BackMalini Parthasarathy resigns as editor of The Hindu
Malini Parthasarathy to continue as whole-time director of 'The Hindu'; Suresh Nambath appointed interim head of all editorial activities
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New Delhi: Malini Parthasarathy resigned as editor of The Hindu on Tuesday, less than a year after she took up the job at the newspaper published by Kasturi and Sons Ltd.
“This morning she tendered her resignation with immediate effect in a letter to the board. It has been accepted," board chairman N. Ram said in a phone interview.
Suresh Nambath, national editor of The Hindu, was appointed interim head of all editorial activities at the newspaper. The board is scheduled to meet on 20 January. Ram declined to specify the reason for her abrupt resignation. Parthasarathy, via a text message, declined to comment.
The Hindu and The Hindu Business Line compete with the Hindustan Times and Mint, both published by HT Media Ltd, in some markets.
Parthasarathy took over as head of editorial operations in February 2015 from N. Ravi, who retired after working at the family-owned newspaper for 42 years.
In an email to employees reviewed by Mint, Parthasarathy said she was resigning with immediate effect because of the feedback she had been receiving on what she described as “general dissatisfaction" with her performance as editor in the past 11 months.
“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," she wrote in the e-mail.
“I leave with a sense of pride and satisfaction that I have consistently upheld basic journalistic values," she wrote, adding that she would continue as a whole-time director.
The Hindu launched its Mumbai edition in November under the leadership of Parthasarathy.
Ravi and Parthasarathy were appointed editor-in-chief and editor, respectively, of The Hindu in October 2013 after a boardroom battle that ended with the departure of Siddharth Varadarajan, the first editor of the newspaper in nearly five decades who didn’t belong to the Kasturi family that owns the newspaper.
In May 2014, the board appointed Rajiv C. Lochan as managing director and chief executive officer of the company.
On Tuesday, Ram said he expected a new editor to be appointed “as soon as possible". “In due course, both the nomination and remuneration committees will take this up. The board has noted our appreciation of Malini’s contribution as editor of The Hindu," he said.
S. Bridget Leena in Chennai contributed to this story.
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