‘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.

We are lucky to have a tie-up with an international monthly  journal, Le Monde Diplomatique, that helps us in benchmarking our content. Some of the finest writing from Europe show up in Diplo, which we also carry in Hard News.

Besides investigations, we do authoritative analysis on Hard issues. To reiterate, we select stories or analysis that have longer shelf life. We try hard to ensure that most of the articles that we carry are exclusive.

Q. How is a news report run in a monthly magazine different from a news report run in a weekly magazine or a newspaper? Is there any difference in its treatment too?

A. I think a monthly news report is more detailed, with more background and greater analysis. It is serious journalism displaying some kind of academic rigor. The treatment, therefore, has to be different to separate it from a newspaper and magazine. We look at writers who are able to bring in the rigor that we find in serious journals like Diplomatique or Atlantic monthly. We are still way off from our standards, but we are trying to get there.

Q. How do you ensure that a story run in Hard News is not overtaken by events?

A. This is a problem in the news business. Invariably, you could be overtaken if you write on a developing story like the elections. In a monthly what you write stays with you for the entire period of 30 days unlike in a newspaper where you can change your stance on an issue with every passing day. One day you could say Modi is losing and the next day you could do a volte face and say that he is winning. In a monthly when you say he is losing then you are stuck for good. To tide over this problem a monthly magazine has to write on politics differently. One has to watch the trends and understand the dynamics that would determine voting pattern. A writer would have to weave in understanding of politics with history, sociology and what have you.

Also, we do stories that are not very fashionable and are not currently the focus of newspapers and magazines. Say for instance we have done a large package on the dacoits of the Chambal ravines. Such stories do not get overtaken by events.

Q.  How do you synergise your print product with your online presence?

A.  We have a very basic kind of web presence. We want to do a lot of things with the web, but still trying to tweak our strategy. I think in the next couple of weeks we will be able to synergize the print with the web. We want to have blogs, discussion forum, bring in multi-media etc.

Q.  What are the benefits of having an offline-online presence?

A.  Online presence is critical for any print magazine. It may not get any one the funds, but it helps in building a community of readers. It keeps the readers connected and it also helps in ensuring that you are never really overtaken by events.

Q.  How do you build loyal readership for Hard News in today's crowded news and information market?

A.  I firmly believe that Hardnews can only grow if there are readers who share our vision and values. If there are people who want to read non-partisan, in your face people driven journalism then they should come to us. We are not owned by any business house or support any political party. We support the Indian constitution and the humaneness that is intrinsic in it. That is the touchstone for us.

Q.   What are the qualities that you look for when hiring a person to work for Hard News?

A.  Most of the people who work for us are seasoned professionals. It is an editor driven magazine. We have four Editors who look at different issues and then decide the content. We have reporters too. Ideally we would like to have reporters with solid academic background to maintain its serious content. We source most of our reporters and researchers from Jawahar Lal Nehru University.