Not dropping the vase

Being an interlocutor helps one to endure criticism without resentment

This is my last column as the Readers’ Editor (RE). Of the various farewell write-ups I have read over the last four decades, Alan Rusbridger’s reflections after he stepped down as the editor of The Guardian are what resonate deeply with me. He wrote that he was overawed by the responsibility when he was entrusted with it. His fear was: “Please, please let me not drop the vase.” This was my fear, too, when I was invited to become the RE. I agree with Mr. Rusbridger that editors “just pass through” but readers are the “real carriers of the flame”. I thank each one of you for your constant engagement and arguments, which were an integral part of my role over the past nine years. I was ably assisted by A. Shankar and R. Lakshminarayanan in running this office. I thank Srinivasan Ramani, Murali Krishnaswamy and Radhika Santhanam from the editorial pages for their constant support. One of the issues I tried to address upfront in my weekly columns is the nuanced relationship between a news ombudsman and the newspaper. It is neither adversarial nor promotional. When I was appointed as the RE, some readers asked: “Will you have the courage to rock the boat?” My answer was nuanced. I agreed with the boat analogy, but agreement stopped there. I said my role was not to rock the boat and undermine journalists working for this paper but to be an effective tailwind that ensures high quality journalism. I said I would be fearless in pointing out mistakes, shortcomings and inaccuracies but would refrain from naming the individual journalists. I said that there would be no gain in stigmatising individuals for their inadvertent mistakes and occasional lapse of professionalism. I said that the RE should exemplify the idea of a soft touch mechanism, which is central to self-regulation.