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My tired brain would like to associate & #39;8& #39; with infinity, since that& #39;s how long it will take to get any semblance of #diversity across #media.
Here& #39;s month eight of tracking the sorry #OpEds of @IndianExpress @htTweets and @the_hindu.
THREAD
Here& #39;s month eight of tracking the sorry #OpEds of @IndianExpress @htTweets and @the_hindu.
THREAD
As sad as it is to note the increase in the number of #COVIDー19 positive cases across #India, it& #39;s sadder to note the lack of increase in #female #OpEds.
@IndianExpress had 129 #OpEds, @htTweets 78 & @the_hindu 120.
@IndianExpress had 129 #OpEds, @htTweets 78 & @the_hindu 120.
Of the 129 in IE, #women got 37 bylines, including 10 #jointbylines.
@IndianExpress adopts a convenient trope of getting multiple joint bylines featuring women. At times, as many as 3 women for one small piece.
While this is just sad, it ups the numbers.
@IndianExpress adopts a convenient trope of getting multiple joint bylines featuring women. At times, as many as 3 women for one small piece.
While this is just sad, it ups the numbers.
Six #women including one joint byline opened @IndianExpress& #39; #TheEditorialPage.
Prachi Mishra, Vandita Mishra, Naina Lal Kidwai, Coomi Kapoor, Oshin Dharap & Pranjul Bhandari.
Like #July, this month too, women got the second lead 10 times.
Prachi Mishra, Vandita Mishra, Naina Lal Kidwai, Coomi Kapoor, Oshin Dharap & Pranjul Bhandari.
Like #July, this month too, women got the second lead 10 times.
Women opened the #IdeasPage in @IndianExpress SEVEN times.
Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Mrinal Pande, Hena Singh + Swati Parashar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nirupama Subramanian, Neeti Nair, Ritika Juneja (jt w/Ashok Gulati).
Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Mrinal Pande, Hena Singh + Swati Parashar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nirupama Subramanian, Neeti Nair, Ritika Juneja (jt w/Ashok Gulati).
NOT ONE WOMAN got more than one byline in @IndianExpress. Not even their in-house reporters/editors. This is just deplorable.
Of course, this is NEVER the case for IE& #39;s men though.
Never ever. Nope. Not even in the #OpEd editor& #39;s dreams.
Of course, this is NEVER the case for IE& #39;s men though.
Never ever. Nope. Not even in the #OpEd editor& #39;s dreams.
Six men got more than one #byline in #August in @IndianExpress. WHY aren& #39;t their #editors exhausted with these names yet? WHY?!
PB Mehta(4), C Raja Mohan(4), Khaled Ahmed(5), Ashok Gulati(3)
Christophe Jaffrelot + SY Quraishi = 2 each.
PB Mehta(4), C Raja Mohan(4), Khaled Ahmed(5), Ashok Gulati(3)
Christophe Jaffrelot + SY Quraishi = 2 each.
On Aug 3, Amitabh Kant got a byline in BOTH @IndianExpress & @htTweets; this was repeated by Ram Madhav on Aug 5, & Parameswaran Iyer on Aug 21.
Of course, this didn& #39;t happen for any #female. Why would it?
Of course, this didn& #39;t happen for any #female. Why would it?
In @IndianExpress& #39; #IdeasOnline section, out of 52 pieces, women got ONLY 17 bylines. What a joke.
Again, WHY am I doing this?!
These #OpEd numbers are utterly, bitterly disgusting.
Again, WHY am I doing this?!
These #OpEd numbers are utterly, bitterly disgusting.
Of the 78 in @htTweets, women got 17 bylines, incl two joint bylines.
Women opened the #OpEd 8 times. Usual suspects Barkha Dutt(2), Yamini Aiyar (2).
Others — Manjari C Miller, Ritu Kumar, Nimmi Kurian (jt w Gautam Mukhopadhaya) & Meeta Sengupta.
Women opened the #OpEd 8 times. Usual suspects Barkha Dutt(2), Yamini Aiyar (2).
Others — Manjari C Miller, Ritu Kumar, Nimmi Kurian (jt w Gautam Mukhopadhaya) & Meeta Sengupta.
Again on the Saturday (Aug 8) when Dutt & Namita Bhandare wrote their fortnightly columns, @htTweets gave the third spot to Rukmini Banerji--their ONLY #allfemale #OpEd this month.
Please. They don& #39;t deserve any congratulations.
Please. They don& #39;t deserve any congratulations.
Why does this paper and its editors find it impossible to find enough #female #OpEd writers?
What is the problem exactly? Please break it down for me. I& #39;d love to understand.
What is the problem exactly? Please break it down for me. I& #39;d love to understand.
Other than regulars Yashwant Raj, Shashi Shekhar & Rajdeep Sardesai;
Amitabh Kant and Kapil Sibal got two #bylines each this month in @htTweets.
Amitabh Kant and Kapil Sibal got two #bylines each this month in @htTweets.
This month& #39;s #EditorsPick had the following #book recommendations: DK Mishra, Vimala Ramachandran, S Gopal, Yogendra Yadav & Isabel Wilkerson .
Jayachandran& #39;s #FaultLine continued its weekly spot in @htTweets.
Jayachandran& #39;s #FaultLine continued its weekly spot in @htTweets.
. @htTweets has now changed its design, font, look, the works. Its tagline reads & #39;First Voice. Last Word.& #39;
How unfortunate then, to see that the #OpEd in this fancy new look gave no #woman neither the first voice, nor the last word.
Again. HOW? WHY?
How unfortunate then, to see that the #OpEd in this fancy new look gave no #woman neither the first voice, nor the last word.
Again. HOW? WHY?
#Editors across the room would do well to learn that looks won& #39;t change your core.
You& #39;re never going to even strive for #diversity. It& #39;s beyond your ken. Clearly.
You& #39;re never going to even strive for #diversity. It& #39;s beyond your ken. Clearly.
Of the 120 in @the_hindu, 28 featured women, with five joint bylines.
Meera Srinivasan, who works at Hindu, got three bylines this month--an incredible feat this paper has granted one of its own.
Meera Srinivasan, who works at Hindu, got three bylines this month--an incredible feat this paper has granted one of its own.
Apart from AS Panneerselvan, who works at @the_hindu, these men got multiple bylines:
Faizan Mustafa, Rajeev Bhargava, Justice Madan B Lokur, Pulapre Balakrishnan, T Jacob John + MS Seshadri, Krishna Kumar, Mohd Ayoob, Sajjan Kumar.
Faizan Mustafa, Rajeev Bhargava, Justice Madan B Lokur, Pulapre Balakrishnan, T Jacob John + MS Seshadri, Krishna Kumar, Mohd Ayoob, Sajjan Kumar.
Since AS Panneerselvan is the & #39;ombudsman& #39; of @the_hindu and is the & #39;Readers& #39; Editor& #39; I& #39;m disappointed that the abject #diversity and #representation in HIS paper doesn& #39;t seem to bother him.
Women opened the #OpEd in @the_hindu MERELY THRICE, and one was a joint byline.
These were Sonia Gandhi, Mary E John, and Ashwini Deshpande (jt w/ Rajesh Ramachandran).
Mazaak banaakar rakha hai sabko.
These were Sonia Gandhi, Mary E John, and Ashwini Deshpande (jt w/ Rajesh Ramachandran).
Mazaak banaakar rakha hai sabko.
At the risk of repeating myself like these papers repeat their men, WHY CAN& #39;T THEY GET MORE/ THE SAME WOMEN TO WRITE? WHAT IS THIS BIG MYSTERY THAT JUST CANNOT BE SOLVED?
One pattern that I& #39;ve noticed but forget to mention is that if the same men don& #39;t publish on the very same day in multiple papers, they achieve that on different days.
For instance, TM Krishna wrote in @IndianExpress on 13 Aug and in @the_hindu on 20 Aug.
Similarly, Harsh V Pant wrote in @the_hindu on 13 Aug and in @htTweets on 28 Aug.
Neither was a joint #byline.
Similarly, Harsh V Pant wrote in @the_hindu on 13 Aug and in @htTweets on 28 Aug.
Neither was a joint #byline.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi wrote in @htTweets on 11 August and a joint #byline (with Jaiveer Shergill) in @the_hindu on 15 Aug.
Mani Shankar Aiyar in @the_hindu on 6 Aug, @IndianExpress on 27 Aug.
Wow.
Mani Shankar Aiyar in @the_hindu on 6 Aug, @IndianExpress on 27 Aug.
Wow.
This was extended to one woman--Sonalde Desai--she got a joint byline (with Bornali Bhandari and Santanu Pramanik) in @IndianExpress on Aug 3; and a solo byline in @the_hindu on Aug 12.
LOTS of #propaganda columns keep appearing in these #newspapers, so if you come across any explosive exclusive or such, just know that all of their #OpEds have been complicit in all that& #39;s wrong with our country.
I spoke a lot about the song & #39;Virah& #39; from the recent web series Bandish Bandits.
While that was the separation of lovers, I& #39;d now like to think it& #39;s the glaring separation of & #39;sense& #39; from #OpEds in @IndianExpress @htTweets @the_hindu.
While that was the separation of lovers, I& #39;d now like to think it& #39;s the glaring separation of & #39;sense& #39; from #OpEds in @IndianExpress @htTweets @the_hindu.
Why would anyone want to be a #journalist today? Please spare me your collective nonsense.
You know you& #39;ve all done a pathetic job because the #OpEds will always remain sorry.
You know you& #39;ve all done a pathetic job because the #OpEds will always remain sorry.
