The Hindu believes it is the first newspaper in the history of Indian journalism to appoint a Readers' Editor. The Readers' Editor will be the independent, full-time internal ombudsman of The Hindu .
The key objectives of this appointment are to institutionalise the practice of self-regulation, accountability, and transparency; to create a new visible framework to improve accuracy, verification, and standards in the newspaper; and to strengthen bonds between the newspaper and its millions of print platform and online readers.
A premeditated act is not an unintended error
‘Open Page’ is a section for our articulate readers to express their opinions on a range of issues. They not only bring in new details but also explore areas that are often overlooked by regular opinion writers. Over the years, the page has grown to become a site for new voices. Though the articles are contributions from readers, the rules that govern the page are no different from the rules governing the other pages of this newspaper. The Hindu expects the same exacting standards from the contributors to the Open Page.
No tolerance for plagiarism
Talking to young journalists I often cite the words of caution of my predecessor K. Narayanan: “Plagiarism is a dread word for newspersons. But that does not prevent subtle resort to the practice by some, in the hope that they will not be found out. And when they are, the ignominy sticks and sticks.” At the cost of repeating myself, let me assure readers that there is zero tolerance for ethical breaches in this newspaper. Proven plagiarism by journalists has led to termination of employment, and in the case of external contributors, the offending article is taken down from the website and the writer is named and blacklisted.
In journalism, there is no time limit, as in the legal circles, for correction and clarification. This week, we received a complaint that a web exclusive in the ‘Open Page’ section, “It’s in the family” (April 5, 2020), by Partha Pratim Mazumder, was plagiarised. The article had reproduced sentences word-for-word from a lead article written by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu in our sister publication, The Hindu BusinessLine, way back in May 2018 under the headline “Why the Indian family is a great institution”. When our examination revealed that there was an ethical breach, the Editor blacklisted the contributor and took down the article from our website with a disclaimer: “This article has been withdrawn from publication since parts of it were found to have been plagiarised.”
While we are on the topic of corrections and setting the record straight, let me share another issue which we examined this week. “Gentleman in flannels and fatigues” (June 14), an interesting short essay by S.G. Vombatkere, dealt with how colonel-cricketer Hemu Adhikari dealt with ‘indiscipline’ in his ranks. The problem was not with the article but with the archival photograph that accompanied the article. The caption for the photograph read: “Former Test cricketers Hemu Adhikari (left) with Mushtaq Ali (right)”. Sportswriter Gulu Ezekiel wrote to us saying, “The person on the left of the photo is not Hemu Adhikari, it is Chandu Sarwate. The one on the right is not Mushtaq Ali as he did not wear glasses.” Vombatkere wrote to us to flag the same issue. He wrote to us, after consulting his friend who happens to be Nana Joshi’s nephew, that the photograph was of Joshi. How did the error happen?
Archives need to be scrutinised too
The Hindu has an enviable collection of photos in its library. Our archives are a researcher’s delight. Old bromide photographs have been scanned and labelled for digital use. Photographers used to write captions behind the photographs in the earlier days. Those captions are now tagged to the digitally stored images. The desk, in good faith, trusted the original caption writer and decided to use the vintage photograph. While issuing corrections, one of the tasks we perform is ensuring that mistakes do not recur. But how do we check nearly millions of old photographs for their captions?
While archives are a goldmine of information and images, they are not free from errors, wrong classifications and attributions. Academic Nicholas B. Dirks’s anthology of essays, Autobiography of an Archive, is widely seen as a documentation of the scholarship in the intersection between history and anthropology dealing with both colonial and post-colonial India. Mr. Dirks’s personal encounters with archives show that collected documents not only provide sources but also lay out the boundaries for research on subjects. He asks academics to shun single disciplinary perspectives. Archival material also deserve close scrutiny by the desk before publishing.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
A report in this newspaper, “India may have undercounted cases” (June 14), based on a serological survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has reignited the debate on the accuracy of COVID-19 data. While it is impossible for any news organisation to authenticate numbers put out by official sources, let me assure readers that The Hindu data team follows certain guidelines to document the daily numbers. I say this as some readers have cited different sources to question the figures published by the newspaper. For instance, Zaheeb Ajmal sent us a number of screenshots and PDFs to contest the numbers published by The Hindu. His source is Worldometer. Another reader, Somak Basu, from Trichy was unhappy with the newspaper’s interpretations of doubling time and felt that they showed India in a poor light.
The newspaper sources its data from State governments, the Central government, the World Health Organization (WHO) and respected academic organisations. It tries to avoid data from websites where the data sources are suspect. The Hindu is transparent about its sourcing of data. This does not mean that data furnished by agencies cannot be questioned or subjected to a closer scrutiny.
Tracking data
The Hindu data team uses two trackers for page 1 news and for other COVID-19-related stories. At times, there may be some variations in the total number of cases and deaths as some States (Tripura and Delhi, for example) tend to release their numbers late. The newspaper’s robust reporter and desk network works round the clock to update a master sheet on daily COVID-19 cases across States by sourcing numbers from the health departments of the respective States. Normally data from most States are available by 10.30 p.m. These are the numbers the newspaper uses to update the daily count on page 1. The full data on the master sheet are also used to generate maps and updates for its live page.
Data related to testing/samples, etc. are also gleaned every day by The Hindu data team which maintains a more detailed break-up of State-wise COVID-19 numbers here. The aim of this tracker is to provide the infection and fatality curves of each State and compare the testing and positivity rates of these States on a regular basis.
Why does the data team prefer to use State trackers instead of Central government data? The reason is simple. The State governments release data earlier than the Union Health Ministry. This helps the newspaper stick to deadline. Initially, The Hindu reported both State and Central numbers on page 1. But when the data team realised that the State tracker was stable and, more importantly, available before the print deadline, the newspaper abandoned reporting the Union Health Ministry’s numbers. For page 1 updates, the data team also uses the ICMR’s daily release of the number of total samples tested. This is published along with the State-wise updates on cases and fatalities.
Reliable data
For comparison across countries, the data team uses the ‘COVID-19 Global Cases’ tracker provided by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The Hindu data team prefers the JHU tracker for many reasons. One, it is one of the earliest trackers that listed worldwide information on cases and deaths. Two, it provides an API interface and hosts the data on an open source GitHub account from where base data can be easily sourced. Three, it relies on data from official sources from the respective countries and lists these data properly. Four, it provides up-to-date data faster than, say, the WHO’s tracker.
Many readers cited the disputed figures from the website, Worldometers.info, to contest The Hindu’s headline “India’s COVID tally fifth highest in world” (June 7). On the day of reporting, both the JHU tracker and the WHO showed that Spain had close to 2.4 lakh cases. When India’s tally crossed the mark in JHU’s table, The Hindu team used that for the headline. The JHU’s number matched the official tally of Spain’s Health Ministry, whereas the Worldometer’s tally did not.
Besides stories related to testing, infection rates, doubling time and fatalities, the data team has also looked at the impact of the lockdown on the economy. Each of these stories cited the sources from where the base data was taken, analysed, and reinterpreted.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
Fourth estate and the fifth column
Some readers ask how my columns about the larger information ecology and about social media are linked to the journalism of this newspaper. When the government fails to deliver, it invents multiple means to deflect the attention of the citizens from scrutinising its functions. The deflections may vary from waging a full-fledged war to demonising neighbouring countries. Social media is used to manage headlines and amplify misinformation. A few recent complaints regarding this newspaper’s reportage on renewed militancy in Kashmir and border skirmishes with China clearly fall into this category.
Puncturing the narrative
Before clearing their doubts, let me share a personal story. Two decades ago, I was Bureau Chief of Outlook magazine when it broke the story, “Command Failure”. The report explained that the 1999 war with Pakistan took place as the military and political leadership did not take cognisance of the timely warnings of the man on the ground, Brig Surinder Singh, commander of the Kargil-based 121 Brigade. The report widely differed from the narrative that the then National Democratic Alliance-government wanted the people to believe. The official position was that the nuclear test in Pokhran had changed the regional dynamics and that India was talking to Pakistan from a position of strength. The Kargil intrusion not only punctured that narrative but also exposed the limitations of hypernationalistic rhetoric masquerading as news.
I asked Editor Vinod Mehta what gave him the courage to carry a report that questioned the government about a war with a neighbouring country when many media outlets were behaving as force multipliers for the government. He said, and I paraphrase: There are two forms of journalism — fourth estate and the fifth column. Speaking the truth and holding those in power accountable are the core roles of journalism as the fourth estate. To be a megaphone for governmental propaganda and keeping people in the dark is the role of the fifth column. The choice is obvious.
A sentence in the news analysis, “Behind new incidents, a changed dynamic along India-China border” (May 20), read: “By December 2022, all 61 strategic roads along the border, spread across Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, will be completed...” Some readers felt that the newspaper was wrong in mentioning J&K. They said the report should have said Ladakh as the State has now been divided into two Union Territories. They failed to recognise that J&K includes not just Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, but also a huge swathe of territory across the Line of Control. The Indian state calls the region “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”. That region includes the Trans-Karakoram Tract, which India has been consistently claiming as its own. The Hunza-Gilgit region borders Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China to the north, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east. A newspaper has to take a holistic view instead of shoehorning its analysis into the official narrative.
Selective use of the term ‘martyr’
Some readers were also troubled with the newspaper’s reluctance to use the term ‘martyr’ when reporting on the killing of CRPF soldiers. A Delhi-based advocate, Piyush Pathak, wrote: “I have been a regular reader of your prestigious newspaper for more than 30 years. A soldier martyred shall be properly addressed as this would give a positive effect to the society.”
Another reader, Vimal Kumar, felt that despite a Readers’ Editor column on this topic, “The difference between journalism and propaganda” (March 4, 2019), the term ‘martyr’ had been used in some reports (“Solidarity march held for Pulwama martyrs”, March 11, 2019, and “A tribute to Pulwama martyrs, a plea against hate-mongering”, February 22, 2019). He wondered why there is lack of consistency in the newspaper in using the term ‘martyr’.
Mr. Kumar is right. The term has managed to slip through the gate-keeping processes and this is unacceptable. However, to the credit of the desk, Mr. Kumar could not find the term after March 11, 2019. The desire to be the fourth estate trumps external pressure to become the fifth column.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
