The Hindu's Readers Editor responds to my mail

The Hindu's Reader Editor K. Narayanan has responded to my mail regarding the missing attribution for the photograph taken by me published on 13th December, 2008 Chennai edition.

Mr. From: readerseditor@thehindu.co.in [mailto:readerseditor@thehindu.co.in]

Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 4:06 PM

To: Jagadishkumar Gandhimurthy

Subject: Re: Missing Attribution for the photograph used

Dear Mr. Jagadishkumar Gandhimurthy,

The News Bureau says the event was only for bloggers and the picture was provided by Krupa Shankar, the organiser of the event.

There was no indication of any credit to be given.

K. Narayanan

The Readers' Editor,

The Hindu,

Kasturi Buildings,

859 -- 860 Anna Salai,

Chennai 600 002

India

Ph: +91-44-28418297 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday)

Fax: +91-44-28552963
Email: readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

I'm not happy with the tone of this response. It sounds a little insincere and exposes the unwillingness to acknowledge the source. I understand that there was a communication gap and I do not want to blame “The Hindu” entirely for this. However, as the source of the picture is established now, it would be nice if "The Hindu" could add credits to the picture atleast in the online version. I uploaded all the event photographs for the use of others and I did not expect any monetary benefits from this. It’s all about acknowledging the effort put in by someone.

May be since the photographs were a pictorial coverage of an "event", it looks like no one takes this as an individuals effort. I'm not going to lose anything in this. It is the credibility of an establishment like "The Hindu" which would take a beating, if they don't correct a mistake even if the fault is not theirs completely.

I have responded to the Readers Editor clarifying my stance on this. Lets see how they respond.