Tamil Nadu leaders, their relations with the Press, and the Madras Reporters Guild

Madras Reporters Guild history, revival, and interactions with political leaders in Tamil Nadu since 1957.

Relations between political leaders and the fourth estate in Tamil Nadu have seen ups and downs. Some top leaders are shy of freely interacting with journalists. This was not the case always. For several decades since the late 1950s, Chief Ministers and Ministers, despite certain reservations, would periodically interact with journalists through professional platforms. One such body that commanded the goodwill of veteran leaders was the Madras Reporters Guild, which some journalists are attempting to revive by electing its office-bearers democratically. The Guild is located at the Omandurar Government Estate, next to the Chennai Press Club, which in mid-December 2024 witnessed a historic election after 25 years.

The Madras Reporters Guild was formed on April 26, 1957 “as a non-trade union professional organisation” to promote the esprit de corps among reporters; foster the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity; and safeguard the special interests of reporters. Its first set of officer-bearers included S. Vasudevan (secretary) of the Indian Express and R. Muthuswamy (joint secretary) of The Hindu.

Chief Minister K. Kamaraj inaugurated its first (temporary) premises in the Government Estate buildings on July 12, 1957. Kamaraj, according to a report in The Hindu, had said a guild and an office was vital for the reporters to rest and think after toiling all day long. At the end of the day’s tedious work, the guild would serve them as the resort to sit together around a table to take stock of what they had collected. Vice-President S. Radhakrishnan had sent a message that Madras reporters had a high reputation in the country for accurate and unbiased reporting. In his message, Kerala Chief Minister E.M.S. Namboodiripad hoped that the guild would be able to unite the entire ranks of the reporters around it and strengthen the bonds of unity between the Press and the public. The professionalism of the Madras journalists had come in for praise from Kamaraj (1958) and Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai (1968) as well. On the Guild’s first anniversary, Kamaraj said in a message that the Madras reporters had earned the reputation of being most faithful and meticulous in their task and hoped the Guild would help them in equipping themselves better for their tasks.

Presiding over the Guild’s 10th anniversary celebrations at Hotel Ashoka, Annadurai had said he was happy that the Guild was becoming one of the well-organised journalists’ associations in this part of the country. Reporters whom he had met in Bombay and Calcutta had told him that the Madras reporters had the knack of culling out news from unwilling individuals that the other reporters lacked. Annadurai, according to The Hindu, said he would be willing to visit the Guild every fortnight and talk to its members. He also promised to assign land in the Government Estate for housing the Guild’s own building, if its office-bearers could choose a site not allotted to anybody, and donate ₹5,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for building a good library, especially on journalism, after the Guild had its own building. It was at this function that the Guild reiterated its four-year-old demand that Government Accreditation Cards be issued to journalists as in other States. Annadurai said this would come in due course.

In 1958, Information Minister C. Subramaniam released the inaugural issue of Newsman, an in-house journal of the Guild. Describing himself as a “newsman reporting to reporters”, he said he would “unhesitatingly join the Guild as an associate member”, if he could thereby be useful to the organisation. Acknowledging that newspapers were racing against time and wanted to score over their rivals, Subramanian requested them “to observe this restraint in regard to official information and certain confidential information”. He had known instances of premature publication of news causing damage to the interest of the community and the nation.

In September 1965, against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan conflict, Chief Minister M. Bhaktavatsalam appealed to the Press for cooperation in organising defence efforts. The Guild presented him with a cheque for ₹301 towards the National Defence Fund.

A year after becoming Chief Minister, M.G. Ramachandran addressed the Guild in June 1978 and explained why he was not frequently interacting with journalists. The Hindu said he feared that his views and comments might not be conveyed in the right spirit and proper perspective. “A slight distortion or slant that some of the newspapers might give to his remarks would spoil his image, apart from defeating the very purpose of his talking to the newsmen. However, he promised to meet reporters more frequently from July,” it said. He was not in favour of granting statutory protection for reporting the proceedings of the Legislature. MGR said that judging by the reports in some newspapers, one could not conscientiously say the proceedings were being reported faithfully. He would not blame the reporters because the twist was given at the higher levels with some motive. However, he would consider how far protection could be given in this context. In February 1989, M. Karunanidhi, who returned to power after 13 years, told the Guild members that he would continue to be accessible to them for greater dissemination of information.