Pranay Gupte is a New York-based journalist. For nearly two years, he wrote a column at the New York Sun called ‘Lunch at the Four Seasons with…,’ where he interviewed politicians, educators, prominent businessmen — basically, anyone who is vaguely famous (or wants to be) in New York. There’s a comprehensive list of these articles at Gupte’s website.
Officially, he’s quitting the column and the Sun because the newspaper “can’t afford to pay him.” Unofficially, however, it appears he’d gotten a series of nasty letters from colleagues at the paper, and resigned when nothing was done to discipline the senders. Did the letters he received contain racial slurs? [Update: The answer is no.] Gawker has a copy of the letter he wrote to the Sun where he stated his dissatisfaction with how he’d been treated:
For a guy who works 24/7 for The New York Sun without pay — out of friendship toward you and a commitment to the Sun’s success — I think I deserve better than these disgusting notes that your general manager and other wet-behind-the-ears toddlers in the business staff have been sending to me.
Not only am I dismayed, I am also perplexed that you would allow these idiots to continue their attacks on me. What seems to be their problem? Are they resentful of the efforts I make on behalf of the Sun? Do they have a color issue? Do these white boys and girls believe that a person of Indian origin — however accomplished in journalism, and however well known — doesn’t really belong at a newspaper such as the Sun? (link)
First thought: Wait, he was writing for free? Isn’t that a bit weird? You write a blog for free. You don’t need to write for a major (if struggling) newspaper for free. People pay to read it, they sell advertisements — so why not get paid? I hope the Sun was paying for lunch at least; I presume it was.
Second thought: it’s not 100% clear to me reading this that the notes Gupte is referring to in this letter contained specific racial or ethnic slurs. If so, the newspaper’s failure to act looks really, really bad. (Indeed, possibly actionable.) The reason I have my doubts is Gupte’s use of the rhetorical question: “Do they have a color issue?” If there were slurs, the question would be redundant. [Update: My speculation turns out to be correct.]
Incidentally, here are links to Desi-related Pranay Gupta columns and interviews from recent months: Sreenath Sreenivasan, Mumbai Blasts, Durga Jasraj, Shashi Tharoor, Suvir Saran, Srikumar Rao, Passage to a New India, Bush Visits India, and In India, the Communists Still Matter.
wow. really dissapointed if these allegations are true.
It appears he had some difficulties with Sinagapore’s Straits Times in the past.
Thanks, Desitude. I’d missed that one. Interestingly, he left the Singapore Straits Times (was fired) because of a journalistic integrity question, not so much a racial question.
Still, the stories he tells about racism in the newsroom are pretty disturbing.
Actually Amardeep I’ve written for several publications for free in the past mostly for the love of writing. And I’m not alone in doing so.
Gosh I’d love to see the letters those “wet behind the ears toddlers” wrote to him. And I’m confused about the heirarchy. If the GM is being an ass than who is he complaining to? Where does it go from here. He makes some noise, quits than what. Will it affect their readership?
Thanks, Desitude. I’d missed that one. Interestingly, he left the Singapore Straits Times (was fired) because of a journalistic integrity question, not so much a racial question. \
No problem prof. I remember Gupte from back in the day (the 1980s) when he was writing tantalizing articles about Bofors, the Hindujas, and Rajiv Gandhi for Forbes. His was one of the few desi names one regularly encountered in the mainstream media. He also took interest in the dotbusters story and wrote about it. Seems like a good guy.
From his letter, it seems that the mail, while not overtly racist in and of itself (which is why he asks whether they have a colour issue) was sent to him because he’s of indian origin.
Rather like calling someone a bitch – it’s not racist in general, but if you’re calling someone a bitch because their ethnicity bothers/offends/annoys you, then that’s a different story.
Regarding his having worked for free, while that is eye-brow raising – it was a huge networking opportunity for him. He’s probably looking to parlay this into a bigger, paying gig.
True, and good luck to him — journalism is a tough business to succeed in.
Someone should do a low-end desi version of it, “Lunch at Kati Roll With [insert name of quasi-famous desi person here]”
Of course, most of the interview would be, “hm, where can we sit?” followed by “damn, this thing is spicy.”
Jessica at Gawker says, “Sit tight, kids. Letters TK. Pranay never lets you down.”
Gupte’s “Lunch at the Four Seasons” are a study in sycophancy. Get a back bone, Pranay.
i have to agree. however:
there’s a time honored tradition of obsequious celebrity profiles. perhaps he has a backbone that he uses in other situations. this kind of material is not my taste in writing, but there always seems to be a demand for it.
the emails have landed at gawker. it’s rich.
being a journalist in new york, i think i shall refrain from further comment.
actually, no. i have to say that on the basis of the emails we see here, pranay’s pulling the race card is a disgrace. perhaps there is more to it than these emails indicate. however, if this is the evidence, then ethnicity is a complete red herring here. his color certainly didn’t get him banned from the four seasons restaurant.
ok, now that’s all i have on this topic.
I stand informed, Siddartha
if your in NY and appreciate archetecture, visit the four seasons and the Seagram bulding in which it’s housed. It’s a big black box(set back from the street to accomadate a public space) that does not seem like much until you experience it. If you think modern art is a bunch of BS, and much of it is, this classic by Mies van der Rohe may change your mind, especially if you get to go inside it.
sounds like gupte gave up the worlds cushiest job…maybe the illhindu can take over an add some edge to the interviews.
Thanks Siddhartha — you’re right, assuming this is all there is, his playing the race card is lame.
FWIW, Pranay isn’t the only one doing columns about lunches with people in some fancy restaurant. The Financial Times pioneered this model and publishes one every weekend, along with what was eaten, drunk, and how much it all cost.
I had a bad experience with Pranay. He offered me a job with his old rag Conference News Daily when I had finished my masters in journalism. Told me I was going to cover the UN Race Conference in Durban South Africa back in 2001 (I think), and then all of a sudden said he could no longer hire me. No money or something like that. Somewhat unprofessional.
What an ass. Where did he learn professionalism – Times of India?
Actually, Pranay played the “race card” in Singapore as well. He accused some of his colleagues there of making racist gestures or remarks. It used to be on his blog, but he removed it.
Wow.
Or maybe certain spun-out-of-control-until-they’re-shut-down comment threads? Abhi, have you banned any IP addresses from the Sun???
newyorker: Actually, he didn’t quite making a complaint about racism, but instead did a quick double-turn just as he was about to substantiate on it. Call it ego, or simply a culture shock, I think his main point then was that he couldn’t take the Straits Times‘ culture of strait-jacketing everything into tidy compartments (which I thought was a fair comment to make). Racism was just a red herring, that’s all.
Word.
So what’s the over-under on whether he manually entered people’s e-mails into the dating databse or whether he got screwed through some sms.ac type “service”? I would go with the latter.
The Chocalate Brownie – if you read the entire article, you will also see that Pranay talks about his editor asking him to get advice from a “white journalist.” Now, there aren’t that many white journalists who work for the Straits Times and I would think that the editor would refer to this person by name and not by “white journalist.” What could of happened, since he wasn’t there for very long, is that the editor referred to another foreigner working there to get advice on how to adjust to this new working environment.
I understand Pranay has a long history of journalism but why get huffy if someone asks you to talk to a white man??? Suddenly that’s racism?? I don’t think so.
Have you all seen the “Pranay Principles for Young (and Old) Journalists“? Here’s a sampling of relevant maxims:
And finally:
Kinda reminds me of Rumsfeld’s Rules.
You know, what caught my attention right away was the tone of the email. Calling people “idiots” and “boys and girls” is extremely unprofessional and these days everyone knows that no email or letter is safe with blogs like Gawker around. And if you suspect that you’ve been subject to racism then it would be better to hire a lawyer and threaten to take legal action if the offenders are not disciplined rather than send an email written in very colloquial language. It just seems that Gupte did not take the situation seriously nor did he do anything to make the people around him understand the seriousness of the situation. But ofcourse is this because there was no “situation” in the first place.
Lunch with XXXX isn’t exactly groundbreaking. The infamous Jan Wong has did it with the Globe and Mail in the late ’90s.
And sadly, the race card is always a bad ploy, because of the boy cried wolf factor.
All: I worked with Pranay at the Sun, and barring contributors to the Arts and Leisure section, he had more experience in his left hand alone than did all the “journalists” working there. The Maggie mentioned in the e-mail exchange is a young, inflated-ego twit, and her attitude was, and I am sure, still is utterly amazing. So funny to see someone who thinks they are so adept when they are nothing more than a person hired due to connections and alma mater. The Augie Fields mentioned is a hack from Gannett. Indeed, the entire Sun staff, almost to a person, is sad and pathetic. Ira Stoll is an ass, seriously. I have never encountered a more socially backward person. Rude and pompous. Pranay was originally brought in to the Sun to revamp the business section, and you should have seen the reception he received from youngsters who should have been eating up his knowledge. They have so much to learn there. (And I write this as someone who also thinks many of Mr. Gupte’s “Lunch” pieces were overly fawning.) That said, he regualrly interviewed important or well-placed people, and the publicity his column provided the Sun was invaluable.) We can all, at time, be self-important, but Pranay works his a** off; the Sun treated him wrong. (As it treats Mark Tumin wrong! Find out about that story.)
pranay gupte took up a position in khaleej times, a newspaper based in dubai, uae, and was fired after just 11 days. i guess that says a lot.