Shekhar Gupta built his name, byline and reputation over three decades of seminal reporting from the political and social frontlines of a changing India for print publications. He added television to his portfolio at the peak of his career as the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express. Just as his print byline is today synonymous with unparalleled credibility, independence and influence, his work on TV—both commentary and interviewing—reflects the same attributes. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2009, India’s third highest civilian honour, Gupta is the Founder Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Print, India’s newest media start-up. He also writes a widely acknowledged weekly column ‘National Interest’. While Gupta became a familiar face on NDTV early on as a talking head, Walk The Talk was his first regular TV show. Sure enough, it’s developed a style and tenor of its own. In times of noisy name-calling and finger pointing that mostly passes off for TV interviewing, it developed a new concept of intelligent, mature conversation, where the guest is shown respect. That this old-fashioned and contrarian method has proved to be robust, interesting and successful is evident in the fact that Walk The Talk has continued uninterrupted in its fourteenth year. Before turning entrepreneur and launching his media venture, The Print, Gupta worked for The Indian EXPRESS in two spells of six and nineteen years respectively, with a twelve-year stint at India Today magazine in between. A familiar face at significant public discussions and events and a sought-after public s... See more
Shekhar Gupta built his name, byline and reputation over three decades of seminal reporting from the political and social frontlines of a changing India for print publications. He added television to his portfolio at the peak of his career as the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express. Just as his print byline is today synonymous with unparalleled credibility, independence and influence, his work on TV—both commentary and interviewing—reflects the same attributes. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2009, India’s third highest civilian honour, Gupta is the Founder Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Print, India’s newest media start-up. He also writes a widely acknowledged weekly column ‘National Interest’. While Gupta became a familiar face on NDTV early on as a talking head, Walk The Talk was his first regular TV show. Sure enough, it’s developed a style and tenor of its own. In times of noisy name-calling and finger pointing that mostly passes off for TV interviewing, it developed a new concept of intelligent, mature conversation, where the guest is shown respect. That this old-fashioned and contrarian method has proved to be robust, interesting and successful is evident in the fact that Walk The Talk has continued uninterrupted in its fourteenth year. Before turning entrepreneur and launching his media venture, The Print, Gupta worked for The Indian EXPRESS in two spells of six and nineteen years respectively, with a twelve-year stint at India Today magazine in between. A familiar face at significant public discussions and events and a sought-after public speaker, Gupta is the author of Assam: A Valley Divided (1984), India Redefines its Role (1995) and Anticipating India: The Best of National Interest (2014). Shekhar lives in Delhi and, yes, in real life as on Walk The Talk, you will almost always see him with his shirt-sleeves rolled up unless it is too cold to do so.
