Chennai : The Hindu’s Editor, Malini Parthasarathy has put in her papers. The board, it is understood, will consider her resignation in a meeting slated on 19th January.
Parthasarathy, who had taken over from N Ravi in February last year, was The Hindu’s first woman editor. In her earlier avatars, she was Executive Editor of The Hindu and Director of The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, a think tank run by the publishers of The Hindu, Kasturi and Sons.
Malini has declared her exit in a strongly worded internal communication. The Mailer as following:
Dear colleagues,
In view of the strong feedback I have been receiving on “general dissatisfaction” with my performance as Editor these last 11 months, I hereby resign from the post of Editor, The Hindu, with immediate effect.
I also want to place on record my deep disappointment that my performance has been judged so harshly within such a short span of time, without any cognisance of the landmark initiatives in my tenure- the launch of the Mumbai edition and the total upscaling of editorial content. I have also put in place strong talent-driven and experienced teams in different centres.
I leave with a sense of pride and satisfaction that I have consistently upheld basic journalistic values.
I will continue to serve as a Wholetime Director.
Sincerely
Malini Parthasarathy
Apparently, Parthasarathy’s resignation comes close on the heels of the paper’s much-publicised launch of a Mumbai edition – a project Parthasarathy had taken great personal interest in.
The board of directors at Kasturi and Sons were unhappy with some of Parthasarathy’s decisions: specifically, financial ones pertaining to the Mumbai edition.
It is understood more than a few people hired by her for the Mumbai edition had been recently asked to leave, as she couldn’t justify the massive amounts spent on salaries.
Parthasarathy’s tenure as the editor of the paper has been eventful, and has seen many high-profile journalists exit on not-very-cordial terms.
