About TheJanmat.com

As a publication, TheJanmat.com will be firmly committed to public interest and democratic values. Apart from providing authoritative analysis and commentary, the aim, as our resources grow, is to build ourselves as a platform driven by good old-fashioned reporting on issues of national and international importance and interest. Being on the web also means using new media technologies to change the way stories are told. With data and interactive charts, video and audio as integral parts of the narrative structure when warranted.

We start today on a modest note, constrained not by our vision but by our resources. In the meantime, we make a simple appeal: read us, share and tweet our content, and send us your feedback.

Can the media address the issues that matter head on?

Can the media give voice to farmers, to the working class – all the people who are rarely heard?

Yes. At TheJanmat.com we believe an alternative to the corporate media is possible.

In today’s world, the different forms of visual media have become pipelines to the consumer to sell brands and products. Even public broadcasting has succumbed to advertising. To maximize advertising revenues means paying greater attention to high TRPs.

But thanks to the Internet, there is an alternative possibility of this dominant model of visual media. The Internet today, with increased broadband penetration and the phenomena of You-Tube and Google Video, has made it possible to reach a range of people in different places with both written and visual material. And this can be done at much much lower costs than what conventional TV channels need. The Internet has also shown us the power of networks: what any one group cannot achieve can be achieved if we network activists and groups. An Internet site can become a hub, with others either linking to or posting their material on what is viewed as open, collaborative space. It is with this vision with which TheJanmat.com was set up.