Frontline (magazine)


Frontline is a fortnightly English language magazine published by The Hindu Group of publications from Chennai, India. R Vijaya Sankar is the editor-in-chief of the magazine. As a current affairs magazine, it covers domestic and International news. Frontline gives a prominent place to various issues of development and hindrances in the Indian states. Apart from topics of politics and political economy, it also covers a wide range of topics including Arts, books, cinema, Science and English language.

History

Frontline was first published in December 1984. It was originally intended to be a newspaper when it was started by the founders, they later had differences in opinion regarding the content and intent of the publication and the magazine was sold to PL Investments Ltd, which later sold it to The Hindu Group.

Contributors and perspective

Its regular contributors include known progressive writers such as C. P. Chandrasekhar, Praful Bidwai, R.K. Raghavan, Jayati Ghosh and Bhaskar Ghose. Aijaz Ahmad, a Marxist literary critic and political analyst, also contributes occasional essays on various topics. Vijay Prashad, the Marxist historian, writes a regular "Letter from America" for the magazine, as well as reports on American issues.
Frontline is noted for its serious coverage of issues. The magazine has made it a point to analyse issues related to the working classes, the unorganized sectors, tribal regions, etc. in India.
Since, 1991, the magazine has opposed the economic reforms of successive governments comprising disinvestment in state owned corporations, opening of areas like telecom and insurance to private and foreign players among others.

Awards

Regular correspondent, Dionne Bunsha received the Ramnath Goenka in 2007 for outstanding reporting in the field of environment and books. Journalist, P.Sainath, a frequent contributor to Frontline won the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award in the fields of creative arts, journalism and communication.
Other journalists such as Asha Krishnakumar and Praveen Swami are also recipients of prestigious awards in journalism, such as the Lorenzo Natali prize.