NK'S POST

Author at a function to release Prabhash Joshi's books on 30 July 2008 in Delhi. Left to right: Namvar Singh, Prabhash Joshi, NK Singh Prabhash Joshi  15 July 1937 - 5 November 2009 NK SINGH नामवर सिंह अचम्भे में थे. और दिल्ली के उस खचाखच भरे सभागार में बैठे कई दूसरे लोग भी. अवसर था हिंदी के शीर्ष संपादक प्रभाष जोशी के पांच खण्डों में छपे लेखों के संकलन के विमोचन का. राजकमल प्रकाशन ने लगभग २१०० पेजों में फैले इस संकलन को 2008 में एक साथ रिलीज़ करने की योजना बनाई थी. हिंदुस्तान के कई बड़े राजनेताओं से और मूर्धन्य पत्रकारों तथा लेखकों से प्रभाषजी की नजदीकी किसी से छिपी नहीं थी. मौजूदा चलन के हिसाब से ---- और पब्लिसिटी के भी हिसाब से ---- वे चाहते तो प्राइम मिनिस्टर या प्रेसिडेंट उनकी किताबों का विमोचन कर सकते थे. पर हमेशा की तरह प्रभाषजी ने इससे हट कर काम किया. उन्होंने प्रकाशक से कहा कि उनकी किताब पांच पत्रकार रिलीज़ करेंगे. वे प्रचलित अर्थो में नामी पत्रकार नहीं थे. इन पत्रकारों में एक भी ऐसा नहीं था जो जिसकी उपस्थिति दूसरे दिन अख़बार की सुर्खियाँ बनती या...

NK SINGH Madhavrao Scindia was one of the most charming political personalities of Madhya Pradesh. The scion of Gwalior’s former royal family was suave and cultured, with a twinkle in his eyes and an easy smile. Once you knew him, it was impossible to dislike him. He was also one of the wealthiest politicians of his times. The Scindia Empire was the biggest and the richest princely state in MP. They enjoyed the highest 21-gun salute under the British, a privilege they shared with only four other princes in the country. The Member of Parliament from Gwalior lived in an imposing palace and flew a chopper, making his election campaigns irresistible to journalists looking for colourful copy and glamour quotient in an otherwise drab landscape. That is how I landed in the one-horse town of Dabra, near Gwalior, early that winter morning in 1998. I was working for India Today then. My photo journalist colleague Sharad Saxena accompanied me on that trip. We had left our...

PHQ Needs Less Officers NK SINGH The year was 1985. Great Britain was reeling under general strikes, mammoth rallies and street protests. United Kingdom seemed to be tottering towards its end. London seemed to be definitely one of the most chaotic places on the earth. I happened to land there during that turbulent period at the invitation of  BBC Television  to write the commentary of a documentary on Bhopal gas disaster that they were producing. It was my first ever trip abroad and within a week I had the misfortune of getting robbed in the Shepherd’s Bush area that also housed the studio where I was working. I lost practically everything. Gone was all the money advanced to me by the  BBC , my travel documents, including my passport. I was in total despair and almost in tears. Where was the nearest police station? I did not know. The Argos store where I was robbed did little to help. Given my experience in India, approaching the police and making roun...

WHY POOR ARE TREATED AS PARIAHS IN INDIAN MEDIA NK SINGH   With the growth in population, literacy rate and disposable income, t he circulation of newspapers has zoomed in the last two decades, especially those published in the Indian languages. It is not rare for chain newspapers to claim a daily circulation is excess of a million copies. A newspaper selling less than a hundred thousand copies is considered a small daily now-a-days. The paradox is that even as the newspapers’ circulation is increasing, their influence is decreasing. Journalists realise that their writings or broadcast does not command the same impact that they would, say, two decades ago. Why? The resp ect for the printed words has gone down over the years. Certain developments have changed the public perception about the Fourth Estate. Journalists were caught with their pants down, first, during the Emergency. 24/7 news channels too the dumbing down to a new low, wiping off all pretentions of intellectual pursuit...