Readers’ Editor gets down to business

In his weekly column, The Hindu’s Readers’ Editor lays down the scope of his role and also highlights some of the limitations:

The exclusion of editorials and articles from the ambit of the Readers' Editor was not liked by some.

As for editorials and articles, these are opinion pieces. For those who differ, there are the channels of Letters to the Editor and rejoinders to express their dissent. Any errors in editorials or articles — these are rare — are corrected suo motu. And the daily "Corrections and Clarifications" column we now publish is proof that we are not afraid to pull ourselves up.

The Readers' Editor's role is correctional, not adversarial. He is not a disciplining authority, he is a watchdog who barks but does not bite. An "old insider" with nothing to gain personally has a better chance of being listened to. What guarantee is there that an outsider will be impartial, with no axe to grind? And an executive appointment is made not by a popularity poll but according to the requirements of the job.

Those who have problems with Hindu’s Left-leaning attitude and excessive Dayanidhi Maran propaganda need to find some other channel to vent their anger.