The last four years have seen a string of the media’s biggest names come through the ranks at the India Today Group. Prabhu Chawla, MJ Akbar, Karan Thapar and, earlier this month, there was the sudden exit of Shekhar Gupta from the editor-in-chief role, where he was expected to revamp the entire organisation. Rajdeep Sardesai joins that list.

India Today Group chairman Aroon Purie on Thursday sent a memo to employees at the company announcing the arrival of Sardesai, formerly of NDTV and former Editor-in-Chief of the IBN18 Network. Purie wrote that Sardesai would be joining the India Today Group as a “consulting editor” and would also be helming a “marquee show” on Headlines Today.

Pleased to welcome Rajdeep Sardesai @SardesaiRajdeep to the @IndiaToday Group as Consulting Editor.

“I am pleased to welcome Rajdeep Sardesai to the India Today Group. He will join us in the capacity of Consulting Editor,” Purie wrote in his memo. “As a start, Rajdeep will be doing a marquee show for Headlines Today and contributing to the revamp of the Channel and its alignment with digital.” This will be Sardesai’s first full-time gig following his resignation from Network18 after it was fully taken over by Reliance earlier this year. Sardesai's exit then was widely connected to rumours that the new owners were attempting to have more control over the editorial side of the news organisation. The India Today Group is primarily controlled by Purie, although the Aditya Birla Group owns a substantial chunk of the organisation, which it is now looking to sell. CNN-IBN’s deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, who is also Sardesai’s wife, had also quit at the time and has since joined the Times of India.



 




At the India Today Group, Sardesai is unlikely to see the same kind of pressure from the owners over his editorial stance, not only because the group is family-owned rather than corporate, but also because he is choosing to only be a "consulting editor" rather than helm overall newsroom operations. Significantly, Shekhar Gupta’s exit after just two months as editor-in-chief of the India Today Group is believed to have at least partly been the result of his butting heads with others within the group, including the owners, and the same reason had also been given for the exits of others like Chawla and Akbar in the past.

As consulting editor, Sardesai is likely to have less of a direct role in the overall running of the channel, although he has been given the task of running a “marquee show”. He has said he will be doing some work on Aaj Tak, as well as being a part of the India Today Revamp Project ‒ an effort from the owners to overhaul the company’s entire news operations and fully integrate it with the India Today Group’s digital efforts.

The consulting editor approach is similar to the path senior journalist Karan Thapar has taken at Headlines Today, where his only responsibility is overseeing the primetime show To The Point, rather than being involved in overall newsroom operations. Sardesai’s “marquee show” means current Headlines Today editor-at-large Rahul Kanwal, who anchors a 9.30 pm primetime show, might see a change in responsibilities.

Gupta too, will technically be an Editorial Advisor to the group following his exit from the editor-in-chief position, with Purie writing in a memo that he "remains passionate" to the India Today Revamp Project, although his actual input is expected to be limited to writing for the India Today magazine.

Rumours suggest that CNN-IBN managing editor Vinay Tiwari is also expected to join Headlines Today, as managing editor. This would complete an entire overhaul of the channel’s main players with input and output heads who were brought in last year leaving the company and a number of switching of roles of anchors and other senior journalists.

Purie's entire memo is below.
Dear all,

I am pleased to welcome Rajdeep Sardesai to the India Today Group. He will join us in the capacity of Consulting Editor.
Rajdeep needs no introduction: he has been an asset to whichever team he has belonged to, including the cricketing ones.

Oxford and St. Xavier’s educated, Rajdeep started his television career in 1994 and was a founding member of NDTV and, subsequently, CNN-IBN. Prior to TV, he worked with TOI for 6 years and was the city editor of its Mumbai edition. Rajdeep has served as the Editor-in-Chief of IBN18 Network, including CNN-IBN, IBN-7 and IBN-Lokmat for the last 9 years.

He has just finished his first book based on the historic 2014 elections; its release is much awaited. Rajdeep has won several national and international awards for journalism, including the Padma Shri in 2008.

As a start, Rajdeep will be doing a marquee show for Headlines Today and contributing to the revamp of the Channel and its alignment with digital.

Rajdeep, welcome. Great to have you with us. I know you will hit the ball out of the park for Team India Today. All the best in your new innings.

Aroon Purie