News Broadcasting
Aaja to use DVD to get male Asian American TV journos
MUMBAI: The Asian American Journalists Association (Aaja) has announced plans to debut a DVD to attract more Asian American males to the profession of television journalism in the US.
The DVD will feature the work of current male Asian American television reporters and anchors. It will be unveiled at the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) / National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention to be held from 19-21 April in Las Vegas.
The DVD will be offered as a hiring tool at the event to all attendees and also to news managers, news directors, recruiters across the US. Aaja is also hoping that the DVD will help erase stereotypes and encourage Asian American males to choose broadcast journalism as a career.
Aaja is trying to set right a situation where there is a severe lack of Asian American men on television news. A 2002 study by the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California found that there were only 20 male Asian Americans on the air in America’s top 25 markets.
By comparison the study found a total of 85 Asian American female television broadcasters on-air. This means a ratio of nearly 5 to 1 women versus men.
Aaja is encouraging Asian American male anchors, reporters, sportscasters and weathercasters to submit demo reels for the DVD. Participants do not need to be active job seekers to be included in the project. A company release ads that submissions should be in by 15 February 2004. Participants should include two packages and a montage of stand-ups and live shots. Anchors should also include samples of their anchoring. All participants must have paid professional working experience or must be students scheduled to graduate by June 2004.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
