Tehelka picks Ramesh Sharma to replace Shoma Chaudhury

Tehelka has officially announced that Managing editor Shoma Chaudhury who stepped down from the post earlier today, would be succeeded by deputy editor Ramesh Sharma. According to the official description on the Tehelka website: [caption id=“attachment_1255815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ramesh Sharma’s updated profile on the Tehelka site[/caption] Ramesh Sharma began his journalism career with The Times of India in 1988, after graduating from The Times School of Journalism (TRF, Institute for Social Sciences, Research & Education), in New Delhi. During his six-plus years with the Times, he handled various responsibilities, including bringing out the main edition of the newspaper. He also reported on politics, environment and social issues. Later, as the desk in charge of The Sunday Times of India, he was instrumental in shaping the Open Space page. He was among the founding members, along with Dileep Padgaonkar and 23 others, of the first independent media organisation run by journalists in New Delhi—the Asia-Pacific Communication Associates (APCA). Thereafter, Ramesh went on to do a five-year stint with India Today and another five years with the IANS news agency, where he was in charge of producing Asian Voice, a London tabloid aimed at NRIs. In IANS, he also handled two news portals, indiaabroad.com and Indiainfo.com. He has also tried his hands at television journalism, with a two-and-half year stint at Headlines Today, where he was a Senior Producer. In 2007, he was back with APCA to produce a strategic affairs magazine—India & Global Affairs—for the Sakaal Group of newspapers. Ramesh has been with Tehelka since 2009. He is based in New Delhi. Sharma is now in the tough position of attempting to steer the magazine through its current crisis, with many predicting that the publication is in danger of shutting down. Given that Tejpal was so closely and publicly aligned with the publication, the feeling was that his personal downfall would also spell the downfall of the publication as a whole. Meanwhile former editor of The Hindu N Ram told CNN-IBN that Tehelka would find it very difficult to recover from the setback caused by the alleged sexual assault charges against its founder Tarun Tejpal. “Tehelka is not finished. But Tehelka as it was, an organisation that held high ground is finished,” Ram told the channel, adding that he hoped other publications would welcome Tehelka journalists if the publication shut down. Chaudhury submitted her resignation to the publication after she was slammed for her handling of the victim’s complaint, and for later making comments that some people felt defended Tejpal.