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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2014}}
{{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}}
}}

'''Paranjoy Guha Thakurta''' (born 5 October 1955) is an Indian journalist, writer, and a documentary maker.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/paranjoy-thakurta/ | title=Paranjoy Thakurta | publisher=[[Jaipur Literature Festival]] | date=4 January 2014 | accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> He is also a guest faculty member at [[Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad|IIM Ahmedabad]], [[IIM Calcutta|Calcutta]] and [[IIM Shillong|Shillong]], the [[University of Delhi]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]], [[Asian College of Journalism, Chennai|Asian College of Journalism]] and [[Jamia Millia Islamia]].<ref name=Good/>

==Career==
Guha Thakurta was educated at [[La Martiniere Calcutta]], pursued his undergraduate degree in Economics from [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi|St. Stephen's College]] and completed his masters from [[Delhi School of Economics]] in 1977. With [[The Emergency (India)|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 30 years, he has been associated with major media houses like ''[[Business India]]'', ''[[Businessworld]]'', ''[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]'', ''[[India Today]]'' and ''[[The Pioneer (Indian newspaper)|The Pioneer]]''. He also hosted the chat show ''India Talks'' on CNBC-India which ran over 1400 episodes.<ref name=Good>{{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}}</ref>

In 2013, he directed a short documentary film ''Coal Curse'' which highlighted the wrongs in the Indian coal mining industry.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
[[File:Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Aakar Patel.jpg|thumb|Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (right) and Aakar Patel (left) at an [[Amnesty International India|Amnesty International]] event in New Delhi.|alt=]]
In 2016, he joined EPW (Economic and Political Weekly) as Editor. Following his article on how [[Adani Group]] was benefited by the government policies, a defamation notice was sent to the Sameeksha Trust and the authors of the article. Soon after that, Guha Thakurta resigned as the Editor of [[Economic and Political Weekly|EPW]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> The article brought to light how the [[Government of India|Government]] tweaked the rules which favoured a certain company within the [[Adani Group]] to the tune of Rs 500 Crores.<ref>{{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}}</ref> EPW tried to reach out to [[Ministry of Finance (India)|Ministry of Finance]] and [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)|Ministry of Industry and Commerce]], but no explanation was given for this policy decision. The [[Adani Group]] is headed by [[Gautam Adani]] who is understood to be close to [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Narendra Modi]].

Guha Thakurta was appointed Editor of the [[Economic and Political Weekly]] (EPW) in January 2016 replacing C Rammanohar Reddy, who steered the prestigious journal since 2004. Guha Thakurta resigned as editor of [[Economic and Political Weekly|EPW]] on July 18, 2017 over alleged differences with the board of the Sameeksha Trust that runs the journal.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

Guha Thakurta co-authored an article <ref>{{cite web|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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> about the [[Adani Group]]'s [[tax evasion]] following which [[Adani Power]] sent a legal notice to the [[Economic and Political Weekly]]. Fearing an expensive lawsuit by one of India’s biggest corporate houses [[Economic and Political Weekly|EPW]] then decided to take down the article,<ref>{{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}}</ref> prompting Paranjoy Guha Thakurta's resignation.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{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 (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|accessdate=14 June 2015}}</ref> 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 (newspaper)|Mint]]''), ''[[Dainik Jagran|Dainik Jagaran]], [[Dainik Bhaskar]], [[Punjab Kesari]], [[Lokmat]], [[Eenadu]]'', and [[Sakshi (media group)|Sakshi group]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|title=Final report on Paid News|publisher=Press Council of India|year=2010|url=http://presscouncil.nic.in/oldwebsite/councilreport.pdf}}</ref>

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 Act, 2005|Right to Information (RTI) Act]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Guha Thakurta has since written extensively on the issue of "paid news". In a December 2013 article for ''[[First Post (India)|First Post]]'', he explained why the malaise of "paid news" is a threat to democracy:
{{quote|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>}}

=== 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-15/news/27578477_1_2g-rollout-obligation-licences |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}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Works==
===Books===
* ''A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand'', 2004 SAGE; co-author Shankar Raghuraman, {{ISBN|0761932372}}.
* ''Media Ethics'', 2011 Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|9780198070870}}.
* ''[[Gas Wars|Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis]]'', 2014 Paranjoy Guha Thakurta; co-authors Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri, {{ISBN|8192855139}}.
* ''[[Sue the messenger|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|9789384439811}}.
* ''Thin Dividing Line: India, Mauritius and Global Illicit financial flows''; co-authored with Shinzani Jain; 2017 Penguin Random House India, {{ISBN|9788184005882}}.
* ''Loose Pages:Court Cases That Could Have Shaken India'', co-author Sourya Majumder, {{ISBN|9781684549245}}.

[[File:Book Launch of Loose Pages Court Cases That Could Have Shaken India.jpg|thumb|During the book launch of "''Loose Pages: Court Cases That Could Have Shaken India"'' at the Press Club of India. Visible in picture are the authors, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Sourya Majumder at the podium. [[Arun Shourie]] 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''
* ''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''
* ''A Thin Dividing Line, 2013''
* ''Coal Curse, 2013''
* ''In the Heart of Our Darkness: The Life and Death of Mahendra Karma, 2013''

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==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

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha}}
[[Category:Delhi School of Economics alumni]]
[[Category:Indian male television journalists]]
[[Category:Indian documentary filmmakers]]
[[Category:Indian newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Indian political writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Journalists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from West Bengal]]

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta - Revision history

DesireeTietjen: General improvements to article content

->BattyBot: Removed/fixed incorrect author parameter(s), performed general fixes