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Tag: Sanjiv Dutta

  • DD appoints Amitabh Chakravorty as additional DG

    DD appoints Amitabh Chakravorty as additional DG

    NEW DELHI: Completing the so-called ‘de-toxication’ of Doordarshan News, Amitabh Chakravorty was today appointed as an additional director-general (news) in Doordarshan.

    Chakravorty is an official of the Indian Information Service (IIS), which had been a bete noire of professionals from outside hired by DD News, including Aaj Tak’s Deepak Chaurasia.

    The new appointee replaces Sanjiv Dutta, who had shed his additional responsibilities at DD News in the wake of other changes effected in DD News.

    Dutta, however, remains an ADG (administration) in Doordarshan, which is managed by Prasar Bharati or the Broadcasting Corporation of India, an autonomous body modelled on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

    Still, Prasar Bharati sources maintained that Chakravorty’s new appointment is ‘routine’ and has nothing to do with a de-saffronisation process set in motion by the present coalition government led by the Congress party.

  • DD News does the big poach on Aaj Tak

    DD News does the big poach on Aaj Tak

    NEW DELHI: India’s pubcaster Doordarshan is poaching and doing so with gay abandon.
    As part of phase one of expansion and restructuring of its recently launched news channel, DD News, around eight more people from the “subse tez” news channel Aaj Tak have been grabbed by DD, apart from some more who have worked in other private television channels.
    “More people are joining DD News and some of them are from Aaj Tak also,” Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma said today, adding that a request has been made to the government to send on deputation some Indian Information Service (IIS) officers to strengthen the functioning of DD News.
    The people from private channels, including Aaj Tak, who are slated to join DD News later this month have been drawn from all sections, including copywriters and reporters-cum-anchors. But most of them, except one lady who had worked with NDTV at one time, are coming at a salary package ranging between Rs 22,000 and Rs 30,000, Sarma said.
    The onslaught on Aaj Tak, seemingly the nursery for TV journalists, began anew recently when around Diwali time last year, DD snapped up its political editor Deepak Chaurasia as a consulting editor to DD News. Soon after some people followed Chaurasia and now more are leaving the leader, especially at a time when the company managing Aaj Tak and Headlines Today is to debut on the stock markets this month. There are even rumours of TV Today Network’s news director Uday Shankar leaving for Star News.
    According to Sarma, DD News, which has been performing well amongst the news channels, would undergo some restructuring on the lines of private channels.
    For starters, to bring in greater sense of professionalism, input, output and assignment desks would be created. This would also be followed up by bringing in some more style as the former NDTV person, hired at a monthly remuneration of Rs 70,000, would also function as a style consultant.
    Sarma also said that the hunt for a permanent head for DD News is currently on. “I have been meeting up with people for this post and soon it would be filled up,” he added.
    At the moment, Sanjiv Dutta, functions as the additional director general of news after his predecessor Swagat Ghosh was removed from DD News and banished to a low-profile I&B ministry organization recently.

  • Senior level changes effected in DD News

    Senior level changes effected in DD News

    NEW DELHI: This festive season, changes are taking place thick and fast in media organisations. If Zee Telefilms made changes in its hierarchy, the country’s biggest broadcasting outfit, Prasar Bharati too did not want to be left behind on the Christmas eve.
     
     
    According to sources in Prasar Bharati – which oversees pubcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) – Swagat Ghosh, the additional director-general in charge of DD News, has been shunted out. He has been transferred to a low-profile Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity, an organisation under the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry.

    Sources say, the once upon a time blue-eyed boy of the I&B ministry, Sanjiv Dutta, has replaced Ghosh. New inductees in DD News – like Aaj Tak’s former political editor Deepak Chaurasia – who recently joined the channel would report to him.

    Chaurasia is the consulting editor of DD News from the time of its relaunch on 3 November, 2003 and is credited with having made DD News fighting fit.

    Another change that has been effected in DD News is that of Muthukumar, a senior person in the news outfit. He has been transferred to another ministry, which would be, in all probability, the finance ministry.

    All the changes are with immediate effect. However, the reason for Ghosh and Muthukumar’s departure from DD News is still not clear as the I&B ministry officials were not available to put the movements into perspective.