News Broadcasting
CNN International appoints Tony Maddox to EVP & MD
MUMBAI: CNN International has appointed journalist and news executive Tony Maddox to executive vice president and managing director.
As announced by CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton, Maddox will assume oversight responsibility for a news and information portfolio that includes five CNN services in English, CNN en Español, CNNj, CNN.com International, CNNArabic .com, the joint ventures CNN-IBN, CNN+ and CNN Turk, as well as international news gathering and editorial and programming oversight.
Based in Atlanta at CNN world headquarters, Maddox will report to Walton, informs an official release.
“Tony brings to his new role a combination of professional skills and personal qualities that is increasingly rare in our industry,” said Walton. “He is a veteran journalist with broad and direct knowledge of the complexities of the world CNN covers. He is a businessman who understands the unique value of CNN’s brand and capabilities, and how to leverage them. And he is a leader who inspires teamwork, loyalty and individual excellence. Tony will guide a news business of extraordinary importance to extraordinary growth and influence.”
Formerly senior vice president of news operations for CNN International, Maddox was responsible for operational and administrative oversight of CNN’s 26 international bureaus and integrating international newsgathering activity into the larger CNN Worldwide organization. In addition, he managed the international news desk in Atlanta and supervised recruiting, training and development of newsgathering staff. Maddox joined CNN in 1998 as managing editor for the organization’s Europe, Middle East and Africa coverage, based in London. Previously, Maddox spent 13 years with the BBC as a reporter, producer, editor and news executive, posted in Belfast, Plymouth and Leeds.
“CNN International is better placed than ever to deliver industry-leading standards of service to audiences around the world,” said Maddox. “The opportunity to lead the great CNNI team is a privilege.”
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.
