Hindustan Times

File:Hindustan Times 1999 stamp of India.jpg

S Mangal Singh Gill (Tesildar) and S. Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jalandhar) were made in charge of the newspaper. Madan Mohan Malaviya and Tara Singh were among the members of the Managing Committee. The Managing Chairman and Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

According to Prem Shankar Jha, who wrote an official history of the newspaper in 1999, most of the early funding of the paper, therefore, came from Sikhs in Canada. When financial troubles started in the early years, the Akalis approached two interested potential buyers from the nationalist movement. These were Motilal Nehru and Madan Mohan Malaviya, and ultimately Malviya bought the Hindustan Times. In fact, Malviya had to take out a loan of Rs. 40,000 with the help of Lala Lajpat Rai in order to finance the paper. In 1928, Gandhi chose a new editor, K. M. Panikkar, for the paper. By that time, the paper was running into financial troubles again; G. D. Birla underwrote some expenses and ultimately assumed ownership.{{cite web|last=Dev|first=Atul|title=History repeating at Shobhana Bhartia's Hindustan Times|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/media/history-repeating-shobhana-bhartias-hindustan-times|website=The Caravan|access-date=20 August 2019|archive-date=16 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316185834/https://caravanmagazine.in/media/history-repeating-shobhana-bhartias-hindustan-times|url-status=live}}

Devdas Gandhi, son of Mahatma Gandhi, was inducted into the editors' panel, and was later appointed editor.{{cite news|title=Shobhana Bhartia wants to benchmark HT with the best in the world|url=http://m.businesstoday.in//story/ht-group-shobhana-bhartia-in-most-powerful-business-women/1/188386.html|access-date=18 March 2014|newspaper=Business Today|date=14 October 2012|archive-date=18 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318154237/http://m.businesstoday.in//story/ht-group-shobhana-bhartia-in-most-powerful-business-women/1/188386.html|url-status=live}} The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma Gandhi on 26 September 1924. The first issue was published from Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It contained writings and articles from C. F. Andrews and Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, among others.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

K. M. Panikkar, also known as Sardar Panikkar, launched the Hindustan Times as a serious nationalist newspaper. As an Oxonian, historian and litterateur, Panikkar strived to make the paper broader than an Akali sheet. He became the editor and funds flowed freely from Akali patrons. He exerted himself strenuously, but the paper made very little headway. In two years, Panikkar could not take the print order any higher than 3,000. By then the Akali movement appeared to lose steam and funds dried up. The paper was saved from an untimely demise when Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya stepped in to realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi.{{cite book| last=George| first=T. J. S. |author-link=T. J. S. George| title=Lessons in Journalism| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNx0PgAACAAJ| year=2007| publisher=Viva Books Private Limited| isbn=978-81-309-0788-8}}

It has its roots in the Indian independence movement of the first half of the twentieth century and even faced the noted "Hindustan Times Contempt Case (August–November, 1941)" at Allahabad High Court.{{cite book |title=Hindustan Times Contempt Case (August–November, 1941) |year=2007 |publisher=READ BOOKS |isbn=978-1-4067-6748-3 |page=283 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtYhsX39MKQC&pg=PA316 |access-date=22 September 2016 |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223130127/https://books.google.com/books?id=XtYhsX39MKQC&pg=PA316 |url-status=live }} It was edited at times by many important people in India, including Devdas Gandhi, Sri Mulgaonkar, B.G. Verghese and Khushwant Singh. Sanjoy Narayan was editor in chief of the paper from 2008 to 2016.{{cite news |last1=Dev |first1=Atul |title=History repeating at Shobhana Bhartia's Hindustan Times |url=https://caravanmagazine.in/media/history-repeating-shobhana-bhartias-hindustan-times |access-date=2 December 2021 |work=The Caravan |date=1 December 2018 |language=en |quote=In 2008, ... next editor hired was Sanjoy Narayan ... he lasted eight years |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316185834/https://caravanmagazine.in/media/history-repeating-shobhana-bhartias-hindustan-times |url-status=live }}

File:Hindustan Times House New Delhi.jpg]]

The Delhi-based Hindustan Times is part of the KK Birla Group and managed by Shobhana Bhartia, daughter of the industrialist Krishna Kumar Birla and granddaughter of Ghanshyam Das Birla.{{Cite web |title=Shobhana Bhartia: Inheriting, And Transforming HT Media |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/marwari-power/shobhana-bhartia-inheriting-and-transforming-ht-media/37355/1 |date= Mar 13, 2014 |first1=Deepak |last1=Ajwani |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Forbes India |language=en}} HT Media Limited is a subsidiary of The Hindustan Times Limited which is a subsidiary of Earthstone Holding (Two) Limited. The KK Birla Group owns a 69 percent stake in HT Media, currently valued at {{INR}} 834 crore. When Shobhana Bhartia joined Hindustan Times in 1986, she was the first female chief executive of a national newspaper. Shobhana has been nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP from Congress Party.{{Cite web |last=Biswas |first=Sayantani |date=2024-02-13 |title=From MJ Akbar to Rajeev Chandrasekhar: Here are 9 journalists nominated to RS |url=https://www.livemint.com/politics/from-mj-akbar-to-rajeev-chandrasekhar-here-are-9-journalists-nominated-to-rajya-sabha-11707718692168.html |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=mint |language=en |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301161807/https://www.livemint.com/politics/from-mj-akbar-to-rajeev-chandrasekhar-here-are-9-journalists-nominated-to-rajya-sabha-11707718692168.html |url-status=live }}

Along with Hindustan Times, HT Media owns Desimartini, Fever 104 FM, Hindustan Times Telugu{{cite news |title=Telugu News, తెలుగు వార్తలు, తెలుగు న్యూస్, తాజా వార్తలు – Hindustan Times Telugu |url=https://telugu.hindustantimes.com/ |publisher=telugu.hindustantimes.com |access-date=30 November 2022 |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130144357/https://telugu.hindustantimes.com/ |url-status=live }} and the newspaper Mint.{{cite web |first1=Regina |last1=Anthony |first2=Priyanka |last2=Mehra |title=HT Media's net arm buys social networking site Desimartini.com |url=https://www.livemint.com/Companies/8Vzfp4uoQWWMh3lMBtV2aN/HT-Media8217s-net-arm-buys-social-networking-site-Desimar.html |website=Livemint |access-date=26 February 2020 |date=21 November 2007 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027133814/https://www.livemint.com/Companies/8Vzfp4uoQWWMh3lMBtV2aN/HT-Media8217s-net-arm-buys-social-networking-site-Desimar.html |url-status=live }}

In The Brand Trust Report 2012, Hindustan Times was ranked 2971st among India's most trusted brands and subsequently, according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, Hindustan Times was ranked 434th among India's most trusted brands. In 2014 however, Hindustan Times was ranked 360th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics company.{{cite web|url=http://www.trustadvisory.info/allindia_2014.html |title= All India brand trust ranking 2014 (top 1200 brands) |access-date=29 May 2015 |publisher=Trust Advisory |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502221904/http://www.trustadvisory.info/allindia_2014.html |archive-date=2 May 2015}}

After the 2016 LoC strike in September, Shobhna Bhartia reportedly had started getting calls from the PM's office and from Amit Shah, and attention came to be focused on the Hate Tracker, a crowd-sourced database on the Hindustan Times website that recorded hate crimes in India which was launched under recently appointed editor Bobby Ghosh. Ghosh left the newspaper abruptly afterwards and The Wire reported that he was asked to leave the newspaper after Shobhana Bhartia met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. Hindustan Times's general Counsel Dinesh Mittal rejected the report and said Bobby Ghosh left for personal reasons.{{cite news|title=Hindustan Times Editor's Exit Preceded by Meeting Between Modi, Newspaper Owner|url=https://thewire.in/178102/hindustan-times-bobby-ghosh-narendra-modi-shobhana-bhartia/ |first1=Anuj |last1=Srivas |access-date=25 September 2017|newspaper=The Wire|date=25 September 2017|archive-date=25 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925065451/https://thewire.in/178102/hindustan-times-bobby-ghosh-narendra-modi-shobhana-bhartia/|url-status=live}}

In 2017, the Frontline magazine{{cite news|title=Under close watch|url=http://www.frontline.in/cover-story/under-close-watch/article9456570.ece |first1=Akshay |last1=Deshmane |access-date=24 April 2018|newspaper=Frontline|date=20 January 2017|archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728041634/https://www.frontline.in/cover-story/under-close-watch/article9456570.ece|url-status=dead }} published a report which stated that Hindustan Times{{'}} editor Shishir Gupta was colluding with the government after releasing emails to Amit Shah. Hindustan Times rejected claims of collusion and said that the emails were a request for comment.{{cite web|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/06/hts-defence-of-the-frontline-story-isnt-convincing |website=newslaundry |title=HT's defence of the Frontline story isn't convincing|date=6 January 2017|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911123054/https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/06/hts-defence-of-the-frontline-story-isnt-convincing|url-status=live}} The Indian Express also published a report in 2017 stating that Hindustan Times Limited was linked to an offshore entity called Go4i.com, of which Bhartia and her son Priyavat were listed as directors.

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2021}}

• Barkha Dutt – journalist and NDTV Group editor, writes a fortnightly column
• Karan Thapar – President of Infotainment Television, television commentator and interviewer, a weekly columnist ("Sunday Sentiments")
• Indrajit Hazra – novelist and senior editor at Hindustan Times, writes the weekly column "Red Herring"
• Sonal Kalra – author and editor of HT City, the daily entertainment and lifestyle supplement of Hindustan Times, writes the weekly column "A Calmer You"
• Samar Halarnkar – editor-at-large, writes on a variety of issues and also runs a food blog on the Hindustan Times website
• Anirban Mahapatra – writes a popular science column

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