WION
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Country | India |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Worldwide |
Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 4:3 576i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Essel Group Warner Media[citation needed] |
History | |
Launched | 15 August 2016 |
Links | |
Website | wionews |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Live Streaming (International) | |
Live Streaming (India) | |
Live streaming (India) |
The World is One News (WION) is an Indian multinational[1] English language news channel headquartered in New Delhi.[2] It is owned by the Essel Group and is part of the Zee Media network of channels.[3] According to Indian news magazine The Week, the channel "covers global news and current affairs from an Indian perspective".[4]
History[]
Its website was launched in many countries as a free-to-air satellite service on 15 June 2016.[5] The television channel began airing on 15 August 2016. WION is India's first privately owned international news channel.[6]
Team[]
Founding team[]
The founder Rohit Gandhi and editor-in-chief started the build of the channel in August of 2015.[7] He spent the first 6 months in building the branding and building the technology of the network. In May 2016 he hired his former student from Carleton University Mandy Clark, former CBS correspondent,[8] as his deputy for running the network. He then hired hired Mithaq Kazimi(Digital Hub)[9], Surya Gangadharan (head of TV output) and Padma Rao (head of input) as managing producers respectively. Gandhi spent over a year interviewing 2300 people select about 200 journalists with two HR professional primarily Varsha Sinha and Vancha Garg to select his team. He hand picked his team. He hired correspondents in countries even though they were in conflict with India where his channel was based, because of his credentials as an objective journalist. Taha Siddiqui in Pakistan was one of his hired who later had to seek asylum after Gandhi exited from the network. He also hired journalists included Saad Hammadi, Bangladesh bureau chief and former correspondent for The Guardian,[10][11] Archith Seshadri, former CNN anchor,[12] and Anchal Vohra as the Beirut and conflict region at large Correspondent.
Current team[]
The current team includes Sudhir Chaudhary as editor-in-chief, and former senior editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay as executive editor. Palki Sharma Upadhyay hosts a special segment "Gravitas" which airs Monday to Friday at 9 PM to 10 PM IST.[13] Sidhant Sibal of DD News joined the organisation on 1 April 2018. Sumit Chaturvedi, who was previously with ET Now and CNBC TV18, currently looks after the business news content and conducts morning and evening business shows called "WALLET". The former news anchor of Republic TV, Akanksha Swarup, joined WION in 2018, becoming one of the channel's leading faces. Sayed Mustafa Kazemi became the Afghanistan correspondent for the channel in February 2020. Associated journalists include Naveen Kapoor, Digvijay Singh Deo, Rabin Sharma, Ieshan Wani, Kartikeya Sharma, and Alyson le Grange.
The channel's Pakistan bureau chief, Taha Siddiqui, was forced into exile after a failed kidnapping attempt in Islamabad. He was replaced by Anas Mallick.[14][15]
Content[]
TV programmes[]
- Prime-Time: GRAVITAS is WION's prime-time show which bring viewers news and discussions on concurrent issues from India and abroad.
- Gravitas Plus is WION's World Is One News
- Global Leadership Series (GLS): an interview-based programme featuring a selection of heads of state or government.
- WION World Order: a platform for mutual dialogue on foreign policies.
- The Diplomacy Show: Interviews with diplomats.
- WION Sports: Covers global sports
- Top Stories: brings breaking news of the hour from India and abroad.
- WION Speed News: A news segment of WION which brings the top stories of the morning.
- WION Wallet: Coverage of finance and the economy
- WION Fineprint: An analysis of international news and developments regarding social and economic issues
- Your Story: information on the most trending stories of the day from India and abroad.
- WION Pitstop: An autoshow covering previews, launches, first-drive/ride reports, comparisons and motorsport action from India and abroad.
- WION Tech It Out: a weekly technology show
- WION Wings: India's first aviation show on television, covering flying, air shows, pilots, airlines and general aviation
- WION MELT: interviews with marketing profession also, hosted by Anant Rangaswami and Ritwika Gupta.
- WION Edge: One of WION's most viewed programmes, focusing on stories and people from India and abroad.[16]
Previous shows[]
- Democracy & Dictatorship, hosted by Rohit Gandhi (2016–2017)[17]
- Konversations, hosted by Mithaq Kazimi (2016–2017)[18]
- This Also Happened, hosted by Archit Sheshadri and Sana Khan (2016-2018)[19]
- WION Breakfast, hosted by various anchors (2016–2017)[20]
Controversies[]
Newslaundry stated in a 2020 article that "notwithstanding its occasional forays into hyperbole, WION is a rather respectable news channel". However, it also criticised Sudhir Chaudhary.[21]
In 2021, the appointment of M. J. Akbar, an Indian journalist and politician who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, to WION as an "editorial consultant" was met with controversy, with more than 150 journalists signing a statement demanding that Akbar be removed by WION and Zee News as well as barred from working in any newsroom by the Editors Guild of India.[22]
References[]
- ^ Chauhan, Shubhang (8 December 2016). "English News channel of Zee group' WION' announces its official launch". India News, Breaking News | India.com.
- ^ "About Us". WION.
- ^ "Disclaimer". WION.
- ^ Thomas, K. Sunil (20 May 2021). "Miffed with global criticism, Modi govt to launch BBC-like international news channel". The Week. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ "WION on Periscope: "WION launch"". Periscope.tv. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Atlanta's Archith Seshadri debuts as anchor on Zee Media's global English news channel". NRI Pulse. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Zee Media to launch English news broadcast, appoints Rohit Gandhi as editor-in-chief". firstpost.com. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ "CBS News Hires Digital Journalist Based in Afghanistan". Adweek. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Mithaq Kazimi | WION". 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018.
- ^ "WION Authors". WION. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ "Saad Hammadi". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ "CNN International Editor Off to Anchor in India". Adweek. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Gravitas LIVE with Palki Sharma | Was Pfizer's Vaccine trial data "falsified"?". YouTube.
- ^ Jorgic, Drazen (10 January 2018). "Pakistani journalist critical of military escapes kidnap attempt". Reuters.
- ^ Siddiqui, Taha (8 January 2019). "Opinion | I'm a journalist who fled Pakistan, but I no longer feel safe in exile". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Edge". WION.
- ^ "Video". Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Konversations". IMDb.
- ^ "Video". Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Video". Retrieved 21 June 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ Arunachalam, Jayashree. "German broadcaster partners with Sudhir Chaudhary's WION News, the man who made a 'jihad chart'". Newslaundry. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ "Over 150 Journalists Sign Letter Asking WION News to Remove M.J. Akbar". The Wire. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
External links[]
- Television stations in Delhi
- Essel Group
- Television channels and stations established in 2016
- English-language television stations in the United Kingdom
- 24-hour television news channels in the United Kingdom
- Television channels in the United Kingdom
- Multilingual news services
- English-language television stations in India
- 2016 establishments in Delhi