CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies

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CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies > BBC
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BBC Revamps, ‘Collective Newsroom’ Takes Off In Bharat

Former BBC professionals float Indian media firm, run BBC six languages news operations along with Youtube channel  Rupa Jha A few colleagues and I working with the BBC in India decided to start our own venture, ��Collective Newsroom’, an independent media company. But, it was not the most obvious and easy choice. It came out of a very real and difficult situation that our employer BBC in India faced. Foreign Direct Investments in India will have to be capped at 26 per cent for digital news outfits. So far, over 99 percent of BBC India shares were owned by UK-based British Broadcasting Corporation. This meant that the BBC could not operate the way it has for so many years in India. It meant hundreds of employees in India could lose jobs and space to do independent and credible journalism. The thought itself was very demoralising. Why should I quit journalism or leave my country to do journalism. At end of the day, we wanted two things – continue to do trustworthy journalism and be in India. It became evident that this needed a very out of box thinking, courage and sense of entrepreneurship. Four of us decided to quit The BBC and launch Collective Newsroom. We got five others as shareholders. As a fully owned independent Indians owned media company, Collective newsroom secured BBC as its first client. It was a historic moment for us all and we embarked on this new venture with a clear vision to be home to India’s most credible, creative and courageous journalism. The journey to our launch that happened on April 10 this year has not been without challenges. While we had to seek answers to previously unasked questions, work imaginatively and innovatively, I am proud that working collaboratively and closely with all those journalists working in different language in India; we have reached this milestone. The level of commitment, dedication and aspiration that the staff members have shown in recent months is evident. Starting April 10, 2024, Collective Newsroom is the sole producer and publisher for BBC content in six Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi and Marathi. We also run BBC Youtube channel in English for Indian audiences. It’s historic for the BBC to give a third-party license to operate its platforms. Therefore, I call this as a project in trust and innovation. On personal front, it’s a huge learning curve for me. Being chief executive officer of Collective Newsroom, I’m certainly in a space which is very new, different and male dominated but what could be more exciting than breaking the glass ceiling!! The fear of unknown stops us from taking an uncharted route. Is this scary? Of course it is!!  But with my team, I feel everything is possible. Do I fear? Yes, I do, but I will also overcome it. The Courage is resistance to fear and faith is a fundamental part of life and I lean on the faith that together with my team, we shall overcome. I believe we have the skills and expertise to make Collective Newsroom a standout success in the market. As we say in our mission, we will lead with facts and bring audiences diverse voices through innovative and impactful journalism in public interest. It’s a formidable offer. In a world inundated with breaking news updates, sensational and misleading headlines, Collective Newsroom is committed to authenticity, depth and empathy in storytelling. Collective Newsroom is committed to a digital-first strategy for modern newsrooms, producing superior quality stories spanning a myriad of platforms and formats, ensuring our reach are as diverse as communities that we serve. What sets us apart is our unwavering focus on going beyond the headlines. We delve deep into the heart of stories, bringing in-depth ground reports and human narratives brimming with empathy and clearly marked by fairness and impartiality. Our skilled, experienced and brave reporters go where many dare not—within India and around the world—all in pursuit of facts from the ground. Our fearless approach to storytelling ensures that we amplify voices of those often overlooked, putting humans at the centre of every narrative. Our explainers and analysis make sense of the intricate tapestry of local, national and international events and offer valued reach for a meaningful growth trajectory. We use cutting-edge technology and innovate with media to produce unique stories you are not likely to see elsewhere. The accolades we’ve garnered, national and international   serve as a testament to our unwavering dedication to excellence. Yet, more than any shiny trophy, it is trust of the audience that remains our greatest honour. This trust is reflected in the fact that our client, BBC has its largest international audience in India. Such recognition is testament to our shared commitment to truth, integrity, and the power of storytelling. (Author is chief executive officer, Collective Newsroom, BBC News Indian languages)

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Human Rights Leadership Media Misinformation
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NYT, BBC fall into the pattern

Anti-Hindu, India propaganda unleashed with intent, based on agenda. Their journalistic pursuits come under scrutiny It is not India’s proud tradition of a free press that is at stake. It’s anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda unleashed with impunity by certain media houses that has taken centre stage. First, it was the BBC that went whole hog against Hindus and India. Now, The New York Times has joined the bandwagon of some international media outlets that have been on campaign mode against India, Hindus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their whipping boy. If the NYT editorial board claims of ‘shrill Hindu nationalism’ being the culprit for anything purportedly to have happened to press freedom in India, it’s grossly wrong. The New York Times editorial board comment in its edition of February 12, 2023 on the issue of press freedom in India is completely flawed seeking to set a particular narrative. Sweeping remarks on purported ‘Intimidation, Censorship, Silence or Punishing independent news media in India’ is not factually correct, untrue and a figment of Imagination. India toeing an independent alternative line on issues different from left leaning self-proclaimed liberalists cannot be dubbed as anti-press freedom. Hindus worldwide and in India believe, profess and push for an open, transparent and clean diverse society governed sans corruption, nepotism and exclusivity. India celebrates oneness in its diverse amalgamation of cultures, religious faiths under the Sanatan Dharmic umbrella. Thousands of years of classical civilizational heritage is testimony to Hindus ‘all embracing’ nature and spirit. Not understanding Hindus from their perspective leads to a false notion of ‘shrill nationalism’ kind of narratives that are superficial and erroneous. Neither France based Reporters without Borders (RSF) has the means, bandwidth, methodology or credible data to prove that press freedom was at stake in India. NYT justifying its editorial comment on the questionable World Press Freedom Index report of this organization seems to be fuelled by anti-India and anti-Hindu agenda nursed carefully to meet its objective. If hitting at the famed growth story is the objective, then The New York Times should definitely know that India is invincible and the fake narratives may not work. Leave alone the downgrading India on Press Freedom Index, even the Indian map has been displayed wrongly by the Reporters Without Borders. NYT’s editorial comment is based on reports that depict Kashmir without acknowledging the illegal occupation by Pakistan and China’s occupation of Aksai Chin areas of the North Eastern Indian region. The New York Times editorial backed a BBC documentary that was aggressively anti-Hindu and anti-India in nature. This was called out by British Member of Parliament Bob Blackman who described the BBC documentary as ‘poor journalism, badly researched’. Leave alone The New York Times, even the BBC cannot deny its left wing bias and accept an alternative, independent philosophy of Hindus based on ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, world as one big family.  BBC’s left wing bias is known to Britishers. In Margaret Thatcher’s government of ‘80s, several members of the British Parliament brought home this point. Conservative MP Tebbit had aptly described the BBC as ‘stateless person’s broadcasting corporation’. Another conservative MP Peter Bruinvels termed the BBC as ‘Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation’ pointing to Leftists control over the news coverage. To say that press freedom came under attack after 2014 following Narendra Modi’s ascent to be Prime Minister and Hindu nationalist shrillness is again grossly misguided and propagandist owing to a colonial mind-set of extreme nature. Late Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi had banned BBC from India coverage on two occasions owing to its ‘biases’ in its earlier documentaries also. Perhaps, NYT may not have a plausible explanation for such a ban in late ‘70s.   The BBC was in trouble in India in the early 1970s. Even at that time, the Indian diaspora was outraged by BBC documentaries named Calcutta and Phantom India.  Louis Malle directed French documentary mini-series Phantom India painted a biased picture of India by emphasising the underdeveloped regions as opposed to the developing ones. If Press freedom was under attack as propagated by BBC and NYT, how’s it that the editorial in The New York Times was not taken down? Thousands of stories filed by a strong network of foreign media professionals based in India that are critical of the government have hit the wires, newspapers and TV outlets freely each day. So, the charge that India, Hindus and by extension Narendra Modi have suppressed ‘free media’ is only agenda peddling by some media houses.

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Human Rights Media Misinformation Policy World
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Explainer: BBC, a repeat offender

India: The Modi Question is the most recent attempt by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to taint the image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a worldwide scale. The documentary tries to revive the Indian Supreme Court decided issue of the 2002 Godhara violence that ensued after the burning of the Sabarmati Express, which killed 59 Hindu Pilgrims on February 27, 2002, and attempts to portrays Modi as a key instigator of the violent Hindu-Muslim clashes and a major source of hatred against Muslims in the country. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs correctly labels this documentary a “propaganda piece” and made with a “colonial mindset” as it misleads viewers, especially a western audience in numerous ways to shape negative “public opinion” about Narendra Modi and the Modi-lead Indian government ground breaking work for the people of India and humanitarian works world-wide.

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