''The Doon School Weekly'' (informally ''The Weekly'') is a

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also rep ...

produced by and for the students of

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

. It was established in 1936, a year after the school's founding, by the first headmaster

Arthur Foot Arthur Edward Foot CBE (more commonly A.E. Foot) (21 June 1901 – 26 September 1968), was an English schoolmaster, educationalist and academic. He was a science master at Eton College from 1923 to 1932. In 1935, he was invited to India to he ...

. The ''Weekly'' is the oldest and flagship publication of the school, and the newspaper's constitution grants it

editorial independence Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising ...

. The paper, distributed every Saturday morning, carries a mix of reports on school activities, trips or expeditions, opinion pieces, critique of school policies, interviews of visiting speakers, student polls, puzzles, cartoons (known as Dosco Doodle'''), and creative writing, including short stories, poetry, satire or personal essays. The alumni keep up to date with the developments at school through the newspaper, which is also published online on The Doon School's official website. Notable alumni in the fields of literature, journalism, politics and academia, including Vikram Seth,

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

Ramachandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social history, social, political history, political, contemporary history, contemporary, Envir ...

Karan Thapar Karan Thapar (born 5 November 1955) is an Indian journalist, news presenter and interviewer working with The Wire. Thapar was associated with CNN-IBN and hosted ''The Devil's Advocate'' and ''The Last Word''. He was also associated with India T ...

, have been former editors of the publication. ''The Weekly'''s sister publications at the school are ''Infinity'', ''The Doon School Information Review'', ''The Circle'', and ''The Yearbook''.

History

Founded by Arthur Foot in 1936, ''The Doon School Weekly'' is owned by Indian Public Schools' Society, the governing society of

. For the first three years of its existence, the newspaper was produced using a cyclostyle, and then moved to a printing press. A number of the ''Weekly''s contributors or editors are today working as authors, journalists, academics or politicians. The list includes Booker Prize-nominee

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

(class of 1972); playwright, poet and novelist Vikram Seth (class of 1970); editors, reporters and columnists for ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bu ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

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 Ly ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; a number of staff writers for ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

'' newspaper such as

Swaminathan Aiyar Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar (born 12 October 1938) is an Indian economist, journalist, and columnist. He is consulting editor for the ''Economic Times'' and writes regularly for the ''Economic Times'' and ''The Times of India''. He is also a ...

and veteran editor

B G Verghese Boobli George Verghese (21 June 1927 – 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist. He was editor of leading newspapers the ''Hindustan Times'' (1969–75) and ''The Indian Express'' (1982–86). In 1975, he received the Ramon Magsays ...

, including broadcaster

(class of 1971), historian

Ramchandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history, and the field of economic ...

(class of 1973), and politician Mani Shankar Aiyar (class of 1967); and Hindi language writer

Vishvjit Singh Vishvjit Prithvijit Singh (29 October 1946 - 6 August 2017) was an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress party. He is a great-grandson of Col the Honourable Pratap Singh of Kapurthala. Biography Singh was born on 29 October 1946 a ...

(class of 1964); Foreign Secretary

Uma Shankar Bajpai Uma Shankar Bajpai (1921/1922, Jaipur – 6 February 2005) was an Indian diplomat and a veteran journalist. He was also the director of India International Centre. Kanti Bajpai, the Indian academic, is his son. Life and career Uma Shankar Baj ...

(class of 1936);

Wajahat Habibullah Wajahat Habibullah (born 30 September 1945) was the chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities. Prior to this, he held the position of the first Chief Information Commissioner of India. He was an officer of the Indian Administrativ ...

(class of 1963) and

Inder Pal Khosla Inder Pal Khosla is a retired Indian diplomat. He served as the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Afghanistan. *Son of Shakuntala and Justice GD Khosla. *Has two daughters *Education: 1954: The Doon School BA, MA (Econ). *In 1960 joined ...

(class of 1954); television-presenter Prannoy Roy and Tejeshwar Singh (class of 1965); and

Mahmood Farooqui Mahmood Farooqui is an Indian writer, performer and director. He specializes in a type of story-telling known as '' Dastangoi''. Farooqui along with his uncle Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, noted Urdu poet and literary critic, revived Dastangoi, the anc ...

(class of 1979). On April 14, 2018, the ''Weekly'' published its 2,500th edition, commemorating 82 years of its existence. The edition includes contributions from previous chief-editors such as

Kanti Bajpai Kanti Prasad Bajpai (born 1955) is an Indian academic, international affairs analyst, and the former headmaster of The Doon School, Dehradun, India. He is known to be an expert on Indo-China relations. He is currently a professor at National Un ...

, Rahul Bhagat and Govind Dhar.

Structure and operations

The Weekly's editorial board is staffed by boys between year groups 9 and 12 at the school, with students in their final year leading the publication and taking key decisions. The selection process for the editorial board is competitive and consists of a written examination and personal interview with the board's leadership. The editor-in-chief, appointed by the school's administration, is the publication's chief executive and is responsible for content and day-to-day operations. He is assisted by the editors, the second-highest positions on the Editorial Board, who are also students in their final year of school. The length of a standard issue of the ''Weekly'' is 6-8 pages on legal-size ivory white paper. A special edition, released on the Saturday of the school's annual Founder's Day, is printed in the form of a magazine. The ''Weekly'' is accessible in print on the school's premises, and is also available online.

Notable former members

* Vikram Seth ('69,

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

) – Novelist, poet, librettist and playwright 'History of the Weekly', The Doon School (2009) p. 24 *

('60,

) – former India correspondent of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

''; editor of ''

'' and ''

'' *

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

('73,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

) – Novelist, former editor of ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' *

('73, contributor) – Historian *

('71, editor-in-chief) – Broadcaster for

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

, BBC &

CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internat ...

'History of the Weekly', The Doon School (2009) p. 25 * Prannoy Roy ('64,

) – Founder of

New Delhi Television New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching ...

* Mani Shankar Aiyar ('58, editor) – former

Union Cabinet The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

minister for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Karan Singh Karan Singh (born 9 March 1931) is an Indian politician and philosopher. He is the son of the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh. He was the prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir until 1952. From 1 ...

('49, contributor) –

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

member *

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

('64, contributor) –

Chief Minister of Odisha The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followin ...

('64, contributor) – Poet and member of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

'History of the Weekly', The Doon School (2009) p. 28 *

('63, contributor) –

Chief Information Commissioner of India The Chief Information Commissioner of India is the head of the Central Information Commission appointed by the President of India. The first Chief Information Commissioner was Wajahat Habibullah Wajahat Habibullah (born 30 September 1 ...

and chairman of the National Minorities Commission *

('58, contributor) – Editor of ''

'' (1982–86) and ''

'' (1986–2005);

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award ( Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic ideal ...

winner 'History of the Weekly', The Doon School (2009) p. 33 * Tejeshwar Singh ('65, editor) – Indian publisher, newscaster * Vikram Chandra ('83, editor) – Broadcaster, news-presenter for

(NDTV) *

Ardashir Vakil Ardashir "Ardu" Vakil is an Indian-born British author whose first novel, '' Beach Boy'', won the Betty Trask Award in 1997 and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award. His second novel, ''One Day'' was shortlisted for the Encore A ...

('78, editor) – Novelist 'History of the Weekly', The Doon School (2009) p. 32 *

('72, editor-in-chief) – Former headmaster of

and vice dean of the

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School o ...

References

;Notes

External links

Official websiteRepository of past weeklies
on official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Doon School Weekly, The The Doon School Magazines established in 1936 Student newspapers published in India Student magazines High school newspapers 1936 establishments in India

History

Structure and operations

Notable former members

References

Further reading

External links