When I picked up the 300-plus-page book NEWSFIRE – A 50-Year Connect with Media & Nature by B. N. Kumar, the title immediately caught my attention. NEWSFIRE suggests the heat, urgency and sometimes the fury of journalism. But the words Media & Nature reveal something deeper, it’s about a lifelong relationship that B. N. Kumar has spent half a century discovering and living with ecological issues also side political parlances.
For me, NEWSFIRE is far more than a journalist’s memoir. It is a ringside account of Indian media’s dramatic transformation and, at the same time, the story of how a journalist gradually evolved into an environmental storyteller, chronicler and advocate. It traces the remarkable journey of a man who witnessed journalism changing from ink-stained newsrooms and clattering typewriters. Now it is a world dominated by smartphones, artificial intelligence and instant digital communication, yet never lost sight of journalism’s larger purpose.
I have always believed that journalism is not merely about recording what happened. It is about observing what is happening, asking why it is happening and, most importantly, questioning what happens next. B. N. Kumar’s journey therefore struck a familiar chord with me, as I too have spent much of my life writing about nature, wildlife, birds, wetlands and the relentless vanishing of India’s natural heritage. Reading this book felt less like following another journalist’s career and more like sharing the concerns of a fellow traveller who believes that stories can inspire change.
BNK has witnessed journalism’s extraordinary evolution, from the days of typewriters, patient reporting and carefully edited newspapers to today’s frenetic digital universe, where news races across continents in seconds. His experience in journalism, news agencies, public relations and strategic communication gives him a rare vantage point. He understands how stories are gathered, verified, shaped and amplified, and equally how easily they can be manipulated, sensationalised or distorted.
His observations on today’s media landscape are especially relevant. The smartphone has democratised information, enabling almost anyone to become a reporter, photographer or broadcaster. While this has expanded public participation, it has also unleashed an epidemic of misinformation. Rumours often outrun facts, and sensational headlines frequently overshadow months of painstaking investigation. The greatest crisis confronting journalism today is therefore not merely the speed of information, but the gradual erosion of credibility and public trust.
Yet, for me, the true soul of NEWSFIRE lies elsewhere, in B. N. Kumar’s unwavering commitment to environmental advocacy. His work among mangroves, wetlands, flamingos and the fragile ecosystems of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai demonstrate that journalism need not stop at exposing a problem rather it can become a powerful force for protecting what remains.
The book vividly illustrates how environmental journalism is not simply about covering natural disasters or reporting climate change statistics. It is about documenting fragile ecosystems before they disappear, exposing encroachments that often go unnoticed. Questioning unplanned urban development and reminding society that economic progress cannot come at the irreversible cost of ecological destruction. BNK’s sustained engagement with mangrove conservation, wetland preservation and the protection of flamingo habitats reflects a journalist who chose to stand alongside nature rather than merely observe its decline.
I have long believed that environmental journalism carries a unique moral responsibility. A wetland cannot write a newspaper article. A mangrove cannot appear before a government committee. A flamingo cannot protest when its feeding grounds disappear. Rivers, forests, grasslands and coastlines possess no voice in the corridors of power. They depend upon journalists, writers, scientists and concerned citizens to tell their stories. B. N. Kumar clearly understands this responsibility, and throughout NEWSFIRE he transforms journalism into an instrument of environmental stewardship.
Equally significant is the book’s reminder that conservation journalism cannot be reduced to a single headline or a one-day campaign. A wetland does not disappear overnight, nor does a forest vanish with a single swing of an axe. Ecological destruction is gradual, incremental and often deceptively silent. It advances through unchecked construction, pollution, land reclamation and administrative neglect. The environmental journalist must therefore return to the same story repeatedly carefully documenting every change, questioning every decision and ensuring that public memory does not fade before meaningful action is taken.
Reading NEWSFIRE, I found myself reflecting on India’s extraordinary transformation over the past five decades. Cities have expanded vertically and horizontally and technology has revolutionised communication and development has accelerated at an unprecedented pace. Yet, in the shadow of this progress, countless wetlands have been reclaimed, forests fragmented, rivers polluted and wildlife habitats reduced. Nature has steadily lost ground, not merely in square yards, but in acres and square miles. BNK’s narrative quietly reminds us that development and conservation need not be adversaries, provided journalism continues to hold decision-makers accountable. Particularly the politicians who are power-hungry.
The book ultimately leaves me with one enduring thought that media may transform its technology, vocabulary and speed, but its fundamental responsibility remains unchanged. To seek the truth, question power and give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Only if more original photographs were used, instead of AI created illustrations, the impact would have greater on the reader.
Nature is perhaps the greatest of those voiceless constituencies and sadly not only in our country but across the world. That is why NEWSFIRE left such a lasting impression on me. It is ultimately the story of a journalist who spent fifty years watching the world change and chose not merely to report it, but to defend what was quietly disappearing before our eyes. Through his writings, campaigns and relentless advocacy, B. N. Kumar reminds us that journalism, at its finest, is not simply about informing society but about awakening its conscience. He kept watching. He kept writing. And, most importantly, he kept speaking for ecological issue when nature had no voice of its own alongside his regular job as a scribe.
-N. Shiva Kumar
Newsfire: A 50-Year Connect With Media and Environment
B N Kumar
Notion Press
Pages 344, Price Rs 699
