Ramnath Goenka is remembered for his journalistic professionalism and promoting freedom of the media, even during the difficult days of press censorship. He was a multi-faceted personality — a freedom fighter, a doyen of Indian journalism and a relentless crusader for democratic values. He launched The Indian Express in 1932, which soon became a multi-lingual newspaper under his able guidance.

News that inspires

During World War II, I was 13, and my eldest brother worked as a sub-agent for some newspapers, including Swadesha Mitran and Dinamani. I would be very excited to open the first copy of Dinamani to see how the Spitfire aircraft was performing against the German fighters from Luffwaffe. In fact, my interest in aeronautics became deep-rooted through the news in Dinamani. There may be many inspiring events taking place every day throughout the world. Journalists can lock on and present such events as important news.

Framing excellence

In 1999, I was in Tel-Aviv. Hamas had inflicted heavy damage on the Lebanese border. The next day, when I opened the newspaper, this was not front page news. Instead, there was an item about a farmer from Russia who had settled in a desert zone in Israel. He had managed to cultivate vegetables and fruits in the area with very high yield. The newspaper was celebrating his success, probably because people look for such news. I consider this excellence in journalism.

Power of research

I have a suggestion for the media. It is essential for every newspaper to have research wings for developing media personnel in reporting and event analysis. The research wing has to be linked to academic institutions. This will enable our journalists to carry out original research on topics of national interest and provide solutions to medium and long term problems.

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