The Monday after Neeraj Chopra made history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a gold at the World Athletics Championships, we at The Hindu decided that the monumental achievement merited a two-page story. The idea was to explain the biomechanics of the champion’s throws. What is the science behind his javelin throw? What is the best angle of release for a javelin? And what is the force involved? We aimed to publish graphs that would highlight how Chopra is a cut above the rest.
Editorial | Gold winner: On Neeraj Chopra and his golden arm
We only had a week to do this and the clock began ticking. Imagining a beautiful and informative double-page story is one thing; implementing it is another. While shaping quality content is the ultimate challenge, the first hurdle is in bringing all the players together. This is a tough task in a newsroom as every team — indeed every journalist — has a different schedule or different deadlines to meet. Crucially, those working in print cannot afford to sacrifice the quality of the next day’s edition in order to bring out a weekend special.
