 "@MaliniP washes Hindu dirty linen in public")
“This is why some of us didnt like the tenor of our ad campaign. TOI turns us, the market leader into a follower,” tweeted Malini Parthasarathy, who calls herself, “Former Executive Editor of The Hindu and Director of the company publishing the Hindu group of publications” in her Twitter profile. On seeing Ms Parthasarathy’s update, Indranil Chowdhury (@Indranil74 on twitter) asks her, “@MaliniP have you joined ToI?” She promptly replies to him, saying “No, I am an owner of The Hindu and want it to succeed, but have been not allowed to participate in the making of its destiny.” A week ago, Ms Parthasarathy had tweeted (not in the context of The Hindu-Times of India war), “By agreeing to censor tweets,Twitter is digging its own grave. We love Twitter only because of its unfettered freedom!” [caption id=“attachment_202683” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Picture courtsey Times Of India”]
[/caption] She’s certainly enjoying the unfettered freedom Twitter affords her by criticising the communication strategy of her company in the glaring openness of social media, demonstrating little knowledge of how uncontrollable social media could become. Even as this is written, she receives another mention. Forced to open it, she reads, @MaliniP your newspaper is destined to second runner or 3rd runner in TN.” She chooses to reply immediately, saying, “@GanapathyI Strongly disagree and protest your ill feelings towards The Hindu. We are a market leader and need not mimic the TOI.” Uh oh, Ms Parthasarathy. Keep the emotions in check. @Ganpathyl (who calls himself Right-wing Hindu Nationalist. Libertarian. Believer in Capitalism. Based in Chennai) did not demonstrate any “ill feelings”; all he did was air his views on where things were headed. This will carry on, Ms Parthasarathy, and there will be those who agree with you and those who do not. As this is written, the twitpic link has been re-tweeted over 80 times with over 1500 views, so do get ready for more. Ms Parthasarathy’s public airing on the differences will not do any good for the already dodgy morale in the newspaper, and will certainly cause the new editor and soon-to-take-charge CEO to be wary of every step they take and every move they make. And The Times of India will be watching from the sidelines and having a laugh.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.