Open

About Open

Open is an Indian English-language weekly magazine of current affairs and features, launched on 2 April 2009 by the Open Media Network, the media venture of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Conceived as a new kind of weekly for evolved, well-travelled Indian readers, it positioned itself not as a conventional news magazine but as a magazine of features, trends and ideas, modelled in spirit on international titles such as Time and The New Yorker. Published from New Delhi, Open quickly made its mark with bold journalism, including the explosive Radia tapes exposé of 2010, and with a roster of editors and writers who shaped Indian magazine journalism. Its history encompasses editorial triumphs, dramatic newsroom controversies and the challenges of sustaining quality print journalism in the digital age.

Launch and Concept

Open was launched by Open Media Network, the newly floated print media venture of the RPG Group, one of India's largest business houses with interests spanning power, carbon black, retail, entertainment and plantations. The magazine debuted with an initial print run of one lakh copies, priced at 40 rupees, and was initially available in twelve cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kochi. The launch, in the midst of a global economic slowdown, was seen as a bold bet on the Indian reader.

The founding editor, Sandipan Deb, articulated a clear editorial concept: Open would not compete directly with existing newsweeklies by rehashing the week's news, but would concentrate on features, trends and think pieces that went beyond what readers already knew. The magazine would carry essays and commentary rather than mere reporting, with photography doing much of the reportorial work. This positioning as a features and current-affairs weekly, rather than a news magazine, was its distinctive promise.

Sandipan Deb and the Founding Vision

Sandipan Deb, who had worked for several years at Outlook and the Financial Express, conceptualised Open and led it through its launch. He envisioned a magazine for readers who were already overloaded with information from newspapers, television channels and the internet, and who needed a publication that added value through perspective and insight. His editorial line held that if the magazine could not add value to information the reader already possessed, it would not make it a cover story.

Deb left the magazine in August 2010, reportedly to pursue personal interests, after steering it through its critical first sixteen months. His departure marked the end of the founding phase, but the editorial template he established, favouring long features, strong photography and essayistic writing, continued to shape the magazine under his successors.

The Manu Joseph Years

After Deb's exit, Manu Joseph took over as managing editor and later editor-in-chief, leading the magazine from 2010 until his resignation in January 2014. Joseph, who had previously worked with Outlook, The Economic Times and The Times of India, brought a sharp, contrarian sensibility to the magazine. Under his leadership Open published some of its most talked-about journalism and consolidated its reputation as a magazine unafraid of controversy.

Joseph appointed Hartosh Singh Bal as political editor and Rahul Pandita as an associate editor, assembling a formidable editorial team. The magazine's covers during this period were frequently provocative, and its political reporting was among the most closely read in the country. Joseph's tenure ended dramatically in the wake of the controversy over Bal's dismissal, when he resigned and continued as interim editor until a successor was appointed.

The Radia Tapes Exposé

Open's most famous scoop came in November 2010, when it became the first magazine to publish transcripts of the Niira Radia tapes, the recorded telephone conversations of the corporate lobbyist with senior journalists, politicians and industrialists. The story, reported by political editor Hartosh Singh Bal, exposed the behind-the-scenes intrigues through which corporate interests sought to influence government formation and public opinion, particularly around the allocation of telecom spectrum and the appointment of the telecom minister.

The exposé, which implicated prominent television journalists and revealed the cozy nexus between media, politics and business, caused a national sensation and triggered an intense debate about journalistic ethics. While some editors accused the magazines of selective and unfair journalism, Open maintained that the conversations were published as they appeared in the recordings. The story cemented Open's reputation for fearless journalism and remains one of the landmark media exposés of the decade.

The Bal Dismissal Controversy

In November 2013 Hartosh Singh Bal, the magazine's political editor, was served a notice terminating his employment, an episode that became a national controversy about press freedom. According to Manu Joseph, the magazine's proprietor Sanjiv Goenka felt that Bal's writings and television appearances were causing him to make political enemies. Joseph resisted the dismissal but eventually gave in, a decision he later described as an attempt to rebuild his relationship with the owner.

The sacking provoked outrage among journalists and intellectuals, and in July 2014 an editorial in The New York Times cited the episode as evidence that press censorship was back in India, imposed not by government fiat but by powerful private owners. The controversy damaged the magazine's standing among the very readers who had admired its independence, and it became a case study in the tensions between proprietorial power and editorial autonomy in Indian media.

Editorial Succession

Following Manu Joseph's resignation, P. R. Ramesh became managing editor, and S. Prasannarajan took over as editor-in-chief in 2014, stabilising the magazine after a tumultuous period. Prasannarajan, an experienced journalist, led Open through the subsequent years, maintaining its weekly rhythm and its commitment to features and commentary. The magazine's publishers changed over the years, with Mohit Hira serving as publisher and CEO before being succeeded by others.

The succession of editors reflected the broader challenges facing the magazine: sustaining a distinctive editorial voice while navigating the commercial and proprietorial pressures of the Indian media business. Each editor brought a different sensibility, but the magazine retained its core identity as a weekly of ideas, argument and reportage.

Content and Editorial Character

Open's contents span politics, business, culture, cinema, sport and ideas, treated through the lens of features and essays rather than spot news. Its cover stories have ranged from political investigations to cultural trends, and its writers have included leading journalists, novelists and public intellectuals. The magazine's design, with generous photography and clean layouts, was conceived to give its long-form pieces maximum visual impact.

The magazine has been particularly noted for its political commentary and its willingness to publish contrarian views. Its pages have hosted debates on economic policy, foreign affairs, social change and the media itself. Special issues on subjects such as the state of Indian democracy and the transformation of urban India have showcased its ambition to be a magazine of record for the country's chattering classes.

The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group

Open is the flagship media brand of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the conglomerate headed by Sanjiv Goenka with businesses in power and energy, carbon black, retail, entertainment, sports and education. The group entered media with the launch of Open in 2009, and the magazine has remained its principal publishing venture. The group's ownership of the magazine has been both a strength, providing financial backing, and a source of controversy, as the Bal episode demonstrated.

The relationship between the proprietor and the newsroom has been closely watched as a test of the group's commitment to editorial independence. The magazine's ability to publish journalism critical of powerful interests while owned by one of the country's major industrialists remains a subject of debate among media observers.

Digital Presence

Open's digital home is openthemagazine.com, which carries the weekly's content alongside web-exclusive stories, blogs and multimedia features. The website extends the magazine's reach beyond print subscribers and engages readers in the daily news cycle. Its social media channels distribute its covers, essays and investigations to a wider audience.

The magazine has used digital platforms to experiment with new formats, including video and interactive features, while preserving the print weekly as its prestige product. Special digital initiatives around major stories have allowed Open to combine the depth of magazine journalism with the immediacy of online publishing.

Legacy and Standing

Open's legacy lies in its demonstration that a new magazine could quickly establish itself through bold journalism and a clear editorial concept. Its Radia tapes exposé remains a landmark of Indian investigative reporting, and its roster of editors and writers includes some of the most influential figures in contemporary Indian journalism. The controversies it endured have made it a case study in the politics of media ownership.

As it continues publication into its second decade and beyond, Open represents both the possibilities and the perils of proprietor-funded quality journalism in India. Its best work, from political investigations to cultural essays, testifies to what a well-resourced weekly can achieve, while its crises serve as reminders of the fragility of editorial independence.