MUMBAI: There’s a long way from a village in Chhattisgarh to the power corridors of Indian media, and Rohit Vishwakarma has walked every dusty mile of it. The man who once grew up in a place untouched by the sound of trains now boards the editorial engine of NDTV India—this time as its managing editor. With a newsroom built on trust, and a landscape that’s anything but calm, Vishwakarma isn’t just filling a chair. He’s bringing a toolkit of disruption, language flair and sharp ground instincts to reinvent how India’s stories are told.
NDTV India confirmed Vishwakarma’s appointment, marking a key moment in its editorial reset. The channel plans to double down on ‘bold editorial leadership, original thinking, and future-facing journalism’. The move is being seen as both a strategic homecoming and a calculated leap forward.
With over 21 years in broadcast and digital media, Vishwakarma is no stranger to reinvention. His career began at Star News and since then, he has steered editorial strategy at India TV, Aaj Tak, TV9, NDTV 24×7, and Editorji, before launching RTV News Network in 2023 as its editorial director. At just 36, he became the youngest managing editor of a national news channel back in 2019.
The man has worn many hats—and languages. He has led editorial teams across Hindi, English, Marathi, and Telugu, flipping the script on linguistic silos. As the first non-Marathi editor to take TV9 Marathi to the number one spot, he smashed regional glass ceilings. He repeated that success in Telugu-speaking markets—cementing his fluency in both language and audience.
From primetime war rooms to dusty election trails in Saharanpur and Bulandshahr, Vishwakarma’s nose for news has always pointed to ground truth. He is known for shows like Wah Cricket, Fund Ka Funda, and Third Degree, which broke the clutter before ‘disruption’ was fashionable. His election programming—Dilli Ke Dil Mein Kya Hai and Uncensored—offered both raw energy and viewer stickiness. His reporting during the lumpy skin disease outbreak drew praise for its urgency and empathy, putting rural pain on the national radar.
In the digital jungle, he made early moves. At Editorji, he led app-first content strategies. At RTV, he rolled out an AI-powered multilingual news platform where users could curate news playlists and interact with content—turning passive consumption into active engagement. His editorial team accurately predicted the 2024 Andhra Pradesh election results in a large-scale ground survey, pulling over one lakh live viewers.
“News can no longer afford to speak from a pedestal. It has to speak from the ground up, and it must do so with honesty, humility, and purpose”, Vishwakarma said. “NDTV has always stood for credibility. My goal is to build on that trust and take it to a generation that demands transparency, participation, and truth without filters”.
NDTV CEO & editor-in-chief Rahul Kanwal called it a “homecoming and a leap forward”, adding, “His work speaks to the kind of newsroom we are building—grounded, bold, and built for a new India”.
With Vishwakarma’s appointment, NDTV India appears to be stacking its newsroom with a new wave of editorial leaders who blend traditional rigour with a pulse on modern media. The goal? Stories that don’t just break news—but break new ground.
