NEW DELHI, 12 October 2003— Tehelka.com, the news portal which rose to fame after breaking a big story on defense deals is now back with a weekly English newspaper. “This is an extension of our earlier work toward constructive, crusading and public interest journalism,” said Tehelka CEO, Tarun Tejpal.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, he said the newspaper will embody the values that Tehelka has come to stand for. “To protect the purity of Tehelka’s agenda and help it become the kind of media platform it aims to be, we have decided to fund it in a very radical way,” he said adding, “the newspaper will be funded by the people, for the people.”
Tehelka’s story on defense matters did cost many politicians heavily. The then chief of BJP Bangaru Laxman and Samata Party’s Jaya Jaitley had to quit their posts following allegations of taking bribes in the defense deals.
The Tehelka expose also forced the then Defense Minister George Fernandes to relinquish his office too, but later on he got back his ministry on the instructions of the prime minister.
Recounting his earlier experience after the Tehelka expose, Tejpal said: “Over the last two years, because of the stories it had done and the stands it had taken, Tehelka had been victimized by a powerful establishment, which has resulted in its financial ruination.” He said that dozens of cases had been filed against them, Tehelka people had been arrested and harassed, its office had been vacated, but the determined Tehelka team refused to compromise, bend or sell out.
Tejpal said that he will never compromise on making Tehelka a “good story, “ though efforts are on to weaken Tehelka’s strength. The Tehelka team will keep highlighting the wrongs in and around the society. “I will never care who is going to be affected and what will be the consequences thereafter, if there is corruption, we will expose it in the days ahead,” Tejpal promised.
Meanwhile, many eminent media personalities have greeted Tehelka on its new venture and expressed their wholehearted support.
“I associate Tehelka with cleanliness. It may start a movement not just in journalism, but in public life,” said senior journalist Kuldip Nayyar. In his message Vir Sanghvi, editor, Hindustan Times, said that no patriotic national can fail to be on Tehelka’s side. “Tehelka has invested heavily in hard-hitting investigative reporting, and has pushed the boundaries of editorial content further than most…” Sanghvi added.
