Can MJ Akbar revive India Today magazine?

Seasoned journalist MJ Akbar was recently made the Editorial Director of the India Today group with former head Prabhu Chawla shifted to the position of Editor (Language editions).

Chawla, who is considered close to BJP and the Sangh Parivar, had a long innings with India Today. In this period the taste of Indian reader also changed. While circulation of newspapers grew despite the channel boom, the magazines failed to retain their readership.

India Today's circulation has also gone down significantly. Under Chawla, India Today somehow acquired reputation of a pro-RSS magazine unlike the pro-Congress or secularist Outlook edited by the veteran Vinod Mehta.

With The Week going up in popularity in recent times and Tehelka also furthering its base, competition was hotting up. The arrival of Open, which is priced higher, put further pressure. The quality of content wasn't improving and there was no innovation.

It was in this backdrop that Akbar was chosen by Aroon Purie to head the prestigious magazine. Akbar, who has successfully established institutions and launched publications like The Telegraph (newspaper), Covert (magazine) and The Sunday Guardian (weekly newspaper).

Though Akbar is more harsh on Congress for the last few years, his aggression is not considered ideological because of the quality of his writings. He has contested election on Congress ticket in the past but doesn't seem to have a good rapport with the current regime.

However, journalists like Akbar are needed as they take on establishment and write critical pieces on the ruling party and government. Now a days few editors write aggressively and even fewer are critical of the establishment.

One hopes that Akbar would be able to give a new direction to India Today. The management also appears keen on shedding the pro-RSS or BJP-friendly tag on the magazine. Akbar will also head the Headlines Today channel.

It was a known thing among journalistic circles that till now state bureaus and reporters of India Today gave a subtle pro-BJP line to their reports to pitch them, as they felt this brightened the chances of their stories for proper space in the magazine's issues.

Whether it goes from Right-wing to Centrist-Leftist-Antiestablishment mode is yet to be seen. But Akbar is certainly expected to revamp the magazine, which needs a change to survive and maintain its identity as the prime news weekly of the country.

Frontline magazine completes 25 years

Frontline has just turned 25. The magazine published by The Hindu group, is the premier news and current affairs magazine which has the trust of readers.

It's not an easy job to survive in the ever-shrinking print business where the readership is drying for magazines. But Frontline has held its ground and maintained the standards.

While India Today has lost its credibility and is more talked for its listings an sex surveys, N Ram's magazine is taken seriously for its reports and well-researched articles. Indian journalism needs this magazine and the group deserves fulsome praise for the success of this magazine. The special issue has glimpses of the last 25 years.

Now it's Covert: MJ Akbar's latest launch

Covert promised to be different from the existing news magazines and it is rather too early to comment on it, as just a couple of issues are out.

It may not have revealed dark truths about Indian politics and the dirty deals as yet, still Covert can be counted upon. Surely it will give a good competition to the other magazines in the market.

With five weekly magazines already established in the market: India Today, Outlook, The Week, Tehelka and The Sunday Indian, it may not be too easy for Covert to make its presence felt, though it is a fortnightly, just like Frontline, but with a different flavour.

Priced at Rs 20, Covert has MJ's old hand Seema Mustafa and Joyeeta Basu as Deputy Editor. Akbar has successfully launched and run several journals inluding Asian Age, Telegraph and Sunday.

Frankly, it's not too impressive but its harsh to judge the magazine so early and write it off. Let's see what impact does Covert make in the days to come, especially with the elections drawing nearer.

The website of Covert: http://www.covert.co.in/

Fate of the latest news weekly 'The Sunday Indian'

The latest weekly to have hit the stands in the country, 'The Sunday Indian' is now a couple of months old and it's time for a look at the magazine.

Has it made any impression ? Or got some readers! Or should we give some more grace period. Honestly I feel it has been a disaster. The magazine has failed to pick up. Not a single story that could make us sit up and take notice. And when they tried to go for sensational stories, they were even more miserable.

India Today, Outlook, Week, Tehelka and a few minor players (do we have the Sahara Time still or it has ceased publication, sorry I didn't keep track of it lately!) make it barely half-a-dozen competitors but it seems weekly market in India doesn't have enough space for a fresh publication. You can read the magazine's latest issue at http://www.thesundayindian.com/