News Broadcasting
CNN to double newsgathering presence in US
MUMBAI: CNN plans to double its domestic newsgathering presence with new operations in 10 US cities, resulting in an aggressive expansion of its newsgathering in the US. The announcment was made by CNN US senior VP newsgathering Nancy Lane.
The new operations will be based in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Minneapolis, Minn.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Seattle. This expansion will also allow CNN to build stronger partnerships with affiliates in new and existing locations across the country. CNN already has bureaus in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
The newly expanded newsgathering operation will be staffed with a mix of traditional general assignment reporters with CNN’s current roster of “show-based correspondents” who are attached to many of CNN’s daytime and prime-time programs, and newly designated “all-platform journalists.” All-platform journalists will combine new technologies with traditional journalism skills to gather news from the heart of America for all CNN’s networks and services, especially CNN’s growing digital platforms.
Lane said , “CNN’s rapid adoption of new technology over the years put us in the enviable position to be able to expand at a time when others are cutting back. Our technological innovations allow our reporters to be at the center of more breaking news events and developing stories across the United States, with greater independence and mobility than ever before. This expansion is a critical component of CNN Worldwide’s overall strategy for increased content ownership.”
CNN’s most recent development of technology in newsgathering includes the use of lightweight kits that combine cameras, editing tools and advanced satellite and Internet communications technology into a laptop-based system. This suite of technologies enable CNN’s journalists to employ immediate live and video FTP submissions, real-time content monitoring, editing and voice communication from anywhere in the field.
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.
