On 31 January 2009, nine months after Oorvani Media launched citizenmatters.in, Bangalore’s first online community e-newsmagazine, we are committing the Citizen Matters print fortnightly magazine to you.
This free, sleek, 16-page magazine is being launched in the south Bangalore localities of JP Nagar and BTM Layout II Stage. We encourage you to send us your responses and feedback as we grow to cover other areas of the city.
What is Citizen Matters and who are we? Citizen Matters is local-news-only product, with high quality reporting and commentary. It is published by Oorvani Media, a local media firm founded by Bangaloreans, Subramaniam Vincent and Meera K.
Why Citizen Matters? Look around. Bangalore is undoubtedly a troubled, congested and crying city. At 6.5-8 million people, we could be a country in some other continent, with a national parliament to boot. Yet we administer our city with an infrastructure as if it was to home a few lakh people.
And yet, look again. There are responsible citizens trying not to litter the streets. Attending civic meetings to push for improvement. Getting the courts to act when ill-framed municipal laws are unfairly and selectively imposed.
What’s more, parents of teeny tots are setting up skating rinks for children in our parks. Some are organising running events, endurance training, walks, conservation groups, and more. And needless to add, there’s a vibrant music, arts, and drama scene in the city. So despite the challenges, thousands of Bangaloreans are already enrichening our local sphere in a myriad ways.
As the magazine’s founders, we believe there is much of civic value and virtue than can come of all this. Our founding idea is that a city is a community of citizens, and that, focussed, high calibre, local journalism can foster enlightened communities in our city’s many localities.
It is taking off from here that we launched Citizen Matters online in March 2008, and we are likewise launching the Citizen Matters print fornightly on 31 January 2009, to reflect Bengaluru’s many realities in an informative, educative and stimulative manner.
Your Citizen Matters print edition will carry some of the latest news and stories on the city from infrastructure to environment and from arts to events. We are already known for encouraging citizen journalism online, so go ahead, send us your articles on local events and experiences!
In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we’re looking forward to engaging you, and equally, your engagement with your neighbourhoods and our troubled city, Bengaluru. ⊕