HONOUR: M.S. Swaminathan,
agricultural scientist (left), giving away the “Hamsadhwani R. Ramachandran
Award of Excellence” to N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, at a function in
Chennai on Tuesday. - Photo S.R. RAGHUNATHAN |
|
CHENNAI:
Newspapers need to be committed to core principles and values while
being contemporary , N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, said
on Tuesday.
Replying
to felicitations after receiving the first “Hamsadhwani R. Ramachandran
Award of Excellence,” Mr. Ram said only strong values afforded a newspaper
institution the room to experiment.
He
pointed out that without adherence to values and principles, setting
standards in technical excellence in terms of writing style, presentation,
layout or design was futile. “A template of principles should be at
the centre of a newspaper’s functions.”
Describing
the Hamsadhwani honour “as an award for the 130-year-old The Hindu,”
Mr. Ram said no newspaper could claim to achieve excellence all the
time, or to have immunity from serious errors.
Presenting
the award and citation, M. S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist and
chairman of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, said Mr. Ram was a
fearless advocate of democracy, and the newspaper he led was a flagship of
democratic values.
Dr. Swaminathan
said Mr. Ram, for whom professional integrity was not negotiable, also
had the qualities of humanism and a belief in pluralism.
|
