EP-339 | Political Pressure, TRP War, Media Credibility & Influencers vs Journalists | Kalli Purie

Kalli Purie is the Vice Chairperson & Executive Editor-in-Chief of the India Today Group. She studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University, UK. She is a core member of the team that created a modern newsroom designed for today’s multimedia and multi-device world.

In this episode of the ANI Podcast, Kalli Purie talks about the kind of political pressure news channels face from governments and how they handle it. She explains why every channel calls itself “number one,” and why billionaires are buying news channels.

She also opens up about why some top anchors left India Today, shares her opinion on influencers who do news without being journalists, and discusses how people are changing the way they consume news. She even makes a big prediction about the 2029 general elections.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

01:09 – Heated Newsroom Discussions

04:46 – Battle to Get TRPs

07:54 – Operation Sindoor: Flaws in Coverage?

10:54 – Fake News & Fact-Checking Team

17:10 – Reality of News Channel Ratings

21:24 – Anchor Popularity vs Ratings

27:39 – Traditional Media vs Influencers

35:23 – Managing Anchors' Demands

39:44 – Evolution of Hindi News Channels

44:21 – Race for Exclusive Content

47:01 – The ‘Godi Media’ Term

52:59 – Billionaires buying Channels

1:01:12 – TV News Criticism & Digital Shift

1:07:45 – AI in Newsrooms

1:11:46 – Childhood Passion to Media Leadership

1:22:58 – Gender Perception in Media

1:28:27 – Idea Generation and Teamwork

1:35:06 – Work-Life Balance