Former editor of The Hindu Siddharth Varadarajan and one of the founding editors of DNA Sidharth Bhatia have launched an online news publication called The Wire. Former editor of Time Out Delhi Raghu Karnad has also come on board as contributing editor. The digital publication has tied up with news agencies like Press Trust of India (PTI) and Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) for content and is apparently looking to raise Rs 10-12 crore in the next six months, as indicated by this Livemint report. The primary driving force behind launching The Wire seems to be steer clear of corporate and advertiser pressure on content. The same has been mentioned in an introductory piece on the site: The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. Looks like The Wire will primarily focus on politics, economy, science, external affairs, law and culture. A number of well-known journalists, industry veterans, and academics like former Financial Express managing editor M.K. Venu, diplomat Shivshankar Menon, former TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar, and Mineral Physics professor at Cambridge University Simon Redfern among many others have already contributed to The Wire. Over the past year or so the number of digital only publications in India has grown exponentially: - Atlantic Media’s mobile-first digital publication Quartz went live in India,…
