Hyderabad: Veteran journalist, accomplished newsman and mentor to generations of young journalists, B Someswar Rao passed away at his native Nagpur on Monday morning. He was 86.
Rao, who had been unwell for some time, had shifted from Bengaluru to Nagpur after the death of his wife following a prolonged illness and had been staying with his brother. He is survived by a son and two daughters.
His passing marks the end of a long and distinguished journalistic career that began in the late 1950s and stretched across nearly five decades, taking him through several newspapers, news organisations and publications in different parts of the country. His professional journey included Nagpur Times, The Motherland, Times of Deccan, Western Times, Gujarat Herald, Skyline and The Indian Express, besides the country’s two premier news agencies, United News of India (UNI) and Press Trust of India (PTI). A 2016 review of his memoir records the remarkable breadth of his career and describes his work across central, western and southern India.
Rao began his journalistic journey in Nagpur in 1958 and eventually retired as PTI Bureau Chief in Nagpur. His own professional profile records the beginning of his career in Nagpur and his later association with PTI, where he rose to head the bureau.
For journalists in Hyderabad, however, Rao’s association with the city remains a particularly memorable chapter of his career.
He had a stint with The Skyline, a Hyderabad-based English daily owned by veteran journalist D Sitaram. Rao came to Hyderabad on the recommendation of journalist Veeramalaiah, who was then associated with a Hindi news agency. Sitaram subsequently brought Rao into The Skyline as News Editor.
It was during this period that several young and emerging journalists had the opportunity to work with him and learn from his experience. The Editor of Orangenews9 was among those privileged to work alongside Rao, first at The Skyline, and later at UNI and The Indian Express, besides an English weekly, Evidence. The association across these organisations offered a ringside view of Rao’s newsroom skills, his command of language and, above all, his ability to shape and polish a news copy.
For those who worked with him, Rao was much more than a senior colleague. He was a newsroom institution in his own right.
He belonged to that generation of journalists who treated editing as a craft and news writing as a discipline. He was known for his prolific writing, sharp news sense and excellent command over the language. His insistence on accuracy, clarity and proper presentation of a story made him a highly respected news-desk professional.
After his stint with The Skyline, Rao joined The Indian Express as Chief Sub-Editor and spent considerable time with the newspaper. His career also took him through UNI and subsequently PTI, where he eventually served as Bureau Chief in Nagpur.
The importance of Rao’s contribution becomes clearer when viewed against the era in which he worked. This was journalism before computers transformed newspaper production, before the internet made information instantaneous and long before the arrival of social media. News travelled through teleprinters, reporters worked against tight deadlines and sub-editors were regarded as the final custodians of a newspaper’s credibility.
Rao belonged to that exacting school.
He believed that a journalist had to remain curious, read widely, understand the context of a story and, above all, respect facts. His own writings reflected that philosophy. He frequently wrote about the changing culture of Indian journalism, newsroom practices, ethics and the personalities who shaped the profession.
His long experience eventually found expression in his book, A Town Called Penury: The Changing Culture of Indian Journalism, published in 2016. The book, described as a memoir of a veteran journalist whose career spanned almost half a century, brought together anecdotes, memories and observations about journalists and editors of an earlier era.
The unusual title itself came from one of his earliest newsroom experiences. As a young journalist working in Nagpur in the late 1950s, Rao encountered a news story with the phrase “dies in penury”. A colleague reportedly mistook “penury” for the name of a place. The incident stayed with Rao and eventually inspired the title of his memoir.
His book was not merely a personal memoir. It was also an affectionate record of a rapidly disappearing journalistic culture — one in which editors and sub-editors wielded enormous influence over the quality of a publication and where professional reputation was built slowly, through years of work.
Rao was equally passionate about journalism education and the need to preserve the profession’s institutional memory. He had taught journalism and remained engaged with young journalists and students. His writings often reflected his concern that journalism education should not merely produce degree holders but professionals who understood the craft, ethics and responsibilities of journalism.
He was also an engaging chronicler of the profession. His writings were marked by humour, candour and a sharp eye for the small incidents that reveal much about newsroom culture. In one of his essays, he wrote about journalistic mistakes and the importance of learning from them, stressing the need for reporters and sub-editors to check names, spellings and facts carefully.
Rao’s contribution to journalism was not confined to the organisations that employed him. He mentored numerous young journalists who later went on to work for major national newspapers and publications, including The Times of India and other leading media organisations.
Many of those who came into contact with him remember his ability to improve a copy without destroying the writer’s voice — a rare skill that made him particularly valuable in a newsroom.
He also remained deeply conscious of journalism’s role in society and of the need to remember those who had paid a price for their commitment to the profession. His writings included a strong advocacy for remembering Hyderabad journalist Shoebullah Khan and preserving the history of journalists who stood by their principles.
In many respects, B Someswar Rao represented a generation of Indian journalists that is gradually disappearing. They entered the profession when journalism was neither glamorous nor financially rewarding, but demanded long hours, painstaking work and an almost obsessive commitment to the written word.
They learnt their trade in newsrooms rather than classrooms and passed that knowledge to the next generation through example.
Rao was one such teacher.
His career also provides a fascinating window into the evolution of Indian journalism — from the days of teleprinters and hot-metal printing to the computerised newsroom and the digital age. He witnessed first-hand how newspapers changed, how news agencies evolved and how the profession gradually transformed from a largely print-based enterprise into a 24-hour multimedia industry.
Yet, for Rao, the fundamentals remained constant: a journalist had to get the facts right, write clearly and understand the responsibility that came with publishing a story.
For the Orangenews9 Editor, who had the privilege of working with Rao at The Skyline, and later at UNI and The Indian Express, besides the English weekly Evidence, his passing is also a deeply personal loss. It brings back memories of a newsroom era in which senior journalists were not merely colleagues but mentors whose experience was freely shared with younger professionals.
The professional journey of many journalists of that generation was shaped by such associations, and Rao’s contribution lives on through the journalists he trained, guided and influenced.
His passing therefore is not merely the loss of a veteran journalist. It is the loss of a link to an important chapter of India’s journalistic history.
For those who knew and worked with him, B Someswar Rao will be remembered as a prolific writer, a meticulous copy editor, a demanding but generous newsroom professional and, above all, a journalist who believed in the craft.
As the media landscape continues to change at unprecedented speed, the values represented by journalists like Rao — accuracy, discipline, professional integrity, curiosity and respect for the written word — remain as relevant as ever.
B Someswar Rao may have left the newsroom for the final time, but the journalists he mentored and the words he left behind ensure that his byline will not easily fade from the memory of Indian journalism.
