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The Hindu 1

The Hindu

The Hindu

The March 16, 2005 front page of The Hindu

Type Daily newspaper

Format Broadsheet

Owner Kasturi & Sons Ltd.

Publisher The Hindu Group

Editor-in-chief  N. Ram

Founded 20 September 1878

Political alignmentLeft-leaning, Independent

[1]

Language English

Headquarters 859-860 Anna Salai Rd, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600002

Circulation1,466,304 daily

[2]

ISSN0971-751X

[3]

OCLC number13119119

[4]

Official websiteTheHindu.com

[5]

The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since

1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December

2009.[2]

The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40 million in 2010. According to

the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 The Hindu is the third most widely read English newspaper in India (after

the Times of India and   Hindustan Times) with a readership of 2.6 million people.[6]

It has its largest base of 

circulation in Southern India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is the most widely read english daily in Kerala.

Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called Madras), The Hindu was published weekly when it was launched in

1878, and started publishing daily in 1889.

The Hindu became, in 1995, the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition.[7]

The Hindu is published from 14 locations — Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Madurai, Coimbatore, Delhi,

Hubli, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

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The Hindu 3

In 1987 – 88 The Hindu's coverage of the Bofors arms deal scandal, a series of document-backed exclusives set the

terms of the national political discourse on this subject. The Bofors scandal broke in April 1987 with Swedish Radio

alleging that bribes had been paid to top Indian political leaders, officials and Army officers in return for the

Swedish arms manufacturing company winning a hefty contract with the Government of India for the purchase of 

155 mm howitzers. During a six-month period the newspaper published scores of copies of original papers that

documented the secret payments, amounting to $50 million, into Swiss bank accounts, the agreements behind the

payments, communications relating to the payments and the crisis response, and other material. The investigation

was led by part-time correspondent of The Hindu, Chitra Subramaniam reporting from Geneva, and was supported

by Ram in Chennai. The scandal was a major embarrassment to the party in power at the centre, the Indian National

Congress, and its leader Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The paper's editorial accused the Prime Minister of being

party to massive fraud and cover up.[17]

In 1991, Deputy Editor N. Ravi, Ram's younger brother replaced G. Kasturi as Editor. Nirmala Lakshman, Kasturi

Srinivasan's granddaughter, became Joint Editor of The Hindu and her sister, Malini Parthasarathy, Executive Editor.

In 2003, the Jayalalitha Government of the state of Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is the capital, filed cases against

the paper for "breach of privilege" of the state legislative body. The move was widely perceived as a government's

assault on freedom of the press. However, The Hindu emerged unscathed from the ordeal, scoring both political and

legal victories, as it instantly commanded the support of the journalistic community throughout the country.[18]

The younger generation of The Hindu's editors have also contributed much to its commercial success. They built a

modern infrastructure for news-gathering, printing and distribution. On the look of the newspaper, editor-in-chief 

Ram writes, "The Hindu has been through many evolutionary changes in layout and design, for instance, moving

news to the front page that used to be an ad kingdom; adopting modular layout and make-up; using large

photographs; introducing colour; transforming the format of the editorial page to make it a purely 'views' page;

avoiding carry-over of news stories from one page to another; and introducing boxes, panels, highlights, and briefs."

Major layout changes appeared starting <date missing< (redesign by Edwin Taylor) and starting Apr 14, 2005

(redesign by Mario Garcia and Jan Kny). The focus of Garcia's redesign was on "giving pre-eminence to text,

including (where appropriate and necessary) long text, but also by enabling photographs, other graphics, and white

space to have an enhanced role on the pages; by giving the reader more legible typography, an efficient indexing or

'navigation' system, a clear hierarchy of stories, a new and sophisticated colour palette; and by offering the advertiser

better value and new opportunities."[19]

The Hindu is family-run. It was headed by G. Kasturi from 1965 to 1991, N. Ravi from 1991 to 2003, and by his

brother, N. Ram, since June 27, 2003. Other family members, including Nirmala Lakshman, Malini Parthasarathy,

Nalini Krishnan, N Murali, K Balaji, K Venugopal and Ramesh Rangarajan are directors of The Hindu and its parent

company, Kasturi and Sons. S Rangarajan, former managing director and chairman since April 2006, died on 8

February 2007. Ananth Krishnan, who is the first member of the youngest generation of the family to join the

business has been working as a special correspondent in Chennai and Mumbai since 2007.

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The Hindu 4

Managing-directors

A close up view of the entrance to Kasturi

Buildings, the head office of The Hindu

• M. Veeraraghavachariar (1878 – 1904)

• S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (1904 – 1923)

• K. Srinivasan (1923 – 1959)

• G. Narasimhan (1959 – 1977)

• N. Ram (1977 – 

), Editor-in-Chief 

Editors-in-chief 

• G. Subramania Iyer (1878-1898)

• C. Karunakara Menon (1898-1905)

• Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (1905-1923)

• S. Rangaswami Iyengar (1923 – 1926)

• K. Srinivasan (1926-1928)

• A. Rangaswami Iyengar (1928-1934)

• K. Srinivasan (1934-1959)

• S. Parthasarathy (1959-1965)

• G. Kasturi (1965-1991)

• N. Ravi (1991-2003)

• N. Ram (2003-till date)

Board of Directors

The Hindu Group is managed by the descendants of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar. As of 2010, there are 12 directors in the

board of Kasturi & Sons —

N. Ram, N. Ravi and N. Murali (sons of G. Narasimhan); Malini Parthasarathy, NirmalaLakshman and Nalini Krishnan (children of S. Parthasarathy); Ramesh Rangarajan, Vijaya Arun and Akila Iyengar

(children of S. Rangarajan); K. Balaji, K. Venugopal and Lakshmi Srinath (children of G. Kasturi).[20]

Reviews

The Times, London listed The Hindu as one of the world's ten best newspapers in 1965. Discussing each of its

choices in separate articles, The Times wrote:

“The Hindu takes the general seriousness to lengths of severity... The Hindu which is published in Madras, is the only newspaper which in spite

of being published only in a provincial capital is regularly and attentively read in Delhi. It is read not only as a distant and authoritative voice

on national affairs but as an expression of the most liberal —

and least provincial —

southern attitudes... Its Delhi Bureau gives it outstandingpolitical and economic dispatches and it carries regular and frequent reports from all state capitals, so giving more news from states, other than

its own, than most newspapers in India... It might fairly be described as a national voice with a southern accent. The Hindu can claim to be the

most respected paper in India.[17] ”

In 1968, the American Newspaper Publishers' Association awarded The Hindu its World Press Achievement Award.

An extract from the citation reads:

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The Hindu 5

“Throughout nearly a century of its publication The Hindu has exerted wide influence not only in Madras but throughout India. Conservative in

both tone and appearance, it has wide appeal to the English-speaking segment of the population and wide readership among government

officials and business leaders... The Hindu has provided its readers a broad and balanced news coverage, enterprising reporting and a sober and

thoughtful comment... [It] has provided its country a model of journalistic excellence... [It] has fought for a greater measure of humanity for

India and its people... [and] has not confined itself to a narrow chauvinism. Its Correspondents stationed in the major capitals of the world

furnish The Hindu with world-wide news coverage... For its championing of reason over emotion, for its dedication to principle even in the

face of criticism and popular disapproval, for its confidence in the future, it has earned the respect of its community, its country, and theworld.

[17] ”

Achievements

The Hindu has many firsts in India to its credit,[17]

 [21]

which include the following

• 1940: First to introduce colour

• 1963: First to own fleet of aircraft for distribution

• 1969: First to adopt facsimile system of page transmission

• 1980: First to use computer aided photo composing

• 1986: First to use satellite for facsimile transmission• 1994: First to adopt wholly computerized integration of text and graphics in page make-up and remote imaging

• 1995: First newspaper to go on Internet

Online presence

The Hindu was the first newspaper in India to have a website, launched in 1995.

On 15 August 2009, the 130-year-old newspaper, launched the beta version of its redesigned website at

beta.thehindu.com[22]

. This was the first redesign of its website since its launch. On June 24, 2010 the beta version

of the website went fully live at www.hindu.com[5]

.[23]

The new website retains its core values of independence, authenticity, and credibility while adopting contemporaryweb design principles, tools, and features.

The design is by Mario Garcia Jr., of Garcia Media, Tampa, Florida, USA. The workflow solution is by CCI Europe

A/S, Denmark. The web publishing system is from Escenic A/S, Norway. The implementation was done in-house.

Controversy

Headquarters of The Hindu in Anna Salai, Chennai

The Hindu has been accused of pro-Sinhalese bias in its writing by

many advocates for the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils.[24]

Prominent

Sri Lankan political commentator David Jeyaraj claimed he was

fired from The Hindu for exposing IPKF atrocities against the SriLankan Tamils.

[25]N.Ram was awarded the "Sri Lanka Rathna",

the highest civilian award that can be conferred on a foreigner in

Sri Lanka in November 2005.

In light of opinion pieces published by the head of The Hindu, N.

Ram, extolling China's governance of Tibet[26]

and other

perceived slights, many commentators, have claimed a Sinophilic

bias in the writings of the paper. B. Raman director of the South

Asia Analysis Group stated "Its sympathy for China and its policy in recent years of keeping out of its columns any

report or article of a negative nature on China is well known." and went on to further claim that "its policy of placing

its columns at the disposal of the Xinhua news agency of China" make it a mouthpiece of the Chinese

government.[27]

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The Hindu 6

The Hoot, an Indian media watchdog group claimed that "of late there had been too much editorialising in the news

columns of The Hindu".[28]

In his letter to his colleagues N Ravi, Editor says, "Ram seems bent on taking all the editorial directors into

retirement with him with a scorched earth policy to ensure that no one in the family succeeds him".

On July 21, 2011, Siddharth Varadarajan, the national bureau chief of The Hindu, was appointed editor of The Hindu

(made effective from July 30, 2011), a move that triggered the resignations of three members of the family from theirsenior editorial positions: N. Ravi resigned as editor, Malini Parthasarathy as executive editor and Nirmala

Lakshman as the joint editor. A fourth member of the family, N. Murali, announced his retirement on attaining the

age of 65 on Aug 11, 2011. They remain on the board of directors. Varadarajan was named by N. Ram, the

editor-in-chief to succeed him.[29]

Citations

[1] India - World Newspapers and Magazines - Worldpress.org (http://www. worldpress. org/newspapers/ASIA/India. cfm)

[2] The Hindu : About Us (http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=aboutus)

[3] http://www. worldcat. org/issn/0971-751X

[4] http://worldcat. 

org/oclc/13119119[5] http://www. thehindu. com

[6] "Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 — Quarter 1" (http://www.  newswatch. in/newsblog/7983). Newswatch.in. June 30, 2010. .

Retrieved 2007-10-16.

[7] N. Murali (13 September 2003). "Core values and high quality standards" (http://www.  hinduonnet.  com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091301020800.  htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). The Hindu. . Retrieved 2006-04-20.

[8] Dinamani editorial, 30 November 2010 (http://www.dinamani.com/edition/estory.

aspx?Title=யாà®� ாவாராயினà �̄ à®®à¯� +நா+à®� ாà®� à¯� à®� . .  .  &artid=339272&SectionID=133&

MainSectionID=133&SectionName=Editorial Articles&SEO=)

[9] Kuthoosi Gurusamy obituary (http://keetru.com/vizhippunarvu/oct08/kuthusigurusami. php)

[10] S. Muthiah (13 September 2003). "Willing to strike and not reluctant to wound" (http://www. hinduonnet.  com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300770200.  htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). . Retrieved 2006-04-25.

[11] Worldpress.org (http://www. worldpress.org/newspapers/ASIA/India. cfm), the directory of online Indian newspapers and magazines

lists The Hindu as "Left-leaning, independent", and its biweekly sister publication Frontline as "Independent biweekly".

[12] Venkatachari Jagannathan (1 June 2003). "Change of guard" (http://www.  domain-b. com/companies/companies_k/kasturi_sons/ 

20030701_change_of_guard. htm). . Retrieved 2006-04-20.

[13] "The job of a reporter is to write news, not to comment" (http://www.  prdomain. com/feature/feature_details. asp?id=119&area=J&

typ=A). 11 November 2005. . Retrieved 2006-04-20. An interview with N. Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu

[14] "Opinion - Letters to the Editor" (http://www. hinduonnet. com/2003/09/03/stories/2003090302701002. htm). 3 September 2003. .

Retrieved 2006-04-20.

[15] "Opinion - Letters to the Editor" (http://www. hinduonnet. com/2003/09/23/stories/2003092300861002. htm). 23 September 2003. .

Retrieved 2006-04-20.

[16] "The Hindu" (http://www. hinduonnet.  com/2003/08/27/stories/2003082700621000. htm). The Hindu. 27 August 2003. . Retrieved

2006-04-20.

[17] "Developing a paper for a new reader" (http://www. hinduonnet.com/th125/stories/2003091300830500. htm). The Hindu. 13 September

2003. . Retrieved 2006-04-20. See paragraph #30

[18] Onkar Singh (8 November 2003). "Journalists protest TN assembly's arrest of scribes" (http://inhome. rediff. com/news/2003/nov/ 

08hindu.  htm). . Retrieved 2006-04-20.

[19] N. Ram (14 April 2005). "Introducing our new look newspaper" (http://www.  hindu.  com/2005/04/14/stories/2005041406580100. htm).

The Hindu. . Retrieved 2008-08-20.

[20] Shukla, Archna (25 March 2010). "Battle for control breaks out in The Hindu very divided family" (http://www. indianexpress. com/news/ 

battleforcontrolbreaksoutinthehinduverydividedfamily/595373/0). Indian Express. . Retrieved 25 March 2010.

[21] "Guided by a vision of tomorrow" (http://www. hinduonnet.com/th125/stories/2003091300071000. htm). The Hindu. 13 September

2003. . Retrieved 2008-08-20.

[22] http://beta. thehindu. com/ 

[23] "Our new website goes fully live on June 29" (http://www. hindu.  com/2010/06/23/stories/2010062362190100. htm). The Hindu. June

23, 2010. . Retrieved June 26, 2010.

[24] Attack on media: freedom, arrogance and playing with the will of people (http://www. 

tamilnet. 

com/art. 

html?catid=79&artid=27213)TamilNet, October 16, 2008

[25] About (http://dbsjeyaraj.  com/dbsj/about) - David Jeyaraj

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The Hindu 7

[26] Tibet in the time of high economic growth (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/03/stories/2007070351331100. htm) The Hindu, July 3,

2007

[27] CHINA: As Seen & Interpreted by "The Hindu" (http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/\papers34\paper3360. html) South Asia Analysis

Group, August 17, 2009

[28] The Hindu sermonizes on Indian journalism (http://www.thehoot. org/web/home/searchdetail. php?sid=867&bg=1) The Hoot, August

29, 2009

[29] Letter from N. Ravi, Editor, on the recent happenings in The Hindu (http://www. thehoot. org/web/home/story. php?storyid=5248) The

Hoot, April 20, 2011

References

• 125 years of The Hindu (http://www. hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.  pl?file=20031010005512800.

htm&date=fl2020/&prd=fline&)

• N. Ram (13 September 2003). "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" (http://www.hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/ 

print. pl?file=2003091300500100.htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-04-20.

• Looking Back: The history of The Hindu as told by historian S. Muthiah.

• "Willing to strike and not reluctant to wound" (http://www.hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300770200. 

htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). 13 September 2003. Retrieved2006-04-28.

• "Making news the family business" (http://www.hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300800200. htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). 13 September 2003. Retrieved

2006-04-28.

• "A clarion call against the Raj" (http://www. hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300810200. htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). 13 September 2003. Retrieved

2006-04-28.

• "Treading softly - but modernizing apace" (http://www.hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300820400. htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). 13 September 2003. Retrieved

2006-04-28.• "Developing a paper for the new reader" (http://www. hinduonnet. com/thehindu/thscrip/print.

pl?file=2003091300830500. htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). 13 September 2003. Retrieved

2006-04-28.

• N. Murali (13 September 2003). "Core values and high quality standards" (http://www. hinduonnet. com/ 

thehindu/thscrip/print.  pl?file=2003091301020800. htm&date=2003/09/13/&prd=th125&). The Hindu.

Retrieved 2006-04-20.

External links

• Official website (http://beta.thehindu.com/) ( Mobile (http://m.  thehindu. com/))

• Online edition (ePaper) (http://www.hindu. com/)

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Article Sources and Contributors 8

Article Sources and ContributorsThe Hindu  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=452807172 Contributors: (jarbarf), Abecedare, Abhiag, Abhishekupadhya, Abtinb, Abusedspirit, Ageo020, Akshaykrishnan,

Anbumarine, Andonic, Andrewrp, Ankur, Anmol.2k4, Aparichit Hyd, Arvindn, Ashwin, AtticusX, Bakasuprman, Barticus88, Benjamin P. Holder, Bharatveer, Blacksun, Blanchardb, BlueTiger,

Bobo192, Bolasanibk, BorgQueen, BostonMA, Brianhe, Brigman, CALR, Chancemill, Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan, Cheese1125, ChiragPatnaik, Choster, Chris the speller, Ckatz, College

guy cool, CommonsDelinker, Cooleralways, Cpl Syx, Da5id403, Danny, Danski14, Deeptrivia, Delivi, Deville, Dinakaran, Discospinster, DocWatson42, Doctorbruno, Doorvery far, Drmies,

Efghij, Ekabhishek, Eleland, Elviajero, Everard Proudfoot, Faiqg, Falcon8765, For Loop, Frecklefoot, G27, Ganeshk, Georgearunn, Goodnightmush, Guevara, Gurch, Gurubrahma, Hadal, Hari

daffodil, HitroMilanese, Hkelkar, Hotsaucedude, Hussainhssn, I12bcomnintel, Iamg, Idleguy, Ikip, I ndianDemocrat, IndianGeneralist, Iridescent, JForget, JaGa, Jam2k, Jayakumar, Jedimindtrick,

John, JohnWittle, Jossi, Journman, Kaysov, Kirsten07734, Kkm010, Lalmohan Babu, LazyTiger, Lib Democrat, Liberal Democrat, Ligulem, Lihaas, LinguistAtLarge, Linh232, MER-C,Madhava 1947, Mailsesha, Malepheasant, Manishalokbhaibhai, Marcika, Meldok, Mghori, MikeDogma, Mkweise, Mpradeep, Mssnlayam, Mukeshdhariwal, Narasim 7, Natrajdr, Neilc,

Neutrality, Nishkid64, Nithya, Nobunaga24, Nohat, Nutmegger, Obnoxious, OceanMash, Orphic, Otolemur crassicaudatus, Pa ndyan, Paularblaster, Pearle, Pectore, Petitbourgeois, Piano non

troppo, Planemad, Polar, Pournami, Pradiptaray, Pratheepps, Pulamu, RaGnaRoK SepHír0tH, RafaAzevedo, RainbowOfLight, Rajamankkan, Rajasekhar1961, Ravichandar84, RedWolf,

Regstuff, Relata refero, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, Rpjharish, Rrjanbiah, Rumpelstiltskin223, Rwaterspfo, Rédacteur Tibet, Sahodaran, Sahyadhri, Salih, Sameertheterminator, Santhosh123,

Sarvagnya, Satyameva jayate, Sdsouza, Senthil London, Seqsea, Shipst tastte, Siruguri, Skapur, Skomorokh, Skumarla, Sluj, SpaceFlight89, SpacemanSpiff, Spongefrog, SteinbDJ, Streetwinner,

Sundar, Sverdrup, Svick, Tachyon01, Tesscass, Th859860, The Silent Contributor, Thryduulf, Tintin1107, Toccatagrrl, TreasuryTag, Truebrahmin, Tuffu55, Utcursch, Vas2009, Venkatrangan,

Veritas12345, Veritas9999, Voyagerfan5761, Vrsrini, Vt26, WhisperToMe, Wikiality123, Wikibarista, Wsiegmund, Yogesh Khandke, 629 anonymous edits

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