OPEN (magazine)

OPEN
Editor S Prasannarajan
Categories Current affairs and features magazine
Frequency Weekly
Publisher Mohit Hira
First issue April, 2009
Company Open Media Network Pvt Ltd
Country India
Based in New Delhi
Language English
Website www.openthemagazine.com

OPEN is an Indian English-language weekly magazine. Founded by Sandipan Deb, former executive editor of Outlook and editor of Financial Express,[1][2] it was launched on 2 April 2009 in 12 Indian cities.[3] The magazine is the flagship brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RPG Group.[3]

Staff changes

A report in The Indian Express in April 2012 concerning government apprehension about army movements[4] was criticised in OPEN by the then Editorial Chairman of Outlook, Vinod Mehta, in an interview with Hartosh Singh Bal. Mehta called the story a mistake and a "plant". In May 2010, the Express sent a legal notice to Open asking for an apology, for the contentious story to be removed from the online edition, and for OPEN to pay 500 crores to the Express, and for the journalists who wrote the contentious Express story.[5][6]

In November 2013, Hartosh Singh Bal, who was political editor of OPEN, was sacked.[7] The then editor, Manu Joseph, said that the magazine's proprietor, Sanjiv Goenka, thought that Bal's writings and appearances on television were resulting in him "making a lot of ... political enemies."[8] Joseph himself resigned when P. R. Ramesh, a journalist considered close to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley, became managing editor.[8][9][10]

In 2014, after Bal, Joseph and also Rahul Pandit had left, the magazine issued a clarification and expressed regret for the Mehta column. Mehta, Bal and Joseph then complained that the new editorial team of OPEN had violated journalistic norms because they had not been contacted prior to the issue of the clarification and that there was no way for OPEN to make the claims it was making in its clarification.[10][11][12]

As of 2015, the editor is S. Prasannarajan[13] and Mohit Hira is the publisher.[14]

Controversy

Citing several instances of "press censorship", including the controversial firing of Hartosh Singh Bal, a July 2014 editorial in the New York Times commented that:

Press censorship seems to be back with a vengeance in India, this time imposed not by direct government fiat but by powerful private owners and politicians.[15]

References

  1. Sandipan Deb-PanIIT 2012 paniit2012.org. Retrieved 14 March 2013
  2. Sandipan Deb : From Management to Journalism iitstories.com.Retrieved 14 March 2013
  3. 1 2 Open- About usopenthemagazine.com. Retrieved 14 March 2013
  4. "the night raisina hill was spooked". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  5. "Mother of all embarrassments". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. "What they are saying about Express sue report". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. "New York Times conversation with Bal". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Bal fired from Open magazine". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. "Perils of Editorial Freedom". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Bal, Open, and the perils of political journalism". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. "Vindication?". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  12. "OPEN and Shut Up Case". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  13. S Prasannarajan appointed Open magazine's editor. Retrieved 14 March 2013
  14. afaqs.com. Retrieved 13 October 2014
  15. "India's Press Under Siege". Retrieved 15 June 2015.

External links

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