May the flame always burn bright. As a grateful and proud citizen of a thriving democracy, I feel ardently about the importance of a free, vibrant and unbiased fourth estate. News media, in essence, is the only non-political pillar of democracy, as it belongs to the public in a more meaningful way than the other three, the legislature, executive and judiciary. It is the only voice which can call to question the functioning of the other three without being labelled as motivated or slanted in its judgement.
The Indian Express was the second english daily I remeber reading. The first was The Free Press Journal, which we stopped getting sometime in the 80s, when I was still in school. The Express has played a huge role in instilling democratic values in me. It exposed me to the world of politics, administration, and business and also gave me a starkly realistic view of world affairs.
The editorial always carried a conviction that I failed to find elsewhere. It didn’t matter much to me whether the issue at stake was relevant to me or not. The courage and steadfast devotion to truth which the newspaper reflected back then and continues to uphold, is priceless in today’s world.
The IE’s USP to me is that it treats injustice, everywhere it occurs, with such brazen contempt and doesn’t shy away from making a political statement every now and then, both in favor of and against the government of the day. I would give an arm and a leg to sit in just one of the editorial meetings to view firsthand how this organization prioritizes its news and provides direction to issues-based journalism.
I feel it carries the voice of the common man into the parlors of power. It recognizes it has a lot of currency and spends it wisely. It attracts writers from both sides of the political stage. It panders to no one and treates all readers with a respect sorely lacking with other dailies.
The Indian Express fights the fight for the most underpriveleged in society without any false sense of accomplishment. The editorial staff and I must presume the management as well, must be commended in no unclear way for the remarkable work they put in, day after day.
I visit no other Indian news website as frequently. In fact, the IE homepage is set as my browser homepage as well. I rarely trust people or institutions to convey my individual interests to the rest of the world and to relay events and stories to me as they happen and almost never accept the perspective or judgement of others in determining a course of thinking for myself.
I’m glad to say the Indian Express has earned and retained my unreserved support in this matter. I take its word at and probaly even above par, in most matters it reports on. I can do that with implicit faith in its ability to put plainspeak and honesty above all other factors in news reportage. I hope their tradition would inspire other news organizations to become more serious about their work.