News Broadcasting
Lizo Mzimba is BBC News entertainment correspondent
MUMBAI: BBC has announced that Newsround presenter and reporter Lizo Mzimba has been appointed entertainment correspondent for BBC News. In this new, specialist role Lizo will be reporting on all aspects of the entertainment world for all BBC News outlets including the BBC News Channel, bbc.co.uk/entertainmentnews and the new weekend entertainment programme E24.
Mzimba said, “I’m thrilled to be taking on this new challenge for BBC News and I am really excited about the opportunities my new role will bring. Working on Newsround has been a huge privilege with some great experiences and I truly hope the young people who have been with me throughout my career there will still continue to watch, listen and read the stories I’ll be covering in my new role.”
Lizo has been a key member of the Newsround team over the past decade – he has reported on major stories from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina and has interviewed figures from JK Rowling to Madonna.
BBC UK News editor Gary Smith said, “Lizo is a great communicator with a passion for entertainment news. In his time at Newsround he’s built strong connections with younger audiences. These links will be really important across all our News platforms when he starts this new role.”
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
