This is a significant moment in the history of Indian media. Never before has a publication, be it in the print or online media, devoted itself exclusively to covering positive news and features. Like a streak of sunlight entering a dark room, The Weekend Leader.com (TWL) takes its first step into the media world with a self-imposed mandate to do Positive Journalism.
For us in TWL, it is a momentous occasion, since this day, on the 3rd of September 2010, we have acquired a new address and a new home in the cyber world – a sprawling place which astonishingly sits comfortably even inside such a tiny device as a palm top. We all love to spend time here, exploring the cyber space, meeting friends on Facebook and Orkut, networking, dating, exchanging ideas, and simply gobbling information.
TWL is an unfolding dream. Sure, it took some time for this dream to unravel itself. From the realm of imagination to the world of reality –via cyber space, of course – it was a cumbersome journey indeed. If one were to describe the path figuratively, it was a hard, steep climb. The journey was a reflection of life as we encountered people of different shades; of ones who reached out and gave a helping hand and others who were mere onlookers to our struggle.
The Weekend Leader.com - the Dawn of an era
Photo by Senthil Kumaran
In January 2010 when I put down my papers at Tehelka – a popular weekly and a respected name in Indian media - after an eventful five years, informing my Editor Tarun Tejpal that I intended to chase my dream, he let me go with some reluctance. He wrote a sweet letter wishing me well. On January 30th, as I was taking my evening walk on the beach, I tweeted, “A long walk towards a beautiful destination. The countdown begins - now.” Of course, I had TWL in mind when I tweeted this message. With TWL’s launch, we are off the block. The real challenge is in the running - living up to the mandate we have set for ourselves.
Take a look at the ten categories we have in the magazine and it would give you an idea of the range of topics we propose to cover. Stories will be run under ten sections - Causes, Crusade, Culture, Dreams, Heroism, Innovation, Nature, Relationship, Resilience, and Success.
We will feature people who are working for a change in this country; stories of courage, character, and resilience, will get of pride of place here. You will meet people like 22-year-old Tanishk Shyamya, an IIM graduate, who is working with street food vendors in Ranchi and transforming their lives like nobody’s business. Stories will be updated every Friday. We will soon be introducing a daily column on positivity which will be updated Monday to Thursday. The section on Citizen Reporters is to encourage budding reporters and socially conscious citizens with some writing skills to report positive news from their region.
TWL welcomes voluntary support from readers. In recent years, few media houses in other countries have opted for this model to generate revenue. There are Support Positive Journalism ads in the site, where you could make online payments in our favour. We do not want to make this a paid site, since it would defeat one of our major goals, which is to spread positive news to as many people as possible. The idea is to encourage more people to join the bandwagon of social crusaders, change agents, environmental protectors, and social entrepreneurs in this country.
Let me add in conclusion; TWL does not aspire to redefine news. We are aware that each media house has a way of looking at news and segmenting it. TWL will look at positive news. We hope to develop a new genre of journalism that would cover only positive news, as business media looks at business news or sports media looks at sports news. Wish you happy reading and see you soon.
Does the word nanotechnology flummox you? Kavita Kanan Chandra discovers that the branch of science can help a traditional idea bloom into a fantastic home appliance to solve your water woes.
Kind hearted people are donating blood at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where victims of the Delhi High Court blast are being treated. Others are offering help on Twitter and Facebook
The media does not follow the rules in certain matters, while the judiciary could be vindictive also, said Justice K Chandru, speaking at the Friends of Positive Journalism Conclave in Chennai
Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane with the weight of a small car, developed by Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, is attempting a world record in solar aviation
The wife of a porter, 38-year-old Sanuja Rajan, has won Rs. 1 crore in a TV reality show in Kerala. Life has come full circle for the woman, who has endured many hardships, says Sanu George
The scenic East Coast Road that connects Chennai with several tourist destinations has turned into a death trap due to increase in number of accidents. KP Subramanian analyses the problem
A small army of friends have joined hands to strengthen TWL under the banner of the Friends of Positive Journalism, a forum that was launched two years ago. P C Vinoj Kumar has the details
Ravi Kalra is a former taekwondo instructor whose NGO cares for senior citizens, and mentally challenged people. He carries on with his work though his family deserted him, says Rahul Vaishnavi
Is Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam playing a dangerous game of dividing Indians? He has been accused of instigating the North Indians against the people of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu
Indian cricketers, including Dhoni and Sachin, let their hair down after their historic whitewash of Australia by zooming and careening around the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida
Student outfit warns IPL against fielding Sri Lankan players in Chennai. Political parties echo the demand as the ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ campaign gains momentum and casts its shadow on cricket
Kultikiri village in West Bengal has been electing only women to its panchayat for the past 20 years though the seats are not reserved. Saadia Azim finds out why women rule the roost here
Though she eked out a living doing menial jobs, Subhasini Mistry built a hospital. She did not want others to suffer as she did after her husband died when she was just 23, says Sahana Ghosh
A Arun Thamburaj, a medico who stood sixth in the civil service ranking, and was selected for IPS last year, had turned down lucrative opportunities from abroad, all for serving the country
When disposal of PET bottles is a challenge, a couple from Hyderabad has found a good use of the junked containers: Building walls. P C Vinoj Kumar tells us how they build houses with bottles
A believer in democratisation of power, Anupam Jalote, who gave up an MNC job in 2008, is now set to launch his plant that will generate electricity with locally available biomass and organic waste. Akash Bisht meets the man with a mission
Rajasthan’s 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies has done wonders at the grassroots level, enabling many a women to discard the veil in the feudal rural society, says Abha Sharma
An Auroville resident, Kathy Walkling, feels that women should switch over to washable sanitary napkins. She tells P C Vinoj Kumar about the cloth pads that she makes and their overall benefit for the user, the environment and the economy
Mehvish Mushtaq from Srinagar has developed an android application called ‘Dial Kashmir,’ a one-stop source for information on healthcare, education and other essential services, says Sana Altaf, who met the enterprising girl with a big dream
A set of young girls in a sleepy hamlet in Assam stuck to their passion, playing soccer, despite societal disapproval. Today, many of them have brought fame to their village, says Abdul Gani
Sanitation is the last thing crisis managers provide to people displaced from homes by disasters. Now a former banker, Promita Sengupta , has come up with a quickly deployable toilet that has come handy for NGOs, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
