Through Outlook Poshan, We Hope To Tell Nutrition Story Simply And Lucidly: Ruben Banerjee

"Outlook Poshan initiative intends to facilitate conversations around Poshan, by breaking down jargons and simplifying complex issues. As journalists, we are essentially story tellers. We hope to tell the nutrition story simply and lucidly so that general awareness on the topic improves, and the government’s noble initiative, Poshan Abhiyaan, gets a helping hand," says Outlook's Editor-in-Chief Ruben Banerjee at Outlook Poshan Awards 2019.

Below is the full text of the speech:

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for coming.

We are particularly honoured and privileged to have the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, among us. Thank you, Sir. We are grateful.

For us in Outlook, August 3, 2019 is a red-letter Day. From Outlook’s inception, our journalists have always valued and focused on the truth, balanced reportage and fearless investigative journalism. We have also pursued stories and issues that matter to people at large. Our credo has been to give a Voice to the Voiceless. Given our principles and objectives, today is an unusually satisfying day. We are here to turn the spotlight on something that holds the key to bringing about qualitative change in how India lives.

This day is important also because this is perhaps the first time in the history of mainstream media that a media house is taking up the issue of nutrition in a sustained way. But then, Outlook has never been a run-of-the-mill media house. We are different. We have consistently highlighted and flagged stories that others normally wouldn’t. When 2018 turned 2019, we ran a special issue devoted to Menstruation. Menstruation as cover? – A lot of people asked us incredulously. Many felt we had lost our editorial sense. We didn’t. We knew and believed that menstruation was one thing we need to highlight and write about, to break taboos and bring about a change in how we deal with biological issues that impact some 48% of our population.

I am proud that we at Outlook explore territories that otherwise normally do not get the space and attention. There are so many instances of we being different. We very recently devoted a full cover on rare genetic disorders that afflict 70 million Indians, suffering in absence of research and treatment. We rightly called it GENOCIDE. Two weeks ago, we ran a cover on India’s Water Crisis. There are many more such instances.

We are HATKE, but it is not just for the sake of brand positioning. We sincerely believe in the power of the pen – our laptops more precisely - and our initiative on nutrition is a further proof of that. Our nutrition-specific miscrosite www.poshan.outlookIndia.com intends to facilitate conversations around Poshan, by breaking down jargons and simplifying complex issues. As journalists, we are essentially story tellers. We hope to tell the nutrition story simply and lucidly so that general awareness on the topic improves, and the government’s noble initiative, Poshan Abhiyaan, gets a helping hand.

To be honest, Outlook’s efforts in communicating the nutrition story, has helped me in great measure. As a young reporter, I covered Kalahandi in Odisha extensively and reported endlessly on hunger, starvation deaths and malnutrition. Yet, my knowledge of nutrition was limited. Like many others, I too thought that a health drink like Horlicks can do away with malnutrition.

Outlook’s Poshan initiative will hopefully help in dispelling many of the misconceptions that commonly abound. We will hopefully be better informed and be more aware about Poshan.

So, thank you ladies and gentlemen for making it here. Once, again, we are extremely thankful to the Hon’ble Vice President. His presence will definitely enthuse the Outlook team to pursue what we believe in. Wishing you all a healthy India, a Suposhit Bharat.