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Tag: CNN International

  • CNN International’s Ellana Lee promoted to international role

    CNN International’s Ellana Lee promoted to international role

    MUMBAI: CNN International Asia Pacific vice president and managing editor Ellana Lee has been promoted to senior vice president of CNN International, adding international oversight of the network’s expansive roster of feature programs while continuing to manage CNN’s editorial operation across Asia Pacific. Working in close partnership with colleagues at Turner International, Lee will also be charged with developing CNN International’s business operations worldwide from the Asia headquarters in Hong Kong.                            

     

    Making the announcement, CNN International executive vice president and managing editor Tony Maddox said, “In this new role, Ellana becomes our most senior executive outside of the US. Ellana is the perfect fit for this new role. She already has an important job on her hands looking after the network’s editorial output in Asia Pacific but we’re thrilled she will now undertake an international role overseeing the network’s feature programming and spearheading business operations internationally.” 

     

    Lee has had a longstanding and accomplished career at CNN, having initially worked in New York as a producer. She was named a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum, is an Asia 21 fellow as awarded by the Asia Society and is a graduate of Harvard’s ‘Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century’ Executive Program.  

     

    CNN International today also announced further key staff appointments in Asia Pacific, strengthening the network’s newsgathering and editorial capabilities in the region. 

     

    Other new roles to be based in the CNN International Hong Kong bureau include: supervising producer Mitra Mobasherat; assignment editor Chieu Luu; news field producer Pamela Boykoff; business field producer Felicia Wong; planning editor Bex Wright; business planning editor Jonathan Stayton; features producer Michala Sabnani; and associate features producer Alisha Haridasani. In addition, senior international correspondent Ivan Watson moved to Hong Kong last week and will now be permanently based in Asia. 

     

    “This new structure helps us to continue delivering the outstanding editorial output across all platforms that has seen us serve audiences worldwide with award-winning newsgathering and programming. I couldn’t be happier with the team we now have in place,” added Maddox. 

     

    These appointments come after a string of recent awards and accolades for the network including the Royal Television Society’s ‘News Channel of the Year’ for the second straight year and the ‘Cable and Satellite Channel of the Year’ at 2013 Asian Television Awards. In addition, the latest IPSOS survey results show CNN is the leading international news brand in the Asia Pacific region across television, online and mobile.

  • CNN International launches ‘Smart Business’

    CNN International launches ‘Smart Business’

    MUMBAI: CNN International has announced the launch of Smart Business – a new weekly feature segment that will profile the trailblazers using innovative new approaches and the latest technology to create new business opportunities.

     

    From 3 September, Smart Business will air on the network during the recently-launched The Business View with Nina Dos Santos and World Business Today so that it reaches EMEA and Asia primetime audiences. Each week the segment will feature a different company or industry personality who has broken the mould in the world of business to thrive in a digitised and connected world.

     

    Smart Business aims at helping viewers learn first-hand about a wide range of workplace innovations on topics as diverse as digital advertising, supply chains, business intelligence and technical literacy to name a few. The first Smart Business segments will include: Seattle-based pioneer Blab, which is using technology to predict what conversations will happen on social media; co-working space The Factory, Berlin’s first major start-up hub; and UK company Decoded, whose coding courses help employees unlock the digital world. Each report will explain how the company or individual harnessed opportunities through digital innovation, illustrate the change to the wider marketplace and in the process solve age-old problems of doing business.

     

    Online, a dedicated microsite will supplement the show’s video content with in-depth stories, Q&As and opinion pieces as well as infographics and data visualisation.

     

    “Smart Business will give viewers the inside track on what happens when industry leaders use technology and a fresh approach to develop brand new business opportunities,” said CNN International senior VP, programming Mike McCarthy. “Covering innovative thinking from all around the world, Smart Business is the perfect complement to CNN’s business programming. From utilising technology and taking a different look at workplace challenges, the show gives executives and decision makers another reason to tune in to CNN.”

  • ‘Nepal’s Organ Trail: A CNN Freedom Project Documentary’ investigates the brutal kidney trade in Nepal

    ‘Nepal’s Organ Trail: A CNN Freedom Project Documentary’ investigates the brutal kidney trade in Nepal

    MUMBAI: ‘Nepal’s Organ Trail: A CNN Freedom Project Documentary’ highlights the brutal and exploitative organ trade in Nepal which sees the trafficking of impoverished and ignorant villagers as unwitting kidney donors. CNN International Correspondent Sumnima Udas investigates the plight of these trafficked victims who live with severe health complications and the threat of premature death looms large, pushing their impoverished families further into the cycle of poverty and exploitation.

     

    “Organ trafficking is a barbaric trade that destroys the lives of not just an individual, but the entire family,” said Tony Maddox, Executive Vice President and Managing Director for CNN International. “This was a story that needed to be told, and we are dedicating ourselves to highlight this inhuman practice so a change can be brought about.”

     

    The documentary follows the organ trail which begins from the villages of the remote Kavre district in Nepal where villagers are trafficked on pretexts ranging from false job offers to promises of large sums of money for a ‘chunk’ of their body which they are told will ‘grow back’. At the other end of the trail, ailing and desperate patients await kidney transplants which could potentially save their lives. A perfect storm of poverty, desperation and loopholes in the government machinery allow traffickers to continue this exploitative cycle and make handsome profits at the cost of acute human suffering. The trafficked victims are left in a pitiable state. In the words of one victim, he is “just counting my days to die” while holding on to the hope that “the government will take care of my children.”

     

    The half-hour documentary also highlights the efforts of government agencies, anti-trafficking organisations like The Forum For Protection Of People’s Rights and medical organisations to combat the trade. The Nepal government is issuing more stringent counter measures to prevent forgery of documents, hospitals are putting in place measures like DNA testing to prove the biological relationship between donors and recipients and anti-trafficking organisations are working hard to educate vulnerable villagers. While there is still a long journey ahead, activists express the hope that “if all the stakeholders contribute, this problem will be resolved.”

  • Suhasini Haidar to join The Hindu as diplomatic editor

    Suhasini Haidar to join The Hindu as diplomatic editor

    MUMBAI: On Saturday, Suhasini Haidar tweeted saying that she will be joining The Hindu as its diplomatic editor.

     

    Indiantelevision.com broke the news of CNN-IBN deputy foreign affairs editor and prime time anchor deciding to quit from her current position.

     

    Haidar also tweeted that she hopes to keep doing World View, CNN-IBN’s international affairs show, too.

     

    Haidar began her career in 1995, with CNN International, working at the Delhi bureau that also covered Pakistan at the time (CNN subsequently opened its Islamabad bureau).Later on she moved to CNN-IBN. In her 20 years of journalism, Haider has covered issues concerning Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Lebanon and Libya. She regularly contributes as a columnist on Indian Foreign Policy for various newspapers.

     

    In 2010, she won the prestigious News Television “Best TV News Presenter” Award. Haidar is credited to be the only journalist to have interviewed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his family, a show that also won her the Indian Television Academy award as ‘Best Chat show’ for the year.

  • BBC Global News appoints Naveen Jhunjhunwala as India COO

    BBC Global News appoints Naveen Jhunjhunwala as India COO

    MUMBAI: Last month, indiantelevision.com broke the news that BBC Global News India COO Preet Dhupar had decided to move out of her 14 year stint with the company. Now, the global broadcaster has found a person to fill the space in Naveen Jhunjhunwala.

     

    Jhunjhunwala was previously with Turner International India for 15 years as vice president for corporate finance and administration, looking after the financial functions for distribution, ad sales and marketing of CNN International, Cartoon Network, POGO and HBO in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

     

    Speaking on his new role Jhunjhunwala said, “I am delighted to be joining the BBC. I am looking forward to taking up my new role and to being part of the talented team at one of the world’s most renowned news operations. The BBC is an iconic brand and carries a special position for the Indian audience and in today’s dynamic market place, with digitisation, growing online penetration and the BBC’s special focus on India, it has exceptional potential for growth in both television and online space.”

     

    At Turner, he helped launch the company’s India operatons including the CN subscription business, launch of new channels like HBO, POGO and WB. He also helped set up the Zee Turner distribution JV, including MediaPro as well as CNN-IBN. Prior to Turner, he was with Ernst & Young in New Delhi.

     

    The role of COO for India was created last year to better organise the company’s business operations in a growing Indian market. Apart from looking at finance, Jhunjhunwala will also be responsible for determining BBC’s commercial priorities and targets for news across the country as well as ad revenue, content distribution and audience growth.

     

    “I’m pleased to welcome Naveen on board at such an exciting time for the BBC’s news interests in India.  Naveen brings with him a wealth of experience and will be a real asset to the BBC, building on the successful work to date of our teams in Delhi and Mumbai,” said BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan.

     

    “India is a country we are proud to have been broadcasting to and from for more than seven decades and we remain committed to our audiences here. We have featured India in two dedicated programming seasons on BBC World News already this year, have recently launched a new Indian edition of bbc.com/mobile and are mid-way through our most comprehensive coverage ever of the Indian general election. I am sure Naveen will be invaluable as we work to develop even further in this exciting and dynamic market,” he added.

     

    Naveen will take up his position in Delhi on 1 May. He replaces Preet Dhupar who left the organisation earlier this month.

  • CNN’s vital signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

    CNN’s vital signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

    MUMBAI: CNN’s Vital Signs is a half-hour monthly program that educates and enlightens viewers around the world about the latest topics, trends and discoveries in health, wellness and medicine, hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent. Engage with medical pioneers and leaders of the health profession, on the cutting edge of their field. Be informed about your own health and global medical breakthroughs, and how they could impact your life. The health and medical field affects us all – no matter what country you live in or what language you speak. CNN’s Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta airs on CNN International this week on Saturday, March 22 at 1000 IST, Sunday, March 23 at 1800 IST and next week on Saturday, March 29 IST at 1800 and Sunday, March 30 IST.

     

    In the first episode, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the world of 3D printing in the medical field. Imagine a world with no organ transplant waiting list, or no chance of the body rejecting an organ or implant. The solution could come from a simple printer – a 3D printer – that prints layers of human cells instead of ink, and could change the face of medicine forever. From human organs to prosthetics, see how this revolutionary technology could change medicine as we know it.

  • COCOA-NOMICS: A CNN FREEDOM PROJECT DOCUMENTARY

    COCOA-NOMICS: A CNN FREEDOM PROJECT DOCUMENTARY

    MUMBAI: Two years ago, CNN Freedom Project documentary ‘Chocolate’s Child Slaves’ exposed the plight of young Africans forced to harvest the beans that make the chocolate we eat around the world. Many of the children made to work in the cocoa plantations in countries like Ivory Coast are forced to work long hours in appalling conditions, most have never even tasted chocolate. Cocoa-Nomics: A CNN Freedom Project Documentary premieres on CNN International on Saturday March 1 at 1930 IST.

     

    Now CNN host Richard Quest has returned to the plantations, with José Lopez, the Executive Vice President of Nestle, to find out if anything has changed and to see if chocolate producers are willing and able to eradicate slavery from their industry. Quest follows the supply chain, from bean to bar, examining the collective efforts to reform the cocoa industry – the fundamental socio-economic solutions needed to secure a sustainable future for cocoa farming and the chocolate industry.

     

    As the global demand for chocolate rises, so does the threat to the supply of cocoa; this is a pivotal time in the development of the cocoa economy in West Africa – for the industry, the next generation of cocoa farmers and for chocolate lovers.

     

    Premieres on CNN International on Saturday March 1 at 1930 IST

  • RTS crowns CNN International news channel of the year

    RTS crowns CNN International news channel of the year

    MUMBAI: Last night at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Awards, CNN International was crowned News Channel of the Year for the second year running beating Sky News and the BBC News Channel, plus won the coveted Best News Coverage – International category for its outstanding reporting of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines beating ITN and BBC One.

    The network’s coverage of news events such as the Westgate Mall siege in Nairobi, the struggle for power in Egypt, the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the on-going crisis in Syria, and the rise of extremism in the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, won over the RTS jury.

    Tony Maddox, Executive Vice President of CNN International, said: “To win News Channel of the Year for the second year running, against some strong submissions from our peers, is a very special honour. Our profession is being tested today more than ever before, but the bravery, determination, skill and fortitude of my colleagues around the world has been unwavering.

    “Our coverage of Typhoon Haiyan was exemplary from start to finish. Our crews showed enormous bravery as well as great sensitivity on what was both a physically gruelling, emotionally draining, and very important assignment. I’m delighted that their efforts have been recognised here, and I couldn’t be more proud of their work.”

    These two awards are the latest recognition of CNN International’s editorial strength. The channel was recently named Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year at the Asian Television Awards, and had a strong showing in the Emmys, FPA Awards, Peabody Awards and the Overseas Press Awards. CNN is also the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America.

     

  • CNN International Appoints Ravi Agrawal as New Delhi Bureau Chief

    CNN International Appoints Ravi Agrawal as New Delhi Bureau Chief

    MUMBAI: CNN International today announced Ravi Agrawal as the New Delhi Bureau Chief. Agrawal will commence in this role with effect from April 1, 2014.Based in the country’s capital,Agrawal will manage and oversee CNN’s multi-platform newsgathering operations from India.

     
    Agrawal is an award-winning CNN producer and has worked with the network across its London and US offices for eight years. He assumes this new role from being the senior producer of CNN’s flagship Sunday program on world affairs ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’.

    “India has the world’s interest and CNN has had a long standing presence and robust operations in the countryfor well over two decades now. Ravi’s appointment is very timely as we prepare to coverthe world’s largest democracy going to the polls in the coming months,” said Ellana Lee, Vice President and Managing Editor, CNN International Asia Pacific. “The wealth of talent and experience at CNN has enabled us to recruit the strongest candidate from inside the company for this vital role.With a combination of Ravi’s deep knowledge, understanding of India and his in-depth experience with the network’s global shows and operations, we will continue our comprehensive coverage from this country,” she added.
     

    Before GPS, Agrawal was the senior producer for ‘Connect the World’, CNN International’s daily primetime show.Previously, he produced key news programs from the London bureau including Business International, CNN Today and World Business Today. Having joined the network in 2006, Agrawal rose to become a producer in a very short span gaining extensive “live” and in-field production experience from around the world including, Davos, Delhi, London, Mumbai, New York and Washington.

    While Agrawal was its senior producer, ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ won a Peabody Award and garnered three Emmy nominations. In 2013, Agrawal was named a “Young Global Shaper” by the World Economic Forum. He received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Harvard College where he was elected to the editorial board of The Harvard Crimson in his freshman year.

     

  • Greg Beitchman joins CNN International

    Greg Beitchman joins CNN International

    MUMBAI: One of the world’s biggest news networks, CNN International has boosted its top level line up with Greg Beitchman being roped in from Reuters as vice president for content sales and partnerships. He will be responsible for overseeing and developing the network’s content sales and business on an international level with broadcast and digital being the main priority.

     

    According to the release, his role will include content sales and partnerships, out of home services and licensing deals. Apart from this, he will also be involved with CNN’s NewSource content syndication service. CNN has about a 1000 global broadcast partners.  

     

    At Reuters, Beitchman was global head of multimedia content. Commenting on his appointment, CNN International COO Rani R. Raad said in a release, The worlds news consumption habits are evolving, and our business is evolving with that. Our commercial strategy is geared towards ensuring our consumers and partners have access to CNNs best-in-class journalism across all platforms, and Greg is the perfect man to help us deliver that. He is a first-class operator and will make a major contribution to guiding and strengthening our commercial enterprise.

     

    Beitchman has been involved with India over the last many years. During his stint with Reuters he moved to Delhi in 1997 to lead the international news agency’s investment into the news agency ANI (Asian News International). In 2005, he returned to India to spearhead the launch of Indian English news channel Times Now as executive producer and broadcast talent. In 2007, Reuters launched its Indian domain reuters.co.in to cover news about India and its neighbours, which was also led by Beitchman and his team. While in India, he also covered the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai for Reuters.

     

    Talking about his appointment Beitchman commented: “In an era when audiences have an almost infinite supply of content, CNN stands out among the world’s most trusted news brands. As our audiences and partners look for innovation in storytelling and commercial models, this is an exciting time to work on strengthening CNN’s commercial proposition internationally.”