Madhu Purie Trehan (born 1940s) is an Indian journalist. She is also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of a digital media portal called ''

Newslaundry ''Newslaundry'' is an Indian media watchdog that provides media critique, reportage and satirical commentary. It was founded in 2012 by Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan and Prashant Sareen, all of whom earlier worked in print or television jour ...

''.

Education

Trehan studied at

Welham Girls' School Welham Girls' School is a private boarding school for girls located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. History The school was established in 1957. Welham was named after the little Welsh village from where its founder, H.S. Oliphant hailed. A ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, graduating in 1962. In 1968, she went to Harrow Technical College & School of Arts in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to study journalistic photography. She earned a master's degree in journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1972. While in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, she worked at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in their press department, and served as an editor for a weekly newspaper, ''

India Abroad ''India Abroad'' is a weekly newspaper published from New York City, which focuses on Indian news meant for an Indian American, Indian diaspora and expatriate audience. The publication is known for its annual award ceremony for the "India Abroad ...

''.

Career

Trehan returned to India in 1975 when she founded and started the news magazine ''India Today'', with her father, V.V.Purie, owner of Thomson Press. Trehan left the magazine to her brother's stewardship in 1977 during her pregnancy, and returned to New York to start her family. Upon her return to India in 1986, Trehan produced and anchored
Newstrack
', India's first video news magazine, which earned her a reputation as a pioneering

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

. In August 1994, Madhu Trehan took the rare and only interview of

Yakub Memon Yakub or Yaqub ( ar, يعقوب‎, Yaʿqūb or Ya'kūb , links=no, also transliterated in other ways) is a male given name. It is the Arabic version of Jacob and James. The Arabic form ''Ya'qūb/Ya'kūb'' may be direct from the Hebrew or indirec ...

who was convicted in

1993 Bombay bombings The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 12 terrorist bombings that took place in Bombay, Maharashtra, on 12 March 1993. The single-day attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries. The attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, le ...

. In 2009, Trehan published her first book, ''

Tehelka as Metaphor ''Tehelka as Metaphor'' is a 2009 nonfiction book by Indian journalist, Madhu Trehan. The book is an account of the ''Tehelka'' exposé and its aftermath, Operation West End. In 2001, a sting operation and an undercover news story exposed the br ...

: Prism Me a Lie, Tell Me a Truth'', examining the 2001

Operation West End Operation West End was the first sting operation done by ''Tehelka'' in 2001, an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism. It was done in order to expose the defense deals of the then ruling party, the NDA led by BJP. The sp ...

exposé and its aftermath. Trehan has written for leading news magazines and newspapers such as ''

Outlook India ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. The pu ...

'' and ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

''. In 2000, she launched ''Wah India'', a website and print magazine. She, along with three other colleagues, also launched a crowd-sourced media critique website called ''

'' in February 2012.

2001 Delhi High Court ruling

On 25 May 2001 the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

ruled 3–2 that Trehan and four other journalists on Wah India were guilty of contempt of court for an article which they published "rating the High Court's Judges in terms of various attributes and qualities". The article purportedly interviewed 50 unnamed senior lawyers to reach its conclusions. In April, the court had ordered Delhi police to seize copies of the offending issue from news stands and raid the magazine's Delhi office. The court also banned the media from reporting on the case, but withdrew the ban on 2 May in response to media protest. Three days after being found in contempt of court, Trehan and her colleagues apologised to the justices, and their apology was accepted.

Personal

Trehan is married to Indian

heart surgeon Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

Naresh Trehan Naresh Trehan (born 12 August 1945) is an Indian cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon. After graduating from King George Medical College, Lucknow, India, he went on to practice at New York University Medical Center Manhattan USA from 1971 ...

Aroon Purie Aroon Purie (born 1944) is the founder-publisher and editor-in-chief of ''India Today'', and former chief executive of the India Today Group. He is the managing director of Thomson Press (India) Limited and the chairman and managing director of ...

, the former founder-publisher and editor-in-chief of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'', is her brother, and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actress

Koel Purie Koel Purie Rinchet (born 25 November 1978) is an Indian actress, producer and TV presenter. About She made her debut with Rahul Bose's directorial venture ''Everybody Says I'm Fine!'' in 2001 and later featured in ''Road to Ladakh'' starrin ...

is her niece.

Works

References

External links

* *
Tehelka As Metaphor website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trehan, Madhu Living people Journalists from Uttar Pradesh Indian broadcast news analysts Indian opinion journalists 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Indian magazine editors Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni India Today Group Indian women columnists Indian columnists Indian investigative journalists Date of birth missing (living people) Indian women journalists 21st-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian women writers Women writers from Uttar Pradesh Women magazine editors Women television journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Welham Girls' School alumni 1940s births