News Broadcasting
‘King’ content will take over monopolistic media entities, says Arnab Goswami
NEW DELHI: The future of news lies in breaking away from the interdependence of politicians and the media on each other.
Not merely that, but the ebullient editor-in-chief of Times Now Arnab Goswami feels the news centres have to move away from the sole centre Delhi. He also feels money is ‘nothing but an enabler’, but content is the king. “So, good content is supreme” and the Indian media will be global (media) in the next three to four years.
Monopolies will fall and will be taken over by those having good content, he said.
Addressing a session during the recent CII Big Picture, he also felt that the days of a polite editor were gone, and one had to be hard to challenge everything including religion. Speaking of his own experiences, he said he had taken on powerful persons but put them in their place by bringing the citizen first.
Terming the conventional “objectivity in journalism” as “greater rubbish”, Goswami said it was wrong to think that journalism has to be devoid of emotions. In fact, he cited many examples of how Times Now had disrupted the news space to redefine how news is practised.
He urged young journalists to “feel the news to strike the right chord with the audience and express their opinions.”
“When you believe in something, do not be afraid to make it a campaign. The era of polite anchors is over, and no one listens when you do not shout. TV news is fast becoming a change agent and a true reflection of democracy.” He had touched people’s hearts by taking up their cause and turning them into campaigns.
He said the cardinal rule was never to express one’s personal views, but the opinion of the people coming from the heart.
On a personal note, he said one had to take over the reins of the discussion if one had to get a point across.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
