Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

{{Infobox person

| name = Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

| image = Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.jpg

|caption = Paranjoy Guha Thakurta - June 2016

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|10|5|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India

| occupation = Journalist, writer

| notable_works = Gas Wars

| alma_mater = University of Delhi

| website = {{URL|paranjoy.in}}

| relatives = Tapati Guha-Thakurta (sister){{cite web|title= Dangerous untruth: Vasudevan's wife; Shock at misinformation about cause|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/dangerous-untruth-vasudevans-wife-shock-at-misinformation-about-cause-of-historians-death/cid/1779992|website=Telegraph India|date=10 June 2020}}

}}

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (born 5 October 1955) is an Indian journalist, writer, publisher, documentary film maker and teacher.{{cite web | url=http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/paranjoy-thakurta/ | title=Paranjoy Thakurta | publisher=Jaipur Literature Festival | date=4 January 2014 | accessdate=12 June 2014}} He has been a guest faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad for 18 consecutive years, and also taught at the IIMs at Calcutta and Shillong, the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Asian College of Journalism and Jamia Millia Islamia among other educational institutions. He is the only Indian journalist referred to in the famous Hindenburg Report on Adani.

Career

Guha Thakurta was educated at La Martiniere Calcutta, pursued his undergraduate degree in economics from St. Stephen's College and completed his master's degree from Delhi School of Economics in 1977. With the Emergency of 1975–77, he decided to be a journalist over being a lecturer. In June 1977, he joined a Kolkata-based magazine as assistant editor. Through his career spanning over 45 years, he has been associated with major media houses like Business India, Businessworld, The Telegraph, India Today and The Pioneer. He also hosted the chat show India Talks on CNBC-India which ran over 1400 episodes.{{cite web | url=http://www.theweekendleader.com/Culture/1467/a-good-journalist.html | title=There are no TV or print journalists. Just good or bad ones | work=The Weekend Leader | date=22 December 2012 | accessdate=12 June 2014 | author=Das, Agnibesh}}

In 2013, he directed a short documentary film Coal Curse which highlighted the wrongs in the Indian coal mining industry.{{cite web | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/XiuHo2M3DE86UMFuk5UVHI/Paranjoy-Guha-Thakurta--The-black-truth.html | title=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta - The black truth | work=Live Mint | date=19 April 2013 | accessdate=12 June 2014 | author=Khurana, Chanpreet}} The 45-minute film, supported by Greenpeace, delved into the political economy of coal in contemporary India with the Singrauli example serving as a case study. This was Guha Thakurta's second film on coal, the earlier one being 'Hot as hell: Why Jharia is burning', that was produced in 2006 by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust.

His 2014 book Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis, co-authored with Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri, dealt with alleged irregularities of the prices of natural gas in the Indian market. Reliance Industries Limited, one of India's major conglomerates which is also involved in oil and gas exploration and production, sent a legal notice to Guha Thakurta and others for defamation through this book.{{cite news|title=RIL sends notice to Gas Wars authors|url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/ril-sends-notice-to-gas-wars-authors/article5923679.ece|accessdate=29 May 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=18 April 2014}}

File:Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Aakar Patel.jpg event in New Delhi.|alt=]]

In 2016, Guha Thakurta was appointed Editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) replacing C Rammanohar Reddy, who steered the prestigious journal since 2004. He co-authored an article {{cite journal|url=http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/24/web-exclusives/modi-governments-%E2%82%B9500-crore-bonanza-adani-group-company.html|title=Modi Government's ₹500 Crore Bonanza to Adani Group Company|date=17 June 2017|website=EPW.in|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712165050/http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/24/web-exclusives/modi-governments-%E2%82%B9500-crore-bonanza-adani-group-company.html|archivedate=12 July 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/149156/modi-government-adani-group/|title=Modi Government's Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group|date=19 June 2017|website=TheWire.in}} about the Adani Group's tax evasion. The article brought to light how the Government tweaked the rules which favoured a certain company within the Adani Group to the tune of Rs 500 Crores.{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/149156/modi-government-adani-group/|title=Modi Government's Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group|last=Dasgupta|first=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Advait Rao Palepu, Shinzani Jain and Abir|website=thewire.in|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-07-19}} EPW tried to reach out to Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry and Commerce, but no explanation was given for this policy decision.

Following this, a defamation notice was sent to the Sameeksha Trust and the authors of the article. Fearing an expensive lawsuit by one of India's biggest corporate houses, Sameeksha Trust (which runs the journal EPW) decided to take down the article,{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/159090/adani-group-slapps-epw-editor-job/|title=Adani Group 'SLAPP' Pushes EPW Editor Out of His Job|date=18 July 2017|website=TheWire.in}} prompting Paranjoy Guha Thakurta's resignation on July 18, 2017, over alleged differences with the board.{{cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/epw-paranjoy-guha-thakurta-resigns-as-editor-defamation-case|title=EPW Editor Steps Down After Legal Notice by Adani Group|date=20 July 2017|website=TheQuint}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/paranjoy-guha-thakurta-quits-as-epw-editor/article19302912.ece|title=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta quits as EPW editor|work=The Hindu|access-date=2017-07-19|language=en}}{{cite web|url=https://scroll.in/latest/844275/paranjoy-guha-thakurta-quits-as-editor-of-economic-and-political-weekly-over-differences-with-board|title=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta quits as editor of Economic and Political Weekly over differences with board|date=18 July 2017|website=Scroll.in}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/paranjoy-guha-thakurta-quits-as-epw-editor/article19302912.ece|title=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta quits as EPW editor|author=Staff Reporter|date=2017-07-18|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-01-09|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}} The Adani Group is headed by Gautam Adani who is understood to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Hindenburg Research report on Adani published on January 24, 2023, alleged that Adani had engaged in a number of questionable practices, including opaque accounting, environmental violations, and bribery. The report caused a significant drop in Adani's share price and led to calls for investigations into the company's activities. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is the only Indian journalist who was [https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/adani-row-journalist-mentioned-in-hindenburg-report-speaks-up/cid/1914774#:~:text=Paranjoy%20Guha%20Thakurta%2C%20the%20journalist,Ahmedabad%20issued%20a%20gag%20order referred] to in the report.

= Paid news =

Guha Thakurta was a member of the sub-committee set up by the Press Council of India to look into the malaise of paid news. Initially, the report titled Paid News: How Corruption in the Indian Media Undermines Democracy was to be released on 26 April 2010, but it was deferred after many members of the Council raised objections.{{cite news|title='Paid News': The Buried Report|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/paid-news-the-buried-report/266542|date=6 August 2010|magazine=Outlook|accessdate=14 June 2015}} A diluted version of the report, which was released on 30 July 2010, raised a storm. A number of newspaper establishments were named as having indulged in editorial malpractices. These included Bennett, Coleman and Co (owners of The Times of India), HT Media (owners of Hindustan Times, Hindustan and Mint), Dainik Jagaran, Dainik Bhaskar, Punjab Kesari, Lokmat, Eenadu, and Sakshi group, among others.{{cite web|title=Final report on Paid News|publisher=Press Council of India|year=2010|url=http://presscouncil.nic.in/oldwebsite/councilreport.pdf}}

In September 2010, the Central Information Commission (CIC) of India directed the council to make public the report as part of suo motu disclosure mandated under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.{{cite web | url=http://asiancorrespondent.com/65451/india-ghost-of-paid-news-report-returns-to-haunt-press-council/ | title='Paid news' report spectre returns to haunt Press Council | work=Asian Correspondent | date=21 September 2011 | accessdate=13 June 2015 | author=Ghosh, Subir}}

Guha Thakurta has since written extensively on the issue of "paid news". In a December 2013 article for First Post, he explained why the malaise of "paid news" is a threat to democracy:

{{blockquote|The independence of the media and its ability to bring about transparency in society by playing an adversarial role against the establishment get compromised because of corruption within the folds of the media itself. Paid news is one particularly egregious manifestation of the ills of the corporatized media that puts out information that poses as if it has been independently and objectively produced but has actually been paid for.{{cite news |url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-paid-news-is-a-threat-to-indian-democracy-1268751.html |title=Why paid news is a threat to Indian democracy |date=5 December 2013 |work=First Post |accessdate=18 June 2015 |first=Paranjoy |last=Guha Thakurta}}}}

= PIL on 2G case =

Guha Thakurta was one of many well-known people who joined a public interest litigation in the 2G spectrum case, originally filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) led by lawyer Prashant Bhushan.{{cite news |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-15/news/27578477_1_2g-rollout-obligation-licences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618162958/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-15/news/27578477_1_2g-rollout-obligation-licences |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 June 2015 |title=PIL filed in SC to recover revenue lost to 2G scam |date=15 December 2010 |work=The Economic Times |accessdate=18 June 2015 |first=Shalini |last=Singh}} He has written extensively on the scam, with the first article on the subject appearing in The Economic Times in November 2007. Soon after its publication, a legal notice was served on him by Reliance Communications.{{cite news |url=http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/sep/16/slide-show-1-why-i-filed-a-pil-against-the-telecom-minister.htm |title=2G scam: Why I filed a PIL against the telecom minister |date=16 September 2010 |work=Rediff.com |accessdate=18 June 2015 |first=Paranjoy |last=Guha Thakurta}}

= Pegasus Spyware =

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta was targeted with Pegasus spyware between April and July 2018. Through a forensic analysis, Amnesty International's Security Lab have confirmed that his phone was successfully compromised and that these infections were consistent with other known infection vectors.[https://forbiddenstories.org/journaliste/paranjoy-guha-thakurta/][https://thewire.in/law/five-journalists-move-sc-wants-centre-to-disclose-if-it-authorised-use-of-pegasus]

Works

=Books=

A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand, 2004 SAGE; co-author Shankar Raghuraman, {{ISBN|0-7619-3237-2}}.
Media Ethics, 2009 Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-807087-0}}.
Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis, 2014 Paranjoy Guha Thakurta; co-authors Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri, {{ISBN|81-928551-3-9}}.
Sue the Messenger: How legal arm-twisting by corporates is shackling reportage and undermining democracy in India; co-author with Subir Ghosh; 2016 Paranjoy and Authors UpFront, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-81-1}}.
Thin Dividing Line: India, Mauritius and Global Illicit financial flows; co-authored with Shinzani Jain; 2017 Penguin Random House India, {{ISBN|978-81-8400-588-2}}.
Loose Pages:Court Cases That Could Have Shaken India, co-author Sourya Majumder, {{ISBN|978-1-68454-924-5}}.
The Real Face of Facebook in India: How Social Media have Become a Weapon and Disseminator of Disinformation and Falsehood, 2019 Paranjoy Guha Thakurta; co-author Cyril Sam, {{ISBN|1-64570-347-9}}
A Million Mission: Non Profit Sector in India, 2014 Paranjoy; Author Mathew Cherian, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-04-0}}
Calcutta Diary, 2014 Paranjoy; Author Ashok Mitra, {{ISBN|978-0-7146-3082-3}}
The Modi Myth, 2015 Paranjoy; Author S. Nihal Singh, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-57-6}}
Netaji: Living Dangerously, 2015 Paranjoy; Author Kingshuk Nag, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-69-9}}
Idea of India Hard To Beat: Republic Resilient, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Badri Raina, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-76-7}}
First Person Singular, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Ashok Mitra, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-65-1}}
Encounters, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Ramnika Gupta, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-82-8}}
Junkland Journeys: The witty story of how world is won by a whacky addict who discovers god in a dog, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Ajith Pillai, {{ISBN|93-84439-75-4}}
Edward John Thompson: British Liberalism and the Limits of Rapprochement, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Shashi Raina, {{ISBN|1-5376-5043-2}}
The Story of Secularism: 15th-21st Century, 2016 Paranjoy; Author Nalini Rajan, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-86-6}}
Kashmir: A Noble Tryst in Tatters, 2017 Paranjoy; Author Badri Raina, {{ISBN|978-93-84439-97-2}}
Chasing His Father's Dreams: Inside Story of Odisha's Longest Serving Chief Minister, 2017 Paranjoy; Author Biswajit Mohanty, {{ISBN|93-84439-90-8}}
The Russian Revolution: And Storms Across A Century (1917-2017), 2017 Paranjoy; Author, Achala Moulik, {{ISBN|978-81-933924-0-9}}
Alternative Futures: India Unshackled, 2017 AuthorsUpFront Paranjoy; Authors Ashish Kothari and K.J. Roy, {{ISBN|81-933924-7-7}}
Grand Illusion: The GSPC Disaster and the Gujarat Model, 2017 Paranjoy; Author Subir Ghosh, {{ISBN|93-87280-02-0}}
Corruption, CBI and I: More than Memories of a Veteran Scam-Buster, 2020 Paranjoy; Authors Shantonu Sen and Sanjukta Basu, {{ISBN|93-87280-59-4}}
India's Long Walk Home, 2020 Paranjoy; Authors Ishan Chauhan and Zenaida Cubbinz, {{ISBN|978-93-87280-87-8}}
India: The Wasted Years, 2021 Paranjoy; Author Avay Shukla, {{ISBN|979-8-5319-5345-2}}
Electoral Democrary? An Inquiry into the Fairness and Integrity of Elections in India, 2022 Paranjoy; Edited by M.G. Devasahayam, ISBN 979-8-88525-098-6
Flying Lies? The Role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India's Biggest Defence Scandal, 2022 Paranjoy; Authors Ravi Nair and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, ISBN 979-8888626702
The Queen of All Nations, 2023 Paranjoy; Author Abhijit Sengupta, ISBN 978-9394887329
The Deputy Commissioner's Dog and Other Colleagues, 2023 Paranjoy; Author Avay Shukla, ISBN 978-9394887381
Disappearing Democracy: Dismantling Of A Nation, 2024 Paranjoy; Author Avay Shukla, ISBN 978-9394887589

File:Book Launch of Loose Pages Court Cases That Could Have Shaken India.jpg is also visible.]]

=Documentaries=

Idiot Box or Window of Hope, 2003
Hot As Hell: A Profile of Dhanbad, 2006
Grabbing Eyeballs: What's Unethical About Television News in India, 2007
Advertorial: Selling News or Products?, 2009
So Near Yet So Far, 2009{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2009 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/so-near-yet-so-far }}
Blood & Iron: A Story of the Convergence of Crime, Business and Politics in Southern India, 2010-11
The Great Indian Telecom Robbery, 2011
Freedom Song, 2012
Children In Crossfire, 2013{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2013 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/children-in-crossfire |website=Paranjoy.in}}
A Thin Dividing Line, 2014{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2014 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/a-thin-dividing-line |website=Paranjoy.in}}
Coal Curse, 2013
In the Heart of Our Darkness: The Life and Death of Mahendra Karma, 2013
Inferno: Jharkhand's Underground Fires, 2015{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2015 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/inferno-jharkhands-underground-fires |website=Paranjoy.in}}
Even it Up, 2015{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2015 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/even-it-up |website=Paranjoy.in}}
Farzi:Vypam Ka Vyapaar, 2018{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2018 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC%E0%A5%80-%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%AE-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0 |website=Paranjoy.in}}
Unfair,2019
India's Children: Gorakhpur's Broken Public Health, 2019
Anand Vihar: Workers on the Longest Walk of their Lives, 2020
Migrant Workers: Stranded and Scared, 2020
What Bengal Thinks Today, 2021
Anjan Ghosh Tribute, 2021{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2021 |title=Documentaries |url=https://paranjoy.in/documentary/anjan-ghosh-tribute |website=Paranjoy.in}}
Who's Dharavi's Boss, 2023 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NLbdJj38rw]

= Music Videos =

Dike Dike Hao Hushiar, 2021{{Cite web |last=Guha Thakurta |first=Paranjoy |date=2021 |title=Dike Dike Hao Hushiar |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcxGDwotwJo |website=YouTube}} (Producer and Director), Featuring [http://arkomusic.com/fiddlers-green/ The Fiddler's Green]
Dharti Tumhari, Dharti Hamari, 2021{{Citation |title=Dharti Tumhari, Dharti Hamari (Hindi & English subtitles) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9X8Bp4gG6A |language=en |access-date=2022-10-04}} (Producer and Director), Featuring Deepak Castelino
Sangram/Struggle, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Bop-bnJ00 2023]
Dharavi ka Dada Kaun - Noor Hasan, Lil White, and Rekoil Chafe (Producer) 2023 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y86QxF8t1MI]
साहेब/Saheb - (Producer) Aditi, Rajesh Nirmal, Vedi Sinha, Amartya Ghosh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_x0KVSOEhc&feature=youtu.be]
સાહેબ/Saheb: Gujarati (Producer) Rajesh Nirmal, Vedi Sinha, Amartya Ghosh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQkZKMDZeZ4]
साधो/Sadho: (Producer) Rahul Ram, Avinash Sourav, Ashok Vajpeyi, Dhruv Shukla [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBCXTF8u_xg&feature=youtu.be]
गोदी जी/Godi ji - (Producer) Aditi, Manan Kumar, Amartya Ghosh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaXqKIFEca4&feature=youtu.be]
आम्ही धारावीकर/We're from Dharavi - (Producer) Shital Sathe [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgszhhTn3OM&feature=youtu.be]
Bulldozer Raaj song - (Producer) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laA1v0E8zw0&feature=youtu.be]
‘Phooljhadiyan’ | Music Video -(Producer)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=its_1sLKKcU&t=1s]

References

External links

[http://www.paranjoy.in/ Personal website]
[http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1166/Hot-As-Hell---Why-Jharia-is-burning Hot as hell] on Culture Unplugged
[https://www.amazon.in/Paranjoy-Guha-Thakurta/e/B001HOTXN8/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 Books on Amazon]

Category:Delhi School of Economics alumni

Category:Indian male television journalists

Category:Indian documentary filmmakers

Category:Indian newspaper editors

Category:Indian political writers

Category:Indian publishers (people)

Category:Living people

Category:1955 births

Category:20th-century Bengalis

Category:Bengali film directors

Category:Bengali writers

Category:Bengali Hindus