There has been a gross simplification of the issues involved in the exposures in the Radia tapes on the lack of integrity among mediapersons. In order to understand how exactly journalists really function it is necessary to understand the overall context in which they operate and clarify some of the persistent myths about what the profession is all about. Four myths in particular need to be dissected: That it enjoins...

If you thought the recent spate of violent crimes against women in the national capital was an aberration, take a look at this. A poll of women in Delhi and Gurgaon has revealed that almost two-thirds feel unsafe in these cities aspiring to be considered world cities. Incidentally, it is in Delhi that a larger proportion of women feel unsafe (70%) compared to Gurgaon's 65%. This feeling of being unsafe is...

Twenty five years after the beginning of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the movement buzzes with inputs from activists and students. But, dogged by many limitations, is there a positive end in sight?An increased and meaningful interface between tribals and non-tribals came about...The air enveloping the ghats at Koteshwar is heavy with spirituality. Devotees, tourists and other visitors throng the place every day to pray at the several temples around the...

Media-corporate links are structural. But journalists, certainly entrenched ones, can choose whether they wish to be stenographers or not. It was gratifying to have the head of India's most reputed business house confirm the existence of crony capitalism in the country. True, others have believed this for 20 years but it carries more weight when Ratan Tata says so. As he put it in a television interview with admirable candour: “Yes,...

NIIRA RADIA — owner of PR company Vaishnavi Communications, among others — is not merely a fixer in the old sense of the word. She is a thermometer reading for a very ill society. In April this year, a clutch of mysterious documents had made their way to several media houses. At face value the documents seemed a synopsis of phone conversations between Niira — a powerful lobbyist for Mukesh...