News Broadcasting
TV influences Britishers in parenting
MUMBAI: Television parenting programmes are having a powerful influence on parenting techniques in Great Britain today.
However a proportion of those who view such programmes (37 per cent ) believe that such programmes sensationalise family problems for public entertainment.
Most parents with children aged under 16 have watched at least one such programme and 83 per cent of these parents said they found a parenting technique that was helpful to them personally. These results are contained in a poll by Ipsos MORI for the National Family and Parenting Institute.
NFPI CEO Mary MacLeod, is writing to the programme makers asking them to make sure they act responsibly towards those families who take part and urging them to use the influence of their programmes to deliver high quality advice from skilled and knowledgeable professionals.
The main findings are:
• Parenting programmes are extremely popular, especially for parents: almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of parents with children aged under 16 have watched at least one parenting programme and 55 per cent of all adults have watched at least one parenting programme
• Parenting programmes are directly influencing parenting behaviour: more than eight in ten parents (83 per cent) who have watched parenting programmes found a technique from the programmes helpful to them.
• But parenting programmes are considered to sensationalise family problems for public entertainment by a large minority (37 per cent) of their viewers.
MacLeod said, “This survey emphasises that television parenting programmes are offering support that parents find applicable to their own lives. Parents seem to be identifying techniques they can use at home and the most popular techniques are those based around rewarding and praising children, which is excellent news.
“With 72 per cent of parents watching at least one such programme and 83% of those who watched finding at least one technique suggested useful, this is a good opportunity for those who make these programmes to get across the value and benefit of positive parenting techniques.
“But a significant minority of parents are expressing concerns about these television programmes. 37 per cent felt that they sensationalised family problems for entertainment while 14 per cent worried about the effect they had on the participating children. Producers must look at the potentially detrimental effects of their programmes on participating parents and children, especially as new formats seek out ever more troubled families to take part. For the sake of those who look to them for help and advice, they must offer good quality advice based on up to date research.“
“This is why I am writing to the producers of these programmes. It is vitally important that the influence that these programmes exert is a positive one and that they do not exploit those who take part. They have a clear responsibility to ensure that they are responsible in screening families, seeking children’s consent, doing follow-up with families involved and using experts who are knowledgeable and skilled.”
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.
