Journalism is in decline. At the pop tabloid end there is "People" magazine. It assigns seven reporters to cover the latest activities of Britney Spears. Then there is the high brow, serious genre. In this realm, powerful seductive forces lure journalists away from actual journalism. A system of perks and privileges keep reporters tethered. If you don't make waves you'll be invited to all the right parties and state dinners, hobnob with the nabobs and muckamucks, and have the president call you by your first name at press conferences. If you step out of line and rock the casbah? Well, you might soon be covering traffic accidents or sports.

P. Sainath is an award-winning journalist who writes about the crisis in the Indian countryside. He is Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, one of India's most important newspapers. "I cover the people who live at the bottom end of the spectrum," he says. He is author of Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts.