By Kulbhushan Kain
Arthur Miller once wrote and I quote, “A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself.”
The key to what he wrote is the word “good”. In an age where there are hundreds of newspapers trying to outsell each other by printing sensational and, at most times, news that does not matter – Garhwal Post stands out in a different league. It’s a paper that thrives on credibility, is led by someone who is passionate about the truth and has a band of dedicated reporters working for it.
There are hundreds of facts. There are hundreds of truths. “Mr Jones died yesterday in his sleep. He was 84”could be a fact and true. However it is not news because no one knows Mr Jones! That is the problem with many newspapers these days – they print things that are at most times inconsequential. Not so with Garhwal Post. I have been reading it for years – and there is nothing that it prints that does not matter. They are not in the business of filling up pages. They do the hard work to find the real news, research it, edit if necessary and then print it. It is deeply aware that a free and fair press, reporting to a free and educated people is raw material of history – it is a story of our times.
I must point out here that I find Garhwal Post using English which is grammatically correct.
The paper has grown from strength to strength – from a weekly in its debut year in 1996, to a daily in 2006 and now on the verge of bringing out its first edition of an epaper. This could not have been possible without the passion, energy, ambition and intelligence of its Founder- Editor and Publisher Satish Sharma. He has worked his way up from ground zero. His vision got translated into reality by a band of dedicated and loyal people who have shown how success can be achieved.
On its 25thAnniversary, I congratulate the Garhwal Post and wish it continued success. Each time a newspaper grows – we become freer. Each time a newspaper shrinks – our freedom gets curtailed.
Here is wishing Garhwal Post more growth and greater freedom for people like us who can read and write for it.
(Kulbhushan Kain is an award winning educationist
with more than 4 decades of working in schools in India and abroad. He is a prolific writer who loves cricket, travelling and cooking. He can be reached at
kulbhushan.kain@gmail.com)
