Every year when the anniversary comes round and we realise that we are another year young, I reminisce and chronicle the time gone by. But this year, as we enter our 35th year of publication, I want to speak about the present and on the work cut out for us in the years ahead. We are on the cusp of a new world, shaped by conflicting and contested realities. It is the time when we need to keep our head up and our feet firmly on the ground. It is the time to drill down into the values we believe in—humanism, justice and equality. It feels strange to have to restate this, let alone say it aloud. But it is that age, when what we once took for granted appears to be dissipating in the fog of absolute greed, absolute power and never-seen-before cruelty. We are at risk of losing our balance as human beings.
But we cannot give up hope. We cannot stop pushing the envelope of event-changing ideas; holding up icons of inspiration; and speaking truth to power. We cannot.
Let me be clear with all our dear readers that this is not easy. I will not paper over the facts with you or pretend that all is okay. It is not. The fact is that knowledge is no longer sacred.
The problem is manifold. One, trust in the media has eroded; the messenger of information is seen as tainted, biased or just untruthful. Two, there is such a diversity of information sources that we have created our own bubbles. We follow, we read and we absorb only what is already on our side. We are shutting ourselves off from new knowledge if it does not support our beliefs. This makes it difficult to reach new readers or get new views across. In all this, increasingly, we are getting impatient; we want news capsules for quick digest, not knowledge to ruminate over. And then there is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is turning the information world upside down. Today, the news we get is regurgitated and spit out by the highly developed machines.
Where does Down To Earth fit in this changing news equation? Our problem (I believe it is our strength) is that we do not fit into any box—we are not for or against the government, neither this nor any; we are neither leftist nor rightist. We are firmly on the side of development that is inclusive and so sustainable. We are on the side of information that is factual and unbiased because it is reported from the ground. We are committed to bringing to light voices that are unheard. We genuinely believe that we play a role in the laboratory of development through our writings; we prepare you to change the future.
Not for a moment do we arrogantly claim that we change the future. We put out kernels of information, that play a role in the society and then make the change happen. This is where we are, committed as always to stay the course. These super-cycles of climate emergency; of war and poverty; of AI, makes the future even more uncertain. But we are certain we cannot lose sight of the need to keep the lights on; to combat poverty and to build a genuinely sustainable world—for people and for nature alike.
This is not a sermon; it is our statement of commitment. The one thing that keeps us grounded is your trust. We hear from you, and when you tell us that our work makes a difference, it keeps us strong. It literally keeps us going.
This is a never-before time. What we have seen in the past 30-odd years, what we have documented and brought to light, is nothing comparable to what we are yet to report and to bring to you. It is a time of great churn; of great disorder; but also of great hope for what this new world could become if we work together. If we stay together.
This is why we believe our work is cut out for us. The only way to steer ahead is to learn from what is happening on the ground and to draw strength from the enterprise and ingenuity of ordinary people. This is what will keep us grounded.
So, do stay with us. You are our anchors in this earth-moving storm.