Tag: Sagarika Ghose

Farewell Editor

The last time I did an India at 9 debate on CNN IBN on June 2, 2014, Vinod Mehta was on the panel. As the debate was ending, Vinod insisted on having the last word. ‘What is this I am hearing about you quitting or going on a sabbatical? Don’t stay away from the screen for long, you must return soon!’ As it turned out, that was my last appearance on CNN IBN: I did not return. Little did I know then, that neither would Vinod. He left us permanently this Sunday, leaving behind a great void.

I never had the privilege of working under Vinod, although my wife Sagarika did and she told me wonderful stories of an editor who was passionate and committed to journalism. My interactions with Vinod were largely on the television screen though he did get me to write the occasional column for Outlook. I found him the person I had always imagined him to me: honest, straightforward, and above all, irreverent. Most editors take themselves very seriously and believe their one article or programme can change the world. Many will tell you how proximate they are to the corridors of power. Not Vinod. His almost self-deprecating attitude to being an editor was perhaps his greatest strength (he had even named his dog ‘Editor’). That coupled with a nose for news and the big, bold headline made him the ideal reporters’ editor, someone who nurtured and embraced many fine young talents. For Vinod, the story mattered, not the pomposity of the byline or the celebrityhood of being editor.

In a sense, Vinod belonged to what I would call the grand ‘Bombay school of editors’, reared in the more genteel 1960s and 70s. Leading the pack was my first editor when I was in college: Behram Contractor or Busybee, someone also blessed with the craft of using simple language to bring a story alive. Vinod and Behram were in many ways two of a kind: they didn’t flaunt their connections or get intimate with their sources, but enjoyed the idea of bringing out a cracking good newspaper or magazine.

Sadly, we live in an age where the editor is an endangered species, combating marketing, corporate and political pressures. Vinod is perhaps one of the last of the editors who would not compromise on journalistic independence. As he once told a colleague: “Let someone serve a legal notice, the story must go!” His views were his own, he did not wish to follow the herd or be intimidated by the cacophony of cheerleaders and naysayers. That both LK Advani and Sonia Gandhi were present at his funeral exemplified his ability to cut across the political divide. He wrote a fine book on Sanjay Gandhi and an equally well written biography of Meena Kumari: in both books, there was just enough gossip and anecdote to make them real page turners. Editor, author, journalist: we shall all miss his affable, always energetic presence. RIP.

Post- script: Vinod made the effortless transition to being a pundit on television. ‘I don’t really like it, but it does pay well,’ he told me with a smile. That was quintessential Vinod: he liked expressing his thoughts candidly, but not without a glass of whiskey in the hand!

(The piece has been written by veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardedsai on his blog http://www.rajdeepsardesai.net and Indiantelevision.com took his consent and uploaded it after his approval)

March 9, 2015
2014: The year of big movements in the news channel space

MUMBAI: The year 2014 was an important year for the news channel industry, monetarily and otherwise. The bonus for the industry was the national election which not only kept them busy for the first half of the year, but also sent all the networks into profits for the first financial quarter. However, several changes took place on the people front with numerous big names moving out from their associated companies.

The biggest shocker that hit the industry was the acquisition of Network18 by Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Independent Media Trust, putting the entire TV18 (news channels) section under the Mukesh Ambani conglomerate. Network18 founder and chairman Raghav Bahl, this year sold his baby to Ambani for a whopping Rs 4000 crore. Bahl has now set up his own new venture in the mobile space called Quintillion Media.

What followed this was an upheaval of sorts, as one by one, the main pillars of the company began to fall. As soon as the meeting concluded between Bahl and the management of Network18, departures began which included group CEO B Sai Kumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, IBN Network editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Network18 Media CEO Sanjay Dua, Network18 digital CEO Durga Raghunath, Network 18 CFO RDS Binni Bawa and deputy foreign affairs editor Suhasini Haidar.

Soon after, the discussion circled the possibilities of news manipulation by the conglomerate as well as editorial interference started cropping up. In order to assuage the racing thoughts of the employees, the newly formed management took a town hall meeting. A new set of executives joined the company including former Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal who took charge as Network18 group COO, Umesh Upadhyay as news director, Rohit Bansal as non executive director, Hariharan Mahadevan as CFO and Deepak Parekh and Adil Zainulbhai as independent directors.

The year also saw several people shifting loyalties due to various reasons. The biggest of them were Rajdeep Sardesai joining India Today as consulting editor and primetime anchor, Dilip Venkatraman and Savvy Venkatraman joining ITV Network as group COO of strategy and business development and group chief marketing officer respectively, former Indian Express editor in chief Shekhar Gupta moving to India Today as the vice chairman and editor in chief of news properties but within two months relinquishing his positions and becoming editorial advisor to the group and Sanjay Dua joining ITV Network as NewsX CEO and ITV network chief revenue officer.

Months after Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla was elevated to BCCL Group president of corporate development, he quit the company to join Grey group India as chairman and managing director. Meanwhile, Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul went to IBN18 Network as CEO. ITV Network elevated CEO RK Arora to group CEO and soon after Arora quit to join News Nation as its CEO, which had been vacated by Shailesh Kumar, the former CEO and editor in chief of the channel. Kumar recently joined Focus Group as the managing editor for regional channels. Neeraj Sanan who headed distribution and marketing for MCCS that operates ABP news channels, quit and went to Focus Group as group CEO.

News Xpress CEO and editor in chief Vinod Kapri decided to step down as well and was replaced by Prasoon Shukla. Early in the year, CNN-IBN managing editor Ashutosh quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was replaced by Vinay Tewari who after several months shifted to Headlines Today as managing editor, a place left vacant by Nalin Mehta. Radhakrishnan Nair was appointed in place of Tewari.

On the business side, Bloomberg TV India editor in chief Vivek Law quit to pursue entrepreneurial activities and the position was filled by Siddharth Zarabi. Zee News resident editor Sumit Awasthi joined IBN7 as deputy managing editor. News24 managing editor Ajit Anjum joined India TV in the same capacity. QW Naqvi who joined India TV as editorial director, left after a few months’ stint.

On the international channels side, Naveen Jhunjhunwala replaced Preet Dhupar as BBC Global India COO while Ravi Agrawal was appointed as CNN International bureau chief for India. Bhupendra Chaubey who became executive editor of CNN-IBN, post takeover by Reliance, decided to shift his role to consulting editor. The year also saw the demise of veteran journalist Jehangir Pocha.

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has been fighting tooth and nail for keeping news broadcasters out of the 12 minute ad cap. The case is still being heard in the High Court for more than a year. NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao, after four years of heading the NBA as president was succeeded by India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma. A new entity called the All India News Broadcasters Association (AINBA) was formed for the regional news channels with Azad News chairman MS Walia as its chairman.

The other big takeover rumour that was making rounds was about the Adani group trying to stake claim in NDTV (which completed 25 years) which the company vehemently stated as a false one.

The year also saw a few channel launches such as CNBC Bajar, News Nation UP/Uttarakhand, several regional news channels under the ETV group (now under Network18), Zee Purvaiya and Zee Kalinga which have now been converted into fully entertainment as against the earlier format of 50 per cent news and 50 per cent entertainment.

2014 was also the year of revamps, with India TV, IBN7, NewsX, News Xpress and Zee News changing the look and feel of the channel. NDTV Profit converted into a dual channel NDTV Profit/Prime, with Prime operating as a fully sponsored channel, aimed at easing out the losses being made by Profit over the years.

The 16^th Lok Sabha general election added the much needed boost to the balance sheets of news channels that have been cribbing about high carriage fees, low subscription fees and advertising rates. CNN-IBN and Times Now came up with their election apps. The latter also tied up with north east channel News Live for poll coverage. Network18 tied up with Microsoft to set up an analytics centre for the elections while BBC used WhatsApp and WeChat for getting more traction from Indian audiences. This election season saw a new trend: that of editors moving out of the comfort zone of their studio and reporting from ground zero.

As we approach the new year, burning issues are yet to be resolved such as the ad cap, carriage fees, paid news as well as foreign direct investment in news channels which is still stuck at 26 per cent and does not seem to have a better future any time soon.

December 23, 2014
Bhupendra Chaubey is now CNN-IBN consulting editor

MUMBAI: After being elevated to executive editor of CNN-IBN a few months ago, Bhupendra Chaubey has now shifted his role to consulting editor.

He will now do only one show a week and appear on screen for big days such as elections but will not be looking at hourly/daily management of news. He will also be focusing a lot on the digital space.

In a series of tweets, Chaubey said that ’24 hour management doesn’t leave you any space to unlearn and learn again.’ He also tweeted ‘Journalism without passion and processes of enquiry isn’t journalism. I believe new age media platforms do provide you with that space.’

While several media reports suggested that Chaubey would be leaving the organisation, following the footsteps of Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Vinay Tewari etc, it seems like he is still committed to Network18.

Chaubey has been in the field from the past 17 years, starting his career with NDTV post which he joined TV18 in 2005 as chief political correspondent.

November 27, 2014
Wanted to name my book ‘TsuNaMo’, says Rajdeep Sardesai

MUMBAI: “I had initially thought of naming it ‘TsuNaMo: The Election That Changed India’,” says one of India’s most recognised journalistic faces on television.

Rajdeep Sardesai, who quit Network18 as IBN18 editor in chief in July this year and later on joined the India Today Group as consulting editor, recently launched his book ‘2014 : The Election That Changed India’. The book tracks the story of the 16th Lok Sabha elections with a media insider’s view.

The man with over 26 years of experience in the field first thought of writing a book last year but it was only in July, this year that he thought of penning his expertise. Sardesai was initially approached by Penguin Publishers to write a biography on Prime Minister Narendra Modi but he says he felt that he was more qualified as a journalist to write about the elections than just a biography.

When asked why he chose 2014 elections to write the book on, he informs “I have been covering elections since 1989, but this was a historic election. For the first time, we had a non-Congress single political party winning by a huge and thumping majority. It was an election that saw the emergence of a larger than life Modi image, extensive media coverage along with new styles of campaigning that were very different from the past. The book while focuses on the 2014 elections has slices of elections from the previous years as well,” says the veteran.

He provides three reasons why journalists and media students should pick up the book. “First, this was the biggest election we have seen so far. It documents a slice of history that people would want to be a part of. Secondly, people love to read good stories. With my 26 years of journalism experience, I have compiled interesting anecdotes of many years that bring to life many personalities from the political field. Thirdly, TV programmes today are like fast food while a book is like good wine that people will enjoy indulging in,” he says.

Sardesai who singlehandedly wrote the book of 135,000 words without a team, informs that he was helped by Centre For The Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for valuable statistics and insights. CSDS along with CNN-IBN together kept audiences abreast about election trends. He mentions that his wife Sagarika Ghose was the one who helped boost his confidence and pushed him to write the book. “She really energised me. She, in fact, is the book writer in the family. My daughter helped me out on the computer and printouts while my son set the deadline for me that was before his holidays began,” adds Sardesai.

He is extremely happy with the response that the book has garnered, so far, as audiences have already termed it as a page turner. “One does not have to be politically obsessed to read the book. It is accessible for all to read,” he says.

He is glad that even politicians have taken a liking to the book which goes for its second print next week.

Talking about the marketing aspect for the book he says that while films by actors like Shah Rukh Khan need marketing to promote a film, for a book it boils down to the quality of prose and content.

When asked if he plans to write another book on the elections or his autobiography, he chuckles and says “No, not for now. I will take a break of at least one year from book writing,” he concludes.

November 8, 2014
Nalin Mehta joins TOI Delhi as consulting editor

MUMBAI: After his brief stint of seven months at Headlines Today, Nalin Mehta has now switched places as the new consulting editor of the Times of India. Mehta, who joined the organisation on 8 August, will be based out of New Delhi, highly placed sources have confirmed to indiantelevision.com.

Prior to this, he was managing editor of Headlines Today. Mehta has had a long association in the media industry starting off in the broadcast media as a journalist with Zee News and then moving on to NDTV. After completion of his PhD, he became deputy news editor and prime time anchor with Times Now.

By moving back to the print sector, sources say, Mehta has taken a break from the broadcast media for a while.

He has also written several books on the media industry such as India on Television, Olympics: The India Story (co authored by Boria Majumdar) and Television in India. Currently, he is also working on his next untitled book.

Recently, another notable anchor, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose had also announced her plan to join Times of India as consulting editor from New Delhi.

August 11, 2014
Sagarika Ghose to join Times of India as consulting editor

MUMBAI: A month after she submitted her official resignation at CNN-IBN, the former deputy editor of the channel Sagarika Ghose is all set to enter the field of print journalism. Ghose will soon join Times of India as its new consulting editor.

Highly placed sources from the publication have confirmed the news that she will be joining later this month. She had started her career with Times of India in 1991. Since then she has worked at several publications including Outlook and The Indian Express before moving on to CNN-IBN along with husband and IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai.

Ghose had also received offers from the India Today group but it seems like she has decided to go with the leading daily of the country.

In the message that she sent out just after her resignation, Ghose had said that she was leaving to try her hand at something “a little more challenging and creative, explore new vistas in reportage and commentary after almost a quarter of a century in journalism, among them 9 fabulous years at CNN-IBN.”

Both Ghose and Sardesai had gone on a month long leave just after Reliance Industries’ acquired Network 18 in late May and within a span of a few days, both of them resigned from the company.

August 1, 2014
Rajdeep Sardesai-Sagarika Ghose to join India Today group?

MUMBAI: India’s power news couple – Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose – may be headed for Aroon Purie’s India Today group.

While Sagarika is joining Living Media magazine India Today as editor at large, Rajdeep is reported to have got an offer to join the TV Today Network, which he confirmed to Indiantelevision.com.

Said Sardesai: “Yes, Shekhar Gupta – vice-chairman, India Today group and editor in chief of news properties and I have been in discussion and we go back a long way. But I have not yet taken a decision. I am currently, focusing on my book for the next six weeks as I have to complete it by then.”

Sources close to the India Today group however revealed that both Sagarika and Rajdeep have accepted the offer made to them. Their joining date is expected to be 1 August.

The India Today group has gone through some changes on the editorial front in the past few months with the magazine’s editor Kaveree Bamzai stepping down, Headlines Today managing editor Nalin Mehta quitting and Karan Thapar launching his show on the channel.

Sources indicate that Gupta has decided to give the group a new independent editorial thrust, something along the lines that the Indian Express group had in its heydays.

July 4, 2014
Finally, Rajdeep Sardesai says sayonara to IBN18

MUMBAI: First it was the better half of the power news couple – Sagarika Ghose-Rajdeep Sardesai – that announced through twitter last night that she was departing from CNN-IBN. Now Rajdeep Sardesai too has said his last sayonara to a news network he helped build from scratch. In a mail he sent out to his team today, he announced his departure, expressing that it was one of the toughest letters to write.

The reason for his departure he states in the message is that editorial independence and integrity have been articles of faith in 26 years in journalism and may be “ I am too old now to change.”

Said he in the message: “ I must confess it’s not easy to leave a baby that one has helped create/build/grow and to leave such great colleagues. But I guess certain things in life are written in the stars. Editorial independence and integrity have been articles of faith in 26 years in journalism and maybe I am too old now to change!”

He added in the message that the success of the channels – CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN Lokmat – was possible because of the freedom given to the journalists by the leadership at Network18.

And he closed his message by saying: “Forget the cynics, journalism my friends is a great profession. Good journalism makes a genuine difference to the world by offering a mirror to society. Yes, putting news above noise, sense above sensation and credibility above chaos must remain a credo forever: else journalism will lose its moral compass. I hope the new management will always put journalism first and I wish them well.”

Rajdeep’s departure comes two days before the new Network18 management is slated to be announced.

July 4, 2014
Sagarika Ghose tweets goodbye to CNN-IBN

MUMBAI: Like so many others before her, she took to Twitter to announce her departure from the network she has been associated with for so long. CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose tweeted late on the night of 3 July: “Goodbye CNN-IBN. God bless!”

Sagarika had gone on leave with her husband IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai last month and expectations were that she would return if one went by the email he had sent out to his team about their departure.

Speculation, however, was that she would not return to the channel – part of the Network18 group, now owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries – and would probably hop over to the Aroon Purie and TV Today Network owned English news channel Headlines Today.

She also sent out a message to her colleagues at CNN-IBN in which she stated that she was leaving to try her hand at something “a little more challenging and creative, explore new vistas in reportage and commentary after almost a quarter of a century in journalism, among them 9 fabulous years at CNN-IBN.”

She added in the message: “CNNIBN has not only been an integral part of my life for almost every waking minute these past years, but more important, working with you has been a joy and an honour. At CNNIBN, an incredible team of professionals brought total commitment and integrity to reporting the news. We put journalism first and because of that we became a trusted and much loved brand.

“A free fearless press is the infrastructure of democracy–without it the term “citizenship” is diminished indeed. CNNIBN was always free and responsible! That’s why it became such an incredible success, so beloved of viewers. We created magic and that magic touched millions of lives, and the magic will remain with each of us always! The words of John Tusa, the venerable former director general of BBC World Service come to me: “Journalists cannot become the outriders of authority…but the freedom we have is the freedom to be responsible,” continued Sagarika in the message.

She ended it with: “Good bye is an unhappy word. I prefer au revoir..until we meet again.”

It is not known whether Rajdeep too will be following in the footsteps of his wife and announcing his departure from the news network, but once again speculation is that it is only a matter of time. Apparently, he has an offer to pen a book from Penguin.

Sagarika is the daughter of former DD director general Bhaskar Ghose, who strove to change the face of the pubcaster.

Meanwhile, even as she posted her farewell on Twitter and in a message, her husband announced on Twitter that he is “reading Dilip Kumar bio and listening to SJ/Mukesh/Shailendra classic: yeh mera deewanapan hai.. Bliss! Gnight, shubhratri.”

July 3, 2014
Finally, Rajdeep Sardesai too sends out email to team at Network18

MUMBAI: The buzz has been strong. Several media outlets have reported it too. But IBN 18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai has been in complete denial that he has jettisoned – nor would he be jettisoning – from the news network.

However, earlier today, Sardesai sent out an email to his teams at the channels which seeks to clarify where he stands as far as his employment with IBN18 is concerned in order to end the speculation and concerns expressed by so many of his colleagues.

Says he in the email: “…After a long and wearying (and highly enjoyable) election season, I am taking a short break from the newsroom (haven’t taken one in over a year!). I will be on a month’s leave: reading, writing travelling, watching the world cup soccer, and, hopefully recharging the mind.”

Rajdeep adds that he aims to be back on 1 July. “Please keep the energy levels up through the next few weeks and always put journalism first! Vinay, Radha, Nikhail Sanjeev and the rest of the team will be there to keep the flag flying.”

However, sources within the network and close to him reveal that Rajdeep has indeed resigned and has even got an offer from Penguin to pen a book. Something which he has been keen to do.

Whether he will come back from the short vacation is a big question mark. His wife and leading IBN18 anchor and journalist Sagarika Ghose will also be accompanying him on his time-off. The grapevine is that they are maintaining the “leave” story so as to soften the impact on the editorial teams at CNN-IBN and IBN7. And both are most unlikely to return.

Only time will tell whether we have seen the last of Rajdeep as editor in chief of IBN18.

Already senior management right from founder of the Network18 group Raghav Bahl, his wife and director Ritu Kapur, his sister and executive director Vandana Mallick, CEO B. Sai Kumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CFO RDS Bawa, legal counsel Kshipra Jatana have departed from the group. Prior to that Suhasini Haider, Karan Thapar, CEO Dilip Venkatraman too had decided to quit.

Sources internally state that the takeover by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will see headcount being lowered; already last year some 300 professionals had been asked to go as the group struggled to cope with the excess manpower that had been hired following its rapid growth and expansion.

A new leadership team is expected to be announced very soon for the news network – CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN Lokmat, CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz – and for the Network18 group as a whole.

June 2, 2014