Pragyan’s tryst with Dhanya Rajendran
Dhanya Rajendran, the Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, on what makes her tick
Journalism is borne out of a keen desire to act upon the evils of the society that one comes across everyday. It is very easy to turn away and not face the unpalatable truth. It is not very easy, though, to feel strongly for those who have been disadvantaged by the society. From this sense of justice arises the desire to the voice of people. And this is how the seeds of journalism are sown.
Moderator of Pragyan ’17 Crossfire panel, Dhanya Rajendran’s journey began in a similar way, as a student politician at her college in Kerala. The journey took her to serve as the South Indian Bureau Chief of Times Now for an eventful eight and a half years (during which she famously interviewed Ms. Jayalalithaa), before she decided to set up her own digital news platform ‘The News Minute’. The calm poise with which she directed the panelists’ opinions during the Crossfire, bespoke of long experience in asking the right questions.
We were charmed by the spunk and wit with which she answered our questions during the interview. When asked whether she looked forward to being the moderator of the Crossfire at Pragyan, she gushed:
“Well I got to hear about Pragyan very recently and I was awestruck by the fact that you brought down the guy who wrote so many languages for Game of Thrones! I see a healthy mix of speakers here and for a student community that is great. They are exposed to different opinions and viewpoints. I’m excited to hear about equality, inequality, politics, gender and what each one of them wants to share with us.”
She recounted the moment she decided journalism was her true calling with us.
“I used to watch news with a lot of interest and was very excited by politics unlike many of my classmates. I remember there was this one night when many governments in India had fallen in quick succession and the anchors on the news channels were very charged. They were debating on the topic of why India should be spending crores of money for one more election. The way they connected to my emotions was, I think, what made me feel that I have to be a journalist.”
Mainstream media has been often accused of ignoring stories from the southern part of India- a dereliction of duty we are all too aware of. “I’ve seen how Delhi and Bombay news papers don’t react to news from Chennai or Bangalore. Trichy and Madurai are so far off that they can’t even think of a new story here that would be of value to them,” said Mrs. Rajendran. And out of this desire to bridge the information gap, was born the idea of starting The News Minute.
“When I quit television after 8.5 years I had enough opportunities to back me, but I thought why not do something different? I will not say that I had any particular vision when I started. I thought that the World Wide Web is a free platform where I can express myself.”
The initial years, she admitted, lacked direction.
“The first one year, we were totally clueless. I feel embarrassed when I look back at some of the headlines we wrote back then. Then in the last 2 years we focused on bridging the gap in South India. We forced the mainstream media to follow a lot of South Indian stories. We’ve had genuine organic growth in publicity on Facebook as well.”
We can never succeed without mentors in the journey of life; and Mrs. Rajendran is no different. She spoke to us about her association with Chitra Subramaniam, co-founder of The News Minute, widely known for her investigation of the ‘Bofors Scam’ that brought the Rajiv Gandhi Government to its knees.
“When I was the South Indian Bureau Chief of Times Now, I used to meet her for news breaks on the Bofors scandal. She had been out of journalism for a long time and asked me why I hadn’t considered starting something on my own. She was definitely someone who gave me the idea or courage to start something on my own.”
College is an experience that shapes and leaves an indelible mark on the greater part of our character. Mrs. Rajendran credited a lot of her outspokenness to her college experience. “As I mentioned earlier, I was a student politician. We had an almost violent daily routine. So growing in that kind of an environment shaped my opinion. Now when I see all these private colleges, I find them to be very strict and well governed, and students have no voice.”
“What my college life taught me was that if you do not agree with authority then it is important that you state your opinion openly.”
With social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp pushing forward the idea of an all in one stop for people, news and entertainment; and with the vision of a fully digital India getting closer by the minute, did she think the era of printed newspapers was coming to end?
“Well, I think the doomsday of Indian newsprint has been predicted for 3–4 decades now. While some newspapers have gone out of circulation, others have started new editions. There is a great concentration on online media as well but I don’t think Indian newspapers are going to die out anytime soon. Let’s not just think of English newspapers, let’s think about the strength of vernacular like ‘Malayala Manorama’ or ‘Punjab Kesari’. They are large and prevalent all over. I think there’s enough space in our country for print, TV and digital to coexist.”
“If there’s one form of media that needs to rethink itself in India, it is Television. They have been stuck in the past for the last 20 years.”
Lastly, we asked her whether she had any message for the young people out there who wished to leave a mark on the world.
“First you need to work within an organisation and learn the tricks to find your way around. I wouldn’t suggest someone to just start off something on their own because it’s hard. So work with an organisation and understand how things work. Find your strength and play on it. You will have to take a risk. Don’t get too attached to organisations; whether it’s yours or someone else’s. After all it’s just your job. Just do your best and that’s the end of the story.”
We had a wonderful time interviewing this tough as nails lady with her mission to address the inequalities in mainstream media. She left us inspired to follow our dreams no matter what the opposition is, and to never stop probing and questioning the world around us.
