Lessons only The Tribune can teach! (English) скачать в хорошем качестве

Lessons only The Tribune can teach! (English)

Since I have been talking of The Tribune, some people have asked me to suggest measures which will ensure that no one is able to take advantage of the organisation which prides itself as the Voice of the People and which was set up by a Will of the Founder, Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia. One of the things that can be done is to ensure that none of the Trustees holds any post that could possibly be in conflict with the day to day functioning of the newspaper - like the J&K Governor today is. Further, they should be made to give an undertaking that they would not accept a post while they are Trustees that would be in conflict of any sort with the responsibility that they hold. It could be specified that no news report pertaining to any of the Trustees or an article by them would find space in the columns of the paper. And if there is an article in the paper, it should be accompanied by a disclaimer - of the writer being a Trustee. Since the paper is more than 125 years old, at least one of the Trustees could be a former employee of the paper - some one with an unblemished record and on whom there is unanimity. In addition, as a double check, there could be a Committee of Citizens which could act as an Ombudsman on what appears or does not appear in the paper. The Ombudsman's periodic report could be examined by the Trustees. This would ensure that an Editor does not usurp precious newspaper space to write on whatever he likes or ignores whatever he does not like. This would ensure that juvenile and personal writings by editors are not forced on readers. Readers were aghast to read Ground Zero articles like the one, Punjab Da Puttar in 2010 and Lessons Only a Mother Can Teach last year by the present incumbent, Raj Chengappa. The last was a tribute to his Mother and colleagues were even more incensed to see it as news of their own near and dear ones is not allowed to be published in the paper. When I took it up - that news of staff's near and dear ones should be used in paper like before, I was told that this was a Trust decision. But is there a different yardstick for the Editor? Are parents of the Editors any different from the lesser mortals, who literally give their blood for the organisation at the frequent and regular blood donation camps? Since in a sense The Tribune is a unique newspaper and perhaps the only one in this region which is run by a Trust, its Editors should be made to give an undertaking that they would not accept any of the sinecure posts during their service or after retirement for at least one year. There have been an occasions when editors have either been nominated to the Rajya Sabha or given Padma awards, which, as is well known, are rewards for one's support or opposition to the governments. How come such a requirement was not mandatory when the former Editor-in-Chief, HK Dua, was made a member of Rajya Sabha? Yes, at the level of the Editors and Trustees, perhaps no questions should be asked. But when the trust is undermined, some one has to ask the hard questions. Unfortunately, I have to do this. As they say, some one has to bell the cat. I am doing it as I started my career from The Tribune. These are the lessons that my first newspaper organisation, my alma mater of sorts, taught me. There is a certain rigour that is a must for Editors and Trustees and that is what ought to make The Tribune different from others - after all it is perhaps last of the bastions - a paper run by a Trust.