P Sainath : The Real Picture
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May 02 2010
DROUGHT IN VIDARBHA
The colour of water
DROUGHT IN VIDARBHA : The colour of water
Two years of drought has started to take its toll on the people of Vidarbha, with a failed crop leaving them with no income to tide over the crisis, writes P Sainath.
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Apr 19 2010
IPL CRICKET
How to feed your billionaires
IPL CRICKET : How to feed your billionaires
Freebies for the IPL - at a time of savage food subsidy cuts for the poor - benefit four men who make the Forbes Billionaire List of 2010 and a few other, mere multi-millionaires, notes P Sainath.
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Mar 04 2010
THE BUDGET
Yet another pro-farmer budget!
THE BUDGET : Yet another pro-farmer budget!
Maybe the pro-farmer claim was a typing error. This is a budget crafted for, and perhaps by, the corporate farmer and agribusiness, writes P Sainath.
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Feb 03 2010
AGRICULTURE CRISIS
Farm suicides: A 12-year saga
AGRICULTURE CRISIS : Farm suicides: A 12-year saga
In 2006-08, Maharashtra saw 12, 493 farm suicides. That is 85 per cent higher than the 6,745 suicides it recorded during 1997-1999. And the worst three-year period for any State, any time. P Sainath reports.
Jan 25 2010
AGRICULTURE CRISIS
Nearly 2 lakh farm suicides since 1997
AGRICULTURE CRISIS : Nearly 2 lakh farm suicides since 1997
The share of the 'suicide belt' - Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh - remains very high; these states account for two-thirds of the total farm suicides in the country. P Sainath reports.
Dec 25 2009
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
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Mass media: masses of money?
The same exclusive report, with different bylines, in three rival dailies. Swathes of advertising dolled up as news stories. Is 'paid news' getting institutionalised, asks P Sainath.
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Dec 25 2009
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
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It is shameful to misguide people
Well-known PR firms, professional designers, and ad agencies served the richer parties and candidates. They made up 'news' items in the standard fonts and sizes of the desired newspapers and even 'customised' the items to make them seem exclusive in different publications. P Sainath reports.
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Dec 06 2009
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
The "era of Ashok" - a new era for 'news'?
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS : The "era of Ashok" - a new era for 'news'?
The huge mismatch between the Chief Minister's stated accounts and the dozens of full pages of 'news' will surely re-stoke the debate over what has now come to be called 'paid news,' writes P Sainath.
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Oct 29 2009
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
The medium, message and money
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS : The medium, message and money
The Assembly elections saw the culture of 'coverage packages' explode across Maharashtra. In many cases, a candidate just had to pay for almost any coverage at all. P Sainath reports.
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Oct 10 2009
ELECTIONS
The winter of our austerity
ELECTIONS : The winter of our austerity
Growing numbers of elected representatives fund their poll campaigns with corporate backing. And growing numbers of people with a big business background have ventured directly into the electoral arena, writes P Sainath.

Palagummi Sainath is the winner of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. (click to read India Together's interview with P Sainath)

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Over decades of reporting, he has established himself as among the pre-eminent chroniclers of rural life in our times. His stories, photo-essays, and other work record an India seldom visible to many of us. Sainath received the A.H. Boerma Award in 2001 for his contributions. In July 2004, he was awarded the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis for 2003-04 in recognition of his 'outstanding, indeed exceptional, work on the problems of the poorest of the poor, especially in Andhra Pradesh.' He is the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu.