Significant move by a major Indian newspaper

The readers' editor appointed :

One of India's leading daily newspapers, the Hindu, has appointed a readers' editor, taking the Guardian as its model and adopting with very little alteration the terms of reference which guarantee my independence in the role here.

It is the first such appointment on this English-language paper - which now has about 800 journalists - since it was founded in 1878, and the first in the history of journalism in India.

The paper, which has a circulation of over a million and a readership approaching 4 million, announced the decision to make such an appointment at a public meeting in New Delhi, at which both the editor of the Guardian and I spoke, and reported it on its front page the following day, January 11.

N Ram, the editor-in-chief of the Hindu, acknowledged that the Times of India had appointed a former chief justice of India as an external ombudsman, not a readers' editor or internal ombudsman, in 1988, but said the position had lasted only a couple of years.

Mr Ram added that the Hindu had been inspired to make its appointment by what he called the Guardian's "exemplary practice and experience in this crucial area of newspaper performance". He might equally have cited the conduct of the role at many of the other newspapers and broadcasters which belong to the Organisation of News Ombudsmen.

The Hindu is the second major newspaper outside the UK to adopt the specific Guardian model since the role was introduced here at the end of 1997.

The other was the Danish daily Politiken, which appointed the country's first readers' editor several years ago after one of its senior executives on a Reuter Foundation scholarship studied the working of the system at the Guardian over a period of several months.

Mr Ram announced the name of the Hindu's new ombudsman - K Narayanan - at a second public meeting, attended by about 600 people, this time in Chennai (Madras) where the paper has its headquarters.

Mr Narayanan, who is 73, joined the Hindu in 1955 and has held a variety of senior jobs. From 1984 to 1991 he oversaw the news operations of both the Hindu and its news magazine Frontline.

Since his retirement in 1996 he has been first an editorial consultant to Frontline and since 2003, senior editorial consultant to the Hindu and Frontline. Mr Ram described him as the "quintessential professional for more than half a century, showing great commitment and integrity".

Enthusiasm for the creation of the role at the Hindu was reflected on the letters page of the paper, many readers seeing it as a further indication of the paper's esteem for them.

One reader wrote: "The Hindu is perhaps the only newspaper to grant and maintain decent space to its readers. We, the readers, are extremely happy to accord the readers' editor a warm welcome."

Guardian