and money. (more…) Read More →
In what was a predictable pick, here is what Time magazine had to say in naming Barack Obama as its 2008 “Person of the Year”: (more…) Read More →
While the pervasive Page 3 approach(a less newsy Page 6 for those New York Post fans among the Romantic Realist’s readers) focusing on “who attended wearing what on their sleeve and on their body” rather than “what was show there” is how most Indian metro newspapers cover art these days, just how deeply entrenched this has become was brought home earlier today when I got this email invitation for the opening of an art show on 17 December in New Delhi. What struck me was how the invitation, about four artists and their video installations,... (more...)
Being a believer in newspapers having a clearly articulated and transparent corrections and clarifications policy, this Romantic Realist was delighted to see Hindustan Times promote a very prominent Clarifications/Corrections column that asks readers to alert htreporters@hindustantimes.com for any “bloomer” in the paper and promising that the paper is “happy to correct ourselves.” ((Regular readers of Mint, where the Romantic Realist has a day job, are probably familiar with its permanent Page 2 Corrections & Clarifications box stemming... (more...)
Hot off the press is news from the World Association of Newspapers/World Editors Forum of this prestigious award. The Romantic Realist, who is on the board of the World Editors Forum, is delighted that a South Asian journalist has been recognized for standing up to authoritarian regimes. Here is the citation from WAN/WEF, though I think it should be Najam not Najaam: “Najaam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief of Friday Times and Daily Times in Pakistan, has been awarded the 2009 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers. Mr Sethi,... (more...)
Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President George W. Bush during a press conference, in what is typically an act that ranks among the worst possible insults in the Arab world, was at least making a direct–and risky–public political statement about Iraqi deaths following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Indeed, the television journalist whose twin shoe attack, while apparently shouting “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog.This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq,” forced Mr Bush... (more...)
Readers of Romantic Realist might remember he is partial to Jet Airways despite all the over-the-top allure of relative upstart Kingfisher Airlines. But here is a vivid example of how being No. 2 to Naresh Goyal’s Jet, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher does try harder and is much more acutely aware of the need to go the extra mile: Exhibit 1 4.07 am: An email with a cute digital image of colorful balloons rising against a blue sky landed in my inbox from birthdaygreetings@updates.jetairways.com, saying: Sub: Happy Birthday from JetPrivilege Dear Mr Narisetti, Wishing... (more...)
