John Thomas from rural reporting for Indian Express in Kerala to diplomatic affairs, military matters and stock markets for Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Business Times in Singapore, or directing the reporting networks of Deccan Herald and The Statesman or writing edits and making the edit and op-ed pages of Vijay Times, John has been there and done it in his 34 years as a journalist.

He was also an evangelist for newsroom computerisation and web journalism since Deccan Herald was a pioneer in both in the 1990s. But it is his passion for journalism education, which began with his invoIvement in the founding of the Asian College of Journalism in Bangalore in 1994 and the Manorama School of Communication in Kottayam in 2002, that he followed after his newspaper years by teaching in the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore and five colleges under Bangalore University, serving on their boards of study and continuing as a career guide for old students in journalism or in teaching and following media industry developments.