The SASC Lecture Series presents:
Samar Halarnkar, reporter and columnist: “The Crisis in Indian Journalism and How You Can Help.”
At a time when an increasingly secretive, authoritarian government requires increased scrutiny, and India more investigative and explanatory reporting than ever before, its media are under unprecedented economic and political pressure. More than 2,000 journalists have lost their jobs, the mainstream media have effectively abdicated their watchdog role and are, in general, unprepared to effectively serve the public interest. These failings now imperil the functioning of the world’s largest democracy. I will also discuss a new project that some academics, lawyers and journalists, including myself, are attempting to put together, focusing on the misapplication or misuse of Indian law in a variety of fields. We hope to build collaboration with researchers in India and the US.
Samar Halarnkar is a reporter, columnist and enthusiastic cook from Bangalore, India. A journalist for 30 years, he was until recently editor of IndiaSpend.org and Factchecker.in, award-winning nonprofits focused on data-driven, public-interest journalism. Previously, he was managing editor of Hindustan Times, a leading Indian daily newspaper, and he has held other managerial positions at the Indian Express and India Today. He has been a columnist for many years, writing for Scroll.in, Mint, Hindustan Times, The Globe and Mail (Canada), and the New York Times. Halarnkar has also been a visiting lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation, Harvard. He has won national awards on investigative and technology reporting and is the author of two books: “Nirvana Under The Rain Tree”, an early chronicle of India’s Internet Revolution; and “A Married Man’s Guide to Creative Cooking—And Other Dubious Adventures”.