Tag: reactions

  • Headlines Today scores on 2G

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The fault is mine: I got to the television two hours late on Thursday – after the Supreme Court ruling on the 2G licences. The punishment was purgatory: I knew something had happened but I had no idea what. Every TV news channel showed a press conference addressed by the BJP’s Arun Jaitley reacting to the court ruling but no one told us what the ruling was. I travelled up and down the channels that my cablewallah allows me and learnt nothing. Jaitley could have been ranting or talking sense but since I had no context I could not fully appreciate or understand him.

     

    After 10 minutes of fruitless frustration I did the sensible thing: got online and read the latest updates by print journalists. Till Thursday evening, the whole thing was only about “reaction” on television, sometimes from small-time party functionaries and sometimes by bigwigs like Kapil Sibal who had to counter Jaitley with his own spin. One poor reporter even ran after the judge AK Ganguly as he retired and asked him how he felt. The honourable judge ran away as fast as he could. All through the day they broadcast a reaction from some telecom honcho but never told us who he was.

     

    It says something about the way television journalists operate that they cannot explain events or interpret them for viewers themselves. Something as important as this 2G ruling requires reporters and anchors to get all the facts themselves and tell the viewers exactly what has happened before playing the “reaction” game. Also, instead of telecasting every single press conference live in its entirety, they could edit or cut back to studio to explain what was happening mid-way.

     

    Business channels were, sadly, no better since they are all obsessed with the stock market and cannot consider implications beyond that. But one would imagine that the cancelling of 122 licences would have huge impact on their constituencies. I guess one imagines wrong.

     

    The most sensible TV debate on the subject was a surprise – it was not at prime time and it was on Headlines Today. Thanks largely to Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as to Sandeep Bamzai, we got a clear idea of the economic and political implications of the judgment.

     

    The rest of debates seem to have the usual suspects who talk about everything – Chandan Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mahesh Jethamalani, Nirmala Seetharaman, Renuka Chowdhury and perhaps Suhel Seth was there somewhere but I didn’t catch him.

     

    Niira Radia and Ratan Tata were not there.

     

    * * *

     

    This round once again goes to newspapers who explained the matter in every detail from the political implications for the UPA government to the business implications for the telcos to the fortunes of A Raja and P Chidambaram and so on. However, while every newspaper and TV channel said it was 122 licences, The Times of India decided on 121. No idea why.

     

    Most newspaper editorials did raise the question of the unfairness meted out to telcos which were being punished for following government laws. This is a tricky one. It would be interesting to see whether there’s more discussion about the dangers of corporate lobbying and the role played by journalists in getting A Raja the ministry of his choice.

     

    I’m not holding my breath, actually.

     

  • Alok Kapuria: Thank you, dear advertiser

    By Alok Kapuria

     

    It’s been an exhilarating journey so far. When I first heard about the proposition of MxMIndia, it was just a concept. Even the name wasn’t finalised. So, as I look back at the baby steps we took to get this far, there is a great sense of accomplishment.

     

    Almost everything in a start-up can be a challenge. From something as critical as the broadband connectivity snapping to working without any office help for over two months. And then, of course, revenue targets which look very easy-to-achieve when you see them on a spreadsheet.

     

    While I was confident of the product, I was not sure how the industry would take it. Ethics and such sound very good, but the reality at the ground level is different. Or so I thought. But with a strict code of ethics leaving one with no opportunity to compromise on editorial values, I think my job has been made simpler. It is vital for trade publications to engage people in the industry, but not at the cost of selling one’s soul.

     

    As someone who moved to Mumbai, starry eyed and with a desire to make it big, I know how significant a milestone a hundred days is. I am happy that I am part of this one.

     

    I thank our advertisers for trusting us from Day 1 and giving us their business support. Many friends in the industry share that our content offers them a different experience and helps them be better informed. It will be our endeavour to bring innovative properties in which our advertisers see ROI and our readers sees value. I would say the journey has just begun.

     

  • Kishor Kate: The atmostphere of a start-up is fun

    By Kishor Kate

     

    When I came for the job interview at MxM near October end for the position of Office Operations and Support, I was clearly told that there’s a clear growth path ahead of me… and it’s in my hands how I define the way my job here shapes up. I generally run around for odd jobs in the office and supporting everyone in their work. But it has never been a bad experience. The people are friendly and always nice.  I have been encouraged to learn. The boss encouraged me to type and work on the computer. I am enjoying my work here. Yes, there are days when the work hours are long and I have to wait in the office till very late. But MxM is a startup, and it is a small and cozy setting. The experience of working in a office like MxM is definitely different than working in a regular office. The atmostphere here is fun.

     

  • Tuhina Anand: It was no mean task to have engaged the industry even before our launch

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    We started MxMIndia with a vision to provide our readers something more than the usual reporting that is done in this sector. The last 100 days have been a learning experience, with our quest to provide refreshing content to our readers thus pushing ourselves a little bit more to give that extra bit. It would have been no fun if we had churned out run-of-the-mill stuff day in and day out. As challenging as this might be, it has been no less than a roller-coaster ride.

     

    The biggest challenge was when we were working on our launch edition – September 7, 2011. The site was not launched and we had to approach the industry for news, views, interviews and case studies so that we could have all our sections going on the day of the launch. It was no mean task to have engaged the industry even before our launch and we were appreciated by many for our endeavour.

     

    But we managed to do this, all thanks to the experienced team that we have at MxMIndiawho do not shy away from pushing the boundaries.

     

    There was anticipation and palpable excitement on the day we launched. I remember comparing notes on the response we got from the industry. Since that first day, we have done many remarkable stories that have made the industry recognize us even in such a short period of time.

     

    I also remember once, for our daily segment that we call Anchor, we were looking for a marketer who could write for us. Ajay Kakar, CMO – Financial Services at Aditya Birla Group wrote a piece for us on ‘8 indications when you know it’s time to bid goodbye to your agency’. Kakar ensured that he sent his piece, even though it was late in the night.

     

    The journey has just begun. There would be many more 100s where we, as a team, will do our best to give the best in terms of reports and views to the industry.

     

  • Vidya Heble: A hundred bashes at the keyboard

    By Vidya Heble

     

    A hundred days, each ending with a feeling of triumph as we upload stories Big and small. Be it scoops, press events, awards nights, seminars, trade fairs or film festivals – each story is like another dollop of cement in the solid structure of MxM that the team has built up.

     

    A hundred moments of joy as we hit upon That Headline. Sometimes this is followed by a bout of despair when we realize that it won’t fit, and we scramble for an alternative.

     

    A hundred aaargh! moments when we come across oddly-phrased press releases that need to be deciphered by a scientist – sometimes a physicist and at times a microbiologist. And then the quiet elation when we manage to make it readable.

     

    A hundred plunges into despondency as we discover that we’ve goofed, and it’s too late to rectify it. The only cure for this is the dawn of the next day and a fresh palette to work on!

     

    A hundred questions – will this story work? Will this headline sing or sink? What’s a better word for…? Why didn’t I think of that (usually the next morning)?

     

    A hundred answers – every day. With every congratulatory message, every phone call and email and sms and chat popup that says “Good job!”  Yes, the answer is that we not only can, we did.

     

  • Shruti Pushkarna: Of high-definition cameras and exclusive video chats

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    MxM India completes its 100 days today, on February 1. It feels like yesterday when I was out in the market, on the internet, making endless phone calls to zero in on the best buy for our video coverage. This would include a high definition camera, a tripod, a microphone and other accessories. After much running around (including the swarmed streets of Chandni Chowk), we finally bought a Kodak zi8 (http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsus/en_US/pd/Zi8_Pocket_Video_Camera/productID.156585800).

     

    Much to my surprise at every event I covered with this camera, or any interview I recorded on it, my audience was awestruck with the compact equipment MxM team moved around with. Many mistook it for a phone, and in every break, be it over a cup of coffee or over lunch, I would be greeted with inquisitive fellas wanting to know more about the camera. And yes I would reiterate to each one of them that we shoot ‘on-air’ quality, full HD!

     

    I must confess, one idea that I borrowed from my past experience as a TV producer, was the decision to buy a gun mic. When you are at an event which is crowded with Television crews with their ‘heavy-duty’ equipment, the one thing that’s common between us and them is the good old gun mic. Believe you me, it puts you in line with the TV wallahs. Of course it’s handy at the same time. You just have to be clever enough to push your mic and slick camera through the aggressive TV crews and get your ‘bites’ for the day. One of my recent experiences being getting sound bites from the DoT Secretary, R Chandrashekar, at thE 6th India Digital Summit, when all TV journos and cameramen ‘gheraoed’ him.

     

    Enough tech talk, let’s move on to content. Among the events I covered in the last 100 days, the two big ones that stood out most in terms of video coverage were, the 38th FIPP World Magazine Congress (WMC) and AdAsia 2011. At WMC, we were lucky enough to get some great exclusive video chats with the FIPP President & CEO, Chris Llewellyn, AIM President and Worldwide Media CEO, Tarun Rai, Cybermedia Chairman, Pradeep Gupta, Kallie Purie, COO, India Today Digital and also members of the Organizing Committee, India Today Group CEO, Ashish Bagga being one of them. And before the conference commenced, on the launch of the event, I was lucky to be close enough to capture the King Khan doing his ‘chhammak challo’! That was my first to have got over a 2000 views within no time at all!

     

    At AdAsia again, we were fortunate to get all the ‘gurus’ of the ad world interact one-on-one with us. Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy & Mather, Prasoon Joshi of McCann, Michael Roth, CEO, Interpublic, Tom Doctoroff of JWT China, Ravi Deshpande of Contract India, CEO of BBDO in Asia, Middle East & Africa, Chris Thomas, and many more engaged with us in candid video interviews. Here again, we stood in line with the usual suspects of the TV world.

     

    Apart from events’ coverage, we had an early exclusive with Reckitt Benckiser’s Chander Mohan Sethi. Here too I struggled to make space with pushy TV crews but finally managed to get the desired answers.

     

    But what remains my personal favourite, was my interaction with whom I call the epitome of broadcast journalism, Mark Tully. He was candid, honest, precise. His love and belief in broadcast journalism did not deter him from highlighting the follies of the trade. He didn’t seem angry at what TV journalism looks like in the country today, he only seemed concerned. As a man who likes to call himself ‘a British who is much influenced by India’, his worry for issues, social and political, came through in almost all his responses pertaining to India’s developmental story. As a TV producer myself, I exchanged many stories with him off the camera, and some of them seemed similar to the ones he narrated to me from his times. For me it turned out to be quite a unique and enlightening discussion on ‘media’.

     

    There is so much more that I have experienced in these 100 days as part of team MxM, be it interviewing the likes of Vinod Mehta and Mark Tully or witnessing a new avatar of Arnab Goswami giggling like a school boy to Vinod Mehta’s jokes at the launch of the latter’s memoirs.

     

    But as the rhyme goes, ‘100 days, 100 days, so clap and sway and say hurray’!

     

  • Shubhangi Mehta: Where ‘highs’ & ‘lows’ are treated like a comma, never a full stop

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    Waking up on wintry mornings at 8.30 am, getting out of my cozy bed, freshening up and entering the MxM India office (my study) where my laptop is my colleague and my Blackberry is the boss’s messenger. Strange eh? Well, this is precisely my life at MxM India, and if not every day, at least most days I have been in absolute high spirits.

     

    To be very honest, when I joined MxMIndia, I wasn’t really sure of the future, neither mine nor MxM’s but that’s where the ecstasy was and more so, it was the trust of the MxM team that I was good enough to do the job.

     

    The past four months have been a mixed bag for me in terms of highs and lows just like a regular journalist working anywhere, but what makes it different to be at MxM is that here ‘the highs’ as well as ‘the lows’ are treated like a ‘comma’ and never a ‘full stop’.

     

    Whenever we work in a company, it becomes a second family for us but working with MxM made me realise that this place has actually become like a family for me as I am a part of the foundation team.

     

    What makes me feel proud is that despite the challenges we have managed to do some high-quality work, be it the breaking news or the exclusive news of agencies bagging businesses or the fun of doing the ‘Big stories’, we do it all here at MxM.

     

    It is after joining MxM, I felt personally responsible for the misses on my site. If a story on my site is appreciated, it makes me feel content, no matter whoever’s by line that story has.

     

    The reason which makes the working experience different at MxMIndia is that each of us is responsible for his/her work. We are all colleagues here and the attitude of pushing someone else behind in order to accomplish one’s own goals is nowhere to be seen.

     

    No doubt, the same routine everyday makes life seem a little monotonous. But, what the hell? Every work becomes monotonous in a while, it’s the way we do that work which makes a difference.

     

    In the past year, I had often questioned myself many times if this is what I want to do in life. Is journalism something I want to continue with? Is advertising the beat I enjoy writing on? Well, working with MxM I have realised that I need to stop ‘trying’ to fit in, this is something I was born to do, because even if I commit mistakes it simply means I am trying. ‘Try and don’t give up’ is what MxM has taught me.

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari: 100 Days of not compromising on ethics

     

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    So how’s MxMIndia different from the others, I am often asked. There are various, and because a publication necessarily mirrors the personality of its editor, I think the basic difference that MxM has that the only thing you can expect from it is the unexpected. It’s got spontaneity, energy and integrity.

     

    In fact, to those of you who are in the know, it’s the last of these attributes (well, the loss of it) that possibly led to the birth of MxMIndia.

     

    The other important differentiator of MxMIndia is that the editorial team is not dependent on just one person. We have a number of people who have got a great amount of experience in relevant media.

     

    Our copy team is not into the nitty-gritty of media agencies and marketing… and hence you get copy that’s English. Yes, there may be booboos, but hey, the hygiene levels are high. At least we strive to keep them that way.

     

    We don’t intrude into your inboxes with breaking news. With always-on smartphones et al, innumerable mails a day is an emeffing pain. There have been several news breaks that we have had in our first 100 days… but we’ve only tweeted them or added them in our Facebook statuses.

     

    And the last differentiator is that for us our allegiance is to you, dear reader. It’s indeed challenging when the reader is also the one we are writing about and who is advertising on the site. It of course helps in having a Code of Ethics and having all my colleagues as signatories on that.

     

    As we complete our 100 days, we rededicate ourselves to the Code, which we reproduce here….

     

    Thank you for keeping the faith,

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Coordinates: pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, BBM @ 23050B5D

    Whatsapp/Gtalk pradyumanm[at]gmail.com

    Twitter @pmahesh, Tel 98338 76278

     

    The MxMIndia Code of Ethics

     

    This code of ethics is not meant to be a treatise in ethics. We believe all MxMers are mature professionals, of sound character and have values we agree with.

     

    However, since a Code of Ethics is not really followed in organizations that some of our employees may have worked with in the past, we have a formulated an easy-to-follow set of Dos and Don’ts that each and every employee has agreed to follow. Also, there’s a general belief that many media companies (business-to-business and mainstream) follow unethical practices. It’s hence critical to put the record straight on why MxMIndia isn’t like the ‘many’ others.

     

    1. While the objective of MxMIndia is to be a profitable enterprise, our revenues will not come from compromising editorial standards. Excellence is what we are setting out to achieve, Ethically and with Integrity.

     

    2. We will not be influenced in any way by advertisers – past, present or future, and will write or comment on an individual, service or organisation regardless of whether or not it advertises with MxMIndia.

     

    3. We will not sell our editorial content. Content includes text, photographs or any visuals.

     

    4. Accuracy in presenting facts is of utmost importance and facts must be correctly presented.

     

    5. We will not present any bias in our news sections. If, however, MxM India does undertake a campaign, it will clearly state its editorial policy

     

    6. If there’s any advertisement that could be confused with editorial content in appearance, it will be clearly tagged as an Advertisement and be displayed in a style that is different from normal editorial content.

     

    7. Our reports and features will always attribute sources to people. In case, the source does not want to be named for fear of loss of employment or due to some sensitivity, every attempt must be made to look for an alternate source who could be named. If that fails, every attempt should be made to make the reader rest assured that our source is authentic and this may be done by describing who the source is.

     

    8. We have a no tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Employees may be given a warning if found plagiarizing, but in most cases, the services of any employee found plagiarizing – regardless of his/her seniority or utility to the organization – would be terminated within 24 hours of the Editor-in-Chief conducting his/her investigation on the act of plagiarism.

     

    9. If any attempt is made to influence us by way of a threat to withdraw advertisements, we reserve the right to expose such individuals and/or their organisations.

     

    10. We will not publish photographs off the internet. If a picture is be taken from the internet, it will be done only after written permission of the source. Else, we will own the rights for the picture which may be procured by buying rights for appropriate usage. Ditto for text. If we do carry syndicated content, the source needs to clearly be stated at the end of the article.

     

    11. Our journalists will take the permission of the interviewee to record his/her comments, especially when the meeting is not face-to-face.

     

    12. Unless approved by the Editor, we do not part with the transcript of any interview. A journalist may however play back a few quotes attributed to an individual.

     

    13. We will allow individuals or organisations adequate time to revert with their response to a question. In most case the adequate time would mean four to six hours. If it’s a non-critical story, then we would recommend holding the story for at most a day.

     

    14. We will not accept any gifts that attempt to influence us. These should be returned immediately. Gifts in the form of chocolates, mithai, flowers or basic promotional material that is of reasonable value (of up to Rs 500-750) is fine. Mementos or promotional material of nominal value may be accepted. No gifts must be solicited. If there’s a doubt, please consult the Editor-in-Chief/CEO. If an organisation is found to influence an MxM India journalist, under extreme cases, MxM India may even blacklist the organisation and/or its products and services.

     

    15. We will not solicit any outstation trips. If however there is an invitation for a junket, we will accept it only if the Editor believes there is a news value in the event. In such a case, MxM India will mention that the journalist concerned has visited an outstation venue at the invitation of the company which must be named. For local travel, all our employees are defrayed expenses towards local travel, and hence we discourage taxi pick-ups or drops, as is the norm in some sections of the media.

     

    16. We will not solicit any invitations for a meal or a drink. We discourage MxM India employees to drink beyond their limits at events, dinners, press conferences etc where they represent the Company. We will also not solicit free books, software, movie tickets etc.

     

    17. MxM India employees are discouraged from moonlighting. If, however, employees do receive requests to write an occasion article for a non-competing publication, the employee could do it after seeking permission via email.

     

    18. Unlike some media houses, we are happy to see our employees – regardless of their seniority levels – to be interviewed and featured in other media. However, prior permission is desired for every appearance on television. Employees must ensure that their work at MxMIndia doesn’t suffer due to their appearances on TV, radio etc. While tweeting, participation in social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are encouraged, every attempt must be taken to ensure that the values and interests of the organization are not compromised.

     

    19. We will ensure that our ethical standards are followed in all that we do – events, conferences and awards. We will ensure our integrity is not compromised.

     

    20. We discourage the use of pirated products and services for official use. We advise our employees to only use legally procured software. Employees using their personal computer equipment for work are encouraged to switch to legal software.

     

    21. MxMIndia has a no tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

     

    22. Our employees are not allowed to deal in stocks related to the media and entertainment sector. If they hold shares before joining the organisation, they must disclose their holdings in writing to their immediate boss. They could, however, invest in mutual funds related to the M&E sector.

     

    23. While this Code is only applicable towards conduct as an employee, we advise all MxMers to ensure that they are ambassadors of MxMIndia and all that it stands for even outside of work hours.

     

    24. Over the last few years, there have been question marks raised about the ethical standards adopted by journalists and media organisations. While a lot of it may be untrue, we believe that journalists and others working in various media organisations are also responsible for this perception. At MxMIndia, our attempt will be to reverse this.

     

    25. This Code is applicable for all employees of MxMIndia. Associates, retainers, columnists, regular contributors are also required to adhere to the above Code.

     

    We encourage all our constituents and advertisers to read the above document and cooperate with us and enable us to abide by it. If you wish to report a dishonest act, write directly to pradyumanm [at] mxmindia.com.

     

  • Robin Thomas: Still so much to learn about this fascinating medium called Radio

    By Robin Thomas

     

    My Congratulations to Team MxM on completing 100 days. At MxMIndia, I handle the radio and Out-of-Home (OOH) beats. Since I have handled radio before, it did not take long for me to settle down at MxM. Radio has always, and perhaps will always, be one of my favourite mediums because of its ability to reach not only the masses, but also the unreached, all this through just sound.

     

    There are many stories that I loved doing at MxM but two of my absolute favourites are the radio stories – ‘RJ mentions need to be regulated?’ and ‘Radio One turning international’.

     

    The RJ Mentions story is close to my heart because it was my first big story at MxM.

     

    The Radio One story involved chasing a lot of people and getting confirmations from multiple sources – some extreme hard work but the end was fruitful.

     

    OOH, on the other hand, is a completely different ball game altogether, for me. The type of stories, the people in the industry and the medium itself is vastly different from the radio beat, my comfort zone.

     

    One of the OOH stories I really enjoyed working on was Milestone Brandcom launching its rural and digital divisions. Another story that gave me a high to work on was the OOH rural story, mainly because most of the industry players have been saying that the next phase of growth in OOH media would be coming from tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

     

    I have always enjoyed writing about the radio industry, but there is still so much I have to learn about this fascinating medium and there is still so much to do. I am also looking forward to getting comfortable and doing some really good work in OOH media as well. To all the radio and outdoor players and the readers, please continue giving me your feedback – positive or critical, and I will do my best to keep you informed and provide a good read.

     

  • Jaisurya Das: A stupendous start

    By Jaisurya Das

     

    Yeah! We are a 100 days strong and boy hasn’t it been fun at DearMxm!

     

    I recollect when we kicked off with the inaugural column we were almost certain we would be writing our own questions and it would take ages before our readers sought our advice…. Well, we were wrong and the very next week the response started coming in and soon we were battling on what to answer each week since most of our readers had multiple queries and each of them significant.

     

    DearMxm also got popular thanks to the brief intro to each column which was Pradyuman’s idea and it has been a super journey covering the high and lows of the industry. The past 3  months have been so full of action, be it companies or people in them . Investments, launches, huge people movement, shake ups, collaborations or just analysis .

     

    And through all these days we stayed glued on to the market to bring you the best snapshots of the action remaining true to our beliefs always . I feel particularly emotional since this column and idea itself means so much to our core belief that mentoring makes people.

     

    Dream big, start visualizing yourself in that avatar and the world will turn around to give you all that you want from it . We have the power to do it and belief is the starting point!

     

    For our readers today, I reproduce my personal selection of the “  5 best questions ” we have received and responded  from our archives.

     

    Thank you dear readers for making us feel so warm, strong and cared for.  We do hope we will always live up to your expectations of us being there for you always….

     

  • Rafiq Barak: What keeps me going is the challenge of the creativity

    By Rafiq Barak

     

    My day officially starts at 7.30am. At a time when most of the people are waking up, I am uploading content on MxM website, ensuring the photographs are right, and checking for a variety of characters which get into websites. The job requires a sharp eye and mind, not easy first thing in the morning.

     

    After the content is uploaded, then there are the newsletters that I have send out after a set of test mails.

     

    If all this sounds routine, most of the time it is…But what keeps me going is the challenge of the creativity. Be it the big story images, or the design work I do for the website.

     

    If you think images are easy work, and one can ‘borrow’ from the web…it is not. MxM has a strict code of ethics where I can lose my job for picking up photographs from the Internet without permissions. So I have to be creative with what I have. Sometimes, the concept of the story is simple and has ready images.

     

    But the real challenge is when the concept is abstract and the image has to be created. One story image I enjoyed working on was the recent Hindu ads big story. Sir (my boss) had suggested a concept but I went ahead with something I had created and sent it to him. I took a chance and it worked…he responded with ‘excellent’. It was good to be appreciated.

     

    All of this requires good planning…But at night I go to sleep with a clear mind that the work I did for the day was my own and on the right side of the law!

     

  • Rishi Vora: You are given the license to ask tough questions when necessary

    By Rishi Vora

     

    I joined MxMIndiain mid-October, so it’s been little less than 100 days as far as my stint is concerned.

     

    I remember the big boss (Editor-in-Chief and CEO Mr Pradyuman Maheshwari) having once told me, prior to my joining, “Rishi, I have a vacancy. I need someone who can ask the right questions; one who is able to write with some perspective.” That excited me enough to join his venture – MxMIndia.

     

    The going has been good so far. I cover the Broadcast and Digital media. One single reason why it’s quite enjoying being a part of the editorial team at MxM is the fact that you are given a free hand.

     

    The license to ask ‘tough’ questions when necessary and of course, the focus on analysis as against plain vanilla reporting.

     

    One story that I am quite proud of is the interview I produced with Star India COO Sanjay Gupta on Star’s new general entertainment channel Life Ok.