VINOD MEHTA
Vinod Mehta is India’s Last Great Editor.As puppy publishers, egged on by tobacco peddlers, softdrinks salesmen, and milkpowder accountants with calculators, strip Indian journalism of its relevance and conscience with a vengeance, the editor-in-chief of Outlook holds a mirror to what could have been.
And as puppet editors sway with the wind and sidle up to the powers-that-be for Rajya Sabha seats, ambassadorships, advisory posts, and the other loaves of office that politicians dangle before salivating journalists, Mehta’s fierce independence is an object lesson of what should be.
Former editor of the men’s magazine Debonair; founder-editor of India’s original weekly newspaper, The Sunday Observer; and editor of The Independent and The Pioneer dailies, Mehta is a master brewer who, over 30 years, has perfected the art of making the important interesting, and shown that good journalism needn’t be bad business.
Alive and articulate, quirky and contrarian, and never boring, Mehta can also write. In this 12-minute churumuri video, the 63-year-old editor talks on the critical reading journalists and journalism students should do; and on how they should approach the craft of writing.
31 May 2007 at 4:32 pm
not at all audible
12 June 2007 at 3:05 pm
It sure is audible…
23 June 2007 at 2:49 pm
That’s a load of rubbish from a man who peddles Congress more subtly than Chandan Mitra peddles the BJP.
25 June 2007 at 4:16 am
He is one of the very best of journalists that one can get in India. Has done an yeoman service to both the journalists and the readers alike. He’s the super hero amongst the lot.
15 September 2007 at 12:15 am
I have followed Mr Mehta in the course of his journey from one magazine or newspaper to another because he has his own way of bringing interest and freshness to his magazine. Though he is a very good writer, he is much better editor, perhaps the best in the field. But for such an outstanding editor, his political perceptions surprisingly border on naivette and I have hardly ever found myself in agreement with him.
19 May 2008 at 12:26 pm
One of the greatest editors Indian has ever seen. A great quality I have seen in him is his receptive nature in accommodating criticisms of all hues including personal, which you can’t find in any other Indian publications.
4 June 2008 at 12:55 pm
It is astonishing when people say Vinod Mehta is one of India`s greatest journalist.Without doubt he is one of India`s most biased. I dont know if any of you here have read his article “EYES EARS AND MINDS CLOSED”. That was one of the most outrageous articles that could ever be written by a free thinking journalist.I dont understand how he got the guts to call the Indian
Middle class self centered.I think he has forgotten that in a few decades the Indian middle class will dominate Indian politics, will contribute to a majority of our Income tax revenue and will contribute to the whole country`s prosperity as a whole.
Please read that article first and then give your comments….
21 June 2009 at 1:14 am
For a magazine like “Outlook” and an editor like Mr Mehta, “balance” should surely be a crucial metric.On this metric, Mr Mehta has been doing rather badly – particularly post May 16. See my more pointed response:
http://eone.vox.com/library/post/june-14-mr-vinod-mehta-i-am-disappointed.html
The sudden fall in the Left’s tally seems to have caught him off guard. The fact that he cannot bring himself to objectively examine reasons for their fall – as he gleefully does for the BJP – is sad and unbecoming. In fact, h esomehow wants to credit them for “saving” India from the economic crisis!
27 June 2009 at 2:06 pm
This sorry piece of work has served the Gandhi family for more than a decade and has little to show for it; even lowly journalists have managed to get Padma awards. You should watch the way he squirms and fumbles when challenged on TV (most channels profess the views of his political party so that is a rare event). His claim to fame : on being pilloried by readers of his magazine through letters and comments for being a mouthpiece of Congress, he decided to give evidence of fair news reporting by citing an article that had a few negative comments about the Congress government in Tripura(yes)!
5 December 2009 at 11:36 pm
I do not understand how a biased journalist/editor can be a great one.Week after week Vinod Mehta proves his loyalty to Congress despite all its shortcomings and failures.
21 April 2010 at 7:48 pm
Outlook is a beacon for free, fair and unbiased reporting and laid the ground for bolder magazines like Tehelka. He single-handedly created a space across the aisle from India Today when the latter was the master of the newsmagazine game. Outlook is now a big beast by itself; just look it its impressive array of successful publications. This guy is a visionary- a Bhishma Pitamah of Indian journalism.
30 August 2010 at 6:28 pm
He was the editor of a seedy magazine like Debonair and whichever magazine he’s headed has gone into oblivion! In short he’s not just a biased guy but a failed editor too!
16 January 2011 at 5:50 pm
There’s a thin line between being talented and providing unbiased opinions. Vinod Mehta no doubt has been one of the most well read journalists in India, but every time I watch him, the feeling that he’s outrageously biased towards the UPA ( united pathetic alliance ) more so the congress, is reinforced. I have never seen him appreciate the good work being done by Narendra Modi. I can never get to appreciate him or his views. He’s just biased! Bleh
28 February 2011 at 12:53 am
Outlook mag generally follow anti Hindu path along with anti BJP path. Recently the mag printed a cover page showing Goddess Lakshmi holding electronic gadgets in hands. When a reader objected this, again the picture was shown along with the letter. Then in advertisements of magazine also this picture is repeated. But this sarcasm is never extended to Islam or Christian devine images. As expected from a pseudo.
11 June 2011 at 7:24 pm
An antiHindu evil wretch peddling for Congress.Typical Delhi wala with no ethics and no understanding of Hindu India
15 June 2011 at 2:16 pm
As Vinod Mehta is on ‘sans serif’ editorial board or whatever you call it, isn’t it self-trumpeting? Vinod Mehta is not a Congress puppet! Vinod Mehta is not a BJP detractor! Vinod Mehta is not a SoniaG chamcha! Vinod Mehta is a self-proclaimed ‘pseudo-secular’! Vinod Mehta’s heart beats for the underdog! Vinod Mehta is in heart a Maoist sympathizer! Vinod Mehta is against big business! Vinod Mehta is for the tribals and socially under-privileged! Vinod Mehta is for preserving the verdant forests! Vinod Mehta is a twin-soul of the empress of the one woman republic! Vinod Mehta is not angling for a Rajya Sabha seat! Vinod Mehta is Mahatma Gandhi who loves his scotch! Vinod Mehta is Mahatama Gandhi who loves his caviar! Vinod Mehta is Mahatama Gandhi who loves the good things in life! Vinod Mehta is this! Vinod Mehta is that! What else?
5 October 2011 at 7:20 am
Vinod Mehta Please don’t miss lead India by your miss information about electoral politics. There is in the constitution no such a word as electoral politics. What the constitution has established is election based on adult suffrage denoting citizens right to elect and be elected which is statutorily defined as electoral right excluding all associations or body of persons etc. Please read electoral right in RP Act 1951 and then talk.
25 December 2011 at 2:35 pm
It seems it is peculiar to India that those who are ignorant behave irresponsibly as they are bound to; and the ones so called Erudite & Educated [Learned should be proper?] do the same thing, but do it more intelligently. I think that sums up about someone as well read and experienced as Vinod Mehta and many others like him. What surprises me no end is: these same opinion makers come daily on News Channels [especially English], openly play plugs; add to confusions; come out with an I-know-all smirk on their faces and life goes on. One look at our 63 years of Freedom is good enough to substantiate what I said. Like it or leave it, Today’s India is the sum total of Fancies & Follies of Great Gandhi to Minor namesake Gandhi. And in spite of it all…India shines, India excels. Sadly, as a die-hard optimist, I can only wish against all hopes that – this too will pass and times shall change for the better when Crass shall be recognized for what it is that being glorified as Class. And there I rest my case. KRV
2 January 2012 at 11:04 am
Thank you for this.
1 January 2013 at 10:35 pm
He is an irritating and boring journalist. He behaves more like a congress spokesman that a journalist. The moment I see him on a debate, I quickly change the channel.