In 1998, I was working as Special Correspondent of The Assam Tribune. I had joined the newspaper as a Staff Reporter in 1989, after returning from Newstime (Eenadu Group) in Hyderabad. Late Robindra Nath Borooah was my editor for a brief period, before late Naren Deka took over as editor. After Deka Sir retired in 1995, PG Baruah Sir, who was then the Managing Director, assumed the role of editor of The Assam Tribune.
It was a particularly difficult period for The Assam Tribune. Circulation was declining, and several leading newspapers from Delhi and Kolkata were launching their Guwahati editions. Compared to these colourful, bulky outside papers, the newspaper appeared like a poor cousin. To add to its woes, these external players were aggressively underpricing their newspapers to exert pressure on us.
After taking over as editor, PG Sir faced a severe manpower crunch, as The Assam Tribune was in a transitional phase. Offset printing technology was being introduced, along with the large-scale use of computers in the newsroom. Partha Sarathi Dutta was the Executive Editor at the time, but he left soon after.
In this precarious situation, PG Sir called me one evening and said, “You take over as Executive Editor.” It came like a bolt from the blue. I was only 38 then and had hardly any experience of desk work, having spent my entire journalistic career as a reporter.
“Sir, I have very little desk experience, and there are so many senior colleagues I would be superseding,” I pointed out.
“You can manage,” he said. “I have full faith in you.”
Saying this, he led me to the Executive Editor’s chair and added, “From tomorrow, you will sit in this chair.”
The months that followed were intensely hectic. The immediate task was to increase the number of pages from eight to ten, and subsequently to twelve. Press Manager Willie Mathews ordered new machines capable of introducing colour and printing more pages. We countered the outside papers on every front. Like them, we reorganised the newspaper into clearly defined sections City, State, Nation, International, Editorial, and others. If they could offer comics, so could we. We contacted comics suppliers in Delhi and Mumbai. We also introduced a horoscope, which quickly became extremely popular, along with crosswords, sudoku, and similar features.
Weekend supplements for youth, children, and students followed, giving The Assam Tribune a more wholesome and contemporary look. Throughout this period, PG Sir, as Managing Director-cum-Editor of The Assam Tribune, extended his full support. We also made fresh recruitments, bringing in young blood to strengthen both the reporting and editorial workforce.
The goodwill of the people of our State proved to be The Assam Tribune’s greatest USP. Combined with its strong local flavour-the unmistakable smell of the soil-it helped us overcome the challenge posed by our rivals and emerge victorious. From a modest circulation of 33,000, The Assam Tribune crossed the one-lakh mark.
The crowning moment of The Assam Tribune success story, however, was PG Baruah Sir’s decision to become the first newspaper proprietor in the country to accept the Majithia Wage Board recommendations. At a time when several large and resource-rich media houses were challenging the award in court-a battle they eventually lost-PG Sir’s decision stood vindicated, reflecting both his maturity as a leader and his unwavering commitment to his employees.
Prasanta J Baruah