I am writing this mainly from a media student’s point of view. We’ve got to read a lot of publications every now & then, and compare them as well. And one of the English dailies that has always been in the lead in my opinion is the Indian Express. Journalism of courage it definitely is, most of the times, because it doesn’t shy away from exposing important ministers and issues for what they are. I have been reading the Express for many years now, and I will not deny that I may have a slight bias towards it, but it is definitely better than most other papers who all talk big but fail to deliver. Like after the HT campaign, I was expecting something really nice, but I was quite dissapointed with their so called ’’breaking - news’’ on their first day! Looked so planned and made up, so tabloidish!
I have observed a slight change in the Express as well. I feel that it has become kinda subtle over the years. But it still isn’t as fickle as some other papers, who have a lot of political and other obligations to think about before they publish a story! I especially like the new series they have started, about India Empowered. Please do yourself a favour and check that out, before it’s over. It has a well known person in some position of power talk about what India Empowered means to him/her and this is really enlightening and enriching.
I feel that the Indian Express truly lives upto it’s slogan - ’’jouranlism of courage’’. The main function of any newspaper is to give a true account of the news, be for the people, rather than bowing down to other influential people in power, build a constuctive public opinion and enrich them as people. I think it fulfills all of this.
Apart from this, the only place I feel where other popular dailies score over the Express is the number and variety of supplements. I especially like the Supplements the DNA has to offer. Even The Economic Times comes out with some amazing supplements too. This is one area where I think Indian Express can improve a lot, but apart from that, I’m loving it! (Forgive the ’’inspiration’’, m just hungry!)