DH@75: Editor's Note

ALLOW us to wear sepia-tinted glasses for a day, for today we complete 75 years, and a little basking in nostalgia is in order. But well-wishers of this paper, and we are grateful for their number, are well within their rights to ask us about the next 75. In fact, we would welcome such questioning, because it keeps us honest to our chosen path.

Why will media groups like us continue to be relevant in the years to come? Because, increasingly, the space to question is being constricted. The need to speak truth to power is stronger than ever. Because fake news is rife. The battle to establish the truth, and to strike a middle ground, is likely to intensify in the years to come. As India hurtles ahead, there will be a need to fight for causes such as equality, sustainability and the rights of common folk.

We will aim to do this in the way we know best: Giving you insight and sparking new ideas. Impact comes from exclusive stories, top-notch analysis, features that capture trends, and opinion and editorial columns that are hard-hitting and well-argued. We wish to leave you enriched, and willing to pay us to keep body and soul together so that we can deliver more of what you want.

The credibility of print media, and websites allied to trusted newspapers, will stand us in good stead. And other forms of telling the story - online, video, podcast, newsletters - have enhanced our ability to interact with you.

But, as the boom-and-bust-in-the-blink-of-an-eye of the metaverse has shown, technology should be viewed as just an enabler. In other words, processes may change and tech - now headlined by AI - will burgeon, but the craft of journalism will reign. It is a reassuring thought that years hence, desks in quality newsrooms (in whatever shape) will still labour over lede paragraphs, and reporters, perhaps more specialised in their fields, will still be hunting for documents and spending their days cultivating sources.

Finally, we remain steadfast in our belief that good journalism is journalism that does good. Indeed, looking back, our ‘Power of Good’ tagline, adopted just over three years ago, chimes well with the ‘Goodwill to all is our motto’ headline of our first editorial in 1948. It goes to show that this has always run deep in DH’s DNA. It’s as good a time as any to renew our allegiance to it.