‘We pick up issues that require detailed investigations’

Interview of Sanjay Kapoor, Editor, Hardnews by Online Centre for Media Studies

Sanjay Kapoor gave up a great career in ONGC to carve a career in journalism, his first love.  His first serious stint in journalism was with Blitz, where he rose to become the Bureau Chief in Delhi. During his Blitz days, Sanjay broke several stories, and went t on to write a book on Hawala scandal, which was rated as one of the finest investigative pieces of writing. He then joined Mid-Day, Delhi as Editor, and made it a more people-friendly paper. Finally, Sanjay, disillusioned with the way Indian journalism was going decided to launch his own magazine, Hard News with a focus on serious, hard journalism.  Hard News, which is a monthly magazine, is now in its fifth year of publication, and during this period has done several path-breaking stories. The greatest challenge before Sanjay is to make sure that the stories run in Hard News are not overtaken by events. In this interview to OCMS.in, Sanjay explains how his team of editors selects stories to ensure that they will have a shelf-life irrespective of when they are read.  Excerpts from the interview:

Q. What is the focus of Hard News and how do you achieve it?

A. Hard News is a monthly magazine with a strong focus on politics, foreign affairs, public policy etc. This magazine is an outcome of the gradual process of dumbing down witnessed in the media for some time. General interest magazines were becoming effeminate and reluctant to go into depth on hard issues. We understand that much of the content has been driven by
the clamour for advertising, which is largely in the FMCG sectors. This means more space for beauty, glamour, lifestyle, music, films etc.

We believe that a plethora of serious problems stare our society and polity and as serious journal it is our responsibility not to resort to escapism by writing on soft subjects, but to focus hard on issues that impact a common man.

We maintain our focus by telling ourselves that we are a magazine with a difference and we need to stick to our core values even when there are many journals that are doing well by compromising the basic tenets of serious journalism. It is a big challenge for us most of the time as we always run short on advertising -- major revenue source for us. We also do not have enough money to market our magazine, which our readers think is far superior in content and language than most other magazines. Our team of editors is bound together by this vision and consciously selects stories and themes that would give meaning to what Hard News stands for.

Q. What are the points that must be kept in mind while selecting a story for
a monthly magazine?

A.  A month is a long time in the world of news. News is coming to its consumers/readers as it happens. Blogs and 24/7  TV channels have changed the rules of the game. We are also mindful of this paradigm shift in news gathering and go about in a manner which does not compromise our existence due to the presence of these new news outlets. We pick up issues that require detailed investigations and that would have shelf life irrespective of whenever they are read.

We look hard at many of the articles and stories that appear in the newspapers/magazines/channels and see whether there are any leads that could be pursued for a detailed enquiry. And we are surprised by the possibilities that many such articles present to us. We also look hard at the reports that the parliament churns out during every session. They , too, are an excellent source for further elaboration.