News Broadcasting
Freelancer Anuj Chopra and Aaj Tak’s Sharma bag the CNN Young Journalist Awards 2005
MUMBAI: CNN International awarded Anuj Chopra, a freelancer, as the winner in the print and online category with CNN Young Journalist Award 2005 (CNN YJA) in a ceremony held in New Delhi yesterday. While, in the television category, Ravindra Sharma from Aaj Tak the Hindi news channel and Harish Babu from India Vision (Malayalam) channel bagged the camera person of the year category.
The runner ups in the print and online category were Shimaila Matri Daood of Newsline magazine of Pakistan and Amit Shrivastava of Sahara Times respectively, informs an official release. The best entries were selected by a panel of eminent jurists comprising distinguised personalities from the field of media and print journalism.
‘No Entry, we are the Meat Nazis’ an article by Anuj Chopra, on the rights of cooperative societies to restrict membership to their community emerged as the judges’ number one choice in the print/ online category. Chopra, has won the first prize, which comprises of a trip to CNN headquarters in Atlanta for a week where he will interact with CNN’s experienced editorial and core teams.
Sharma from Aaj Tak, the winner in the television category; for his story ‘Tihar Jail Bani Ghoos Mahal’ about the deep routed corruption in the Tihar jail. And, Harish Babu from Indiavision, who captured the moments of ‘Oru Vadakkan Ona Kazcha’, have won the opportunity to visit CNN’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
Instituted in 2003, CNN Internationa managing editor Jill Dougherty along with ITC Limited – Hotels Division VP sales and marketing B. Hariharan gave away the awards to the young journalists in a ceremony attended by personalities from the media industry.
Dougherty said, “CNN launched the Young Journalist Award to reward and honour promising young journalists in India and Pakistan. We at CNN are very pleased with the number and the quality of responses that we have received from India and Pakistan over the past three years and hope that we are able to continue our pursuit of acknowledging and honoring journalistic excellence. I am particularly glad that to mark CNN’s 25th anniversary, we introduced the special category, cameraperson of the year this year.”
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.
