Feb 26, 04: Tarun Tejpal on Tehelka.com
Interview with Tarun Tejpal on how government victimization brought down Tehelka publication and the new reader subscription based Tehelka.com.
Music from the album " Sweet Romance " by Rahul Sharma
In the year 2000, tehelka.com led by Mr. Tarun Tejpal started as a web based news source in India symbolizing free, fair and fearless public interest journalism. One of the investigations exposed corruption in the Indian defense establishment, with senior military and government leaders caught on tape accepting a bribe. But as a consequence, Tehelka had to face relentless victimisation at the hands of a powerful establishment. In two years Tehelka's staff went from 120 people to three; its office had been vacated; its staffers arrested and harassed; and its debts spiralled. But its support had grown, as had the resolve to continue.
Ultimately Tehelka shut down temporarily but now it is back up again as a weekly newspaper and web publication and it looks strong and healthy. It has adopted a new financial model that allows it to be aggressively independent. It is funded entirely by subscriptions and will not be aligned to any business house or political party. It will be aligned only to the public interest. To learn more or subscribe to Tehelka, visit www.tehelka.com.
TARUN TEJPAL is the CEO and editor-in-chief of tehelka, a news and literary site based in New Delhi -- and one of India's most well-known editors. Till March 1, 2000, Tarun was the managing editor of Outlook, India's premier weekly newsmagazine. In an18-year career, he has reported for The Indian Express and The Telegraph, and been an editor with the India Today and The Indian Express groups. He is a co-founder of the publishing house IndiaInk, which first published Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. He has written for several international publications, including The Paris Review, The Guardian, The Financial Times, and Prospect. After Outlook and IndiaInk, tehelka.com is the third start-up project with which he is involved.
