News Broadcasting
Election Commission wants ban on opinion polls: Quraishi
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission is in favour of banning opinion polls in media.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said that the Election Commission would like to press for the ban as the Exit Polls could be as misleading.
He refuted charges that a ban on opinion polls amounted to an attack on the freedom of expression. It was equally erroneous to say that Article 19 (1) (a) did not apply to social media.
Releasing the book ‘Media Ethics: Truth, Fairness and Objectivity – Making and Breaking News’ by noted media commentator Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, he said the recent elections threw up 112 cases of paid news in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking on the occasion, ‘Outlook’ Editor Vinod Mehta said it was natural for mediapersons and editors to be opinionated or have prejudices and biases. However, these should not reflect in news and should be voiced only in editorial comment.
He said media in India was facing its most major credibility crisis since 1975 when the National Emergency had been imposed.
But media should realise that it is not a player on the national scene: it merely has the best ringside seats to watch, report and comment.
He felt that demands for self-regulation were a hoax since experience had shown that even editors seldom wanted to come forward to make clean confessions of mistakes made. The editor being the custodian of a publication has to be above board. There was imperative need for a Code of Conduct.
Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN said it was interesting that the media was facing a vigorous credibility crisis at a time when it was the most powerful but commanded the least respect – unlike the early years of Independent India when the media was not so powerful but commanded respect.
Agreeing that television news channels had become entertainment, he said that the primary external threat to the media was the business model where the editor had to bow to the proprietor or the marketing people. He also said the carriage fee demanded from TV channels – which he claimed was like underhand payment – was also a major problem.
The primary revenue of TV was from advertisements and not subscriptions since the people were unwilling to pay. He said it was natural, therefore, that channels resorted to telecasting programming like that of Nirmal Baba, who paid for his time. He hoped the situation would change after digitisation.
The internal threats were sensationalism instead of sense and jingoism instead of journalism, since competition had taken away the ‘moral compass’.
He was happy that the self-regulatory bodies of the news and general entertainment channels were ‘naming and shaming’ the culprits in the eyes of their peers, since that would bring a semblance of sanity.
Thakurta regretted that the Press Council of India was toothless and the scant respect given by the Government to the recent report on Paid News was an example of this. He also wondered why private radio was not being permitted to telecast news.
Mazhar Khan of the Oxford University Press which has published the revised and enlarged edition of the book noted that OUP had completed one hundred years in India.
News Broadcasting
GenNext takes charge as Network18 reshuffles leadership
With Avinash Kaul bowing out, Network18 hands reins to younger leaders, streamlines operations, and pushes data-driven growth across TV, digital and regional markets
MUMBAI: Network18 is redrawing its leadership map just as a long-time lieutenant bows out. Avinash Kaul, a central figure in the broadcaster’s rise since 2014, is leaving after 12 years to pursue “professional and personal goals”, triggering a broad-based reshuffle that puts a younger cohort directly under the top brass.
Kaul joined at a pivotal moment during the company’s transition and went on to scale the television business, combining strategic nous with data-led decision-making and a sharp read of the news landscape. “Avinash has been an integral part of the Network18 story,” the company said, thanking him for his leadership of the broadcast business and wishing him the best for the future.
In his wake, Network18 is betting on what it calls a “young and restless” leadership bench. “The team has taken charge and proved its mettle in quite adverse circumstances,” the note said, adding that “GenNext has seamlessly stepped in as we continue to outperform our peers.”
Operationally, the structure is being flattened. Smriti Mehra, S Shivakumar and Mitul Sangani will work directly with the top leadership, as they did in the fourth quarter. Ganesh Iyer and Abhinay Chauhan continue in their existing roles, while younger executives are being handed wider mandates across social, digital, connected TV and linear.
The reporting lines are being tightened to drive revenue and product momentum. Prabhat Chatterjee, business head–Forbes, and Arun Thapar, president–content and communication for AETN-18, will report to Smriti Mehra, alongside Mallika Nath Handa, who will lead special projects spanning new shows and non-linear properties. Jayesh Gokalgandhi, CFO for AETN-18, will report to Ramesh Damani.
Mitul Sangani will oversee expansion in Hindi and regional markets, with Sidharth Newatia, CRO–ILC, focusing on reach and revenue growth, particularly in tier-II and III markets. Pankaj Soni, head of marketing–ILC, will also report to Sangani while working functionally with Ganesh Iyer.
The group is also consolidating its branded content play. Moneycontrol’s branded content business will be folded into News18 Studio, with Don Zarrar moving to work with Shivakumar while continuing to lead existing studio and Focus teams.
International and platform growth are being bundled together. Pranav Bakshi takes on additional charge of the international business alongside connected TV and social platforms, with Naveen Mathur, who leads revenue management for the international unit, reporting to him. Bakshi continues to report to Puneet Singhvi.
On the technology and operations side, Rajesh Sharma, head of broadcast technology and IT; Rahul Singh, head of events and technical operations; and Bhupender Bhardwaj, head of IT security, will now report to Singhvi. Darshil Parekh, head of sales strategy, planning and operations, will work directly with Ramesh Damani and the top leadership, with Stanley Cyril, who manages digital sales operations, reporting to him.
Data is being pushed to the centre of decision-making. Jitamitra Mohanty, who leads research and analytics, will now work with Santosh Menon to turn audience data into “actionable insights that drive content strategy, product innovation and sustainable viewership growth”.
The message is clear: fewer layers, faster calls, sharper bets. With Kaul’s exit closing one chapter, Network18 is handing the wheel to a younger crew and doubling down on scale across screens. The race, it signals, will be run at full tilt.
