‘Open Page’ is a section for our articulate readers to express their opinions on a range of issues. They not only bring in new details but also explore areas that are often overlooked by regular opinion writers. Over the years, the page has grown to become a site for new voices. Though the articles are contributions from readers, the rules that govern the page are no different from the rules governing the other pages of this newspaper. The Hindu expects the same exacting standards from the contributors to the Open Page.
No tolerance for plagiarism
Talking to young journalists I often cite the words of caution of my predecessor K. Narayanan: “Plagiarism is a dread word for newspersons. But that does not prevent subtle resort to the practice by some, in the hope that they will not be found out. And when they are, the ignominy sticks and sticks.” At the cost of repeating myself, let me assure readers that there is zero tolerance for ethical breaches in this newspaper. Proven plagiarism by journalists has led to termination of employment, and in the case of external contributors, the offending article is taken down from the website and the writer is named and blacklisted.
In journalism, there is no time limit, as in the legal circles, for correction and clarification. This week, we received a complaint that a web exclusive in the ‘Open Page’ section, “It’s in the family” (April 5, 2020), by Partha Pratim Mazumder, was plagiarised. The article had reproduced sentences word-for-word from a lead article written by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu in our sister publication, The Hindu BusinessLine, way back in May 2018 under the headline “Why the Indian family is a great institution”. When our examination revealed that there was an ethical breach, the Editor blacklisted the contributor and took down the article from our website with a disclaimer: “This article has been withdrawn from publication since parts of it were found to have been plagiarised.”
While we are on the topic of corrections and setting the record straight, let me share another issue which we examined this week. “Gentleman in flannels and fatigues” (June 14), an interesting short essay by S.G. Vombatkere, dealt with how colonel-cricketer Hemu Adhikari dealt with ‘indiscipline’ in his ranks. The problem was not with the article but with the archival photograph that accompanied the article. The caption for the photograph read: “Former Test cricketers Hemu Adhikari (left) with Mushtaq Ali (right)”. Sportswriter Gulu Ezekiel wrote to us saying, “The person on the left of the photo is not Hemu Adhikari, it is Chandu Sarwate. The one on the right is not Mushtaq Ali as he did not wear glasses.” Vombatkere wrote to us to flag the same issue. He wrote to us, after consulting his friend who happens to be Nana Joshi’s nephew, that the photograph was of Joshi. How did the error happen?
Archives need to be scrutinised too
The Hindu has an enviable collection of photos in its library. Our archives are a researcher’s delight. Old bromide photographs have been scanned and labelled for digital use. Photographers used to write captions behind the photographs in the earlier days. Those captions are now tagged to the digitally stored images. The desk, in good faith, trusted the original caption writer and decided to use the vintage photograph. While issuing corrections, one of the tasks we perform is ensuring that mistakes do not recur. But how do we check nearly millions of old photographs for their captions?
While archives are a goldmine of information and images, they are not free from errors, wrong classifications and attributions. Academic Nicholas B. Dirks’s anthology of essays, Autobiography of an Archive, is widely seen as a documentation of the scholarship in the intersection between history and anthropology dealing with both colonial and post-colonial India. Mr. Dirks’s personal encounters with archives show that collected documents not only provide sources but also lay out the boundaries for research on subjects. He asks academics to shun single disciplinary perspectives. Archival material also deserve close scrutiny by the desk before publishing.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in