Amol Rajan

Amol Rajan (formerly V. Amol and Amol Varadarajan;[1] born 4 July 1983) is an Indian-born British journalist and broadcaster. He has been the BBC's Media Editor since December 2016.[2]

Amol Rajan
Born	4 July 1983[1] Calcutta, India
Nationality	British, Indian
Education	Graveney School
Alma mater	Downing College, Cambridge
Occupation	Journalist
Employer	BBC Channel 5 (formerly) The Independent (formerly)
Title	Media Editor of BBC News (2016–present)
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Faircloth ​ (m. 2013)​

Rajan was editor of The Independent newspaper from June 2013.[3] When The Independent announced it was dropping the print edition in February 2016, and continuing as only an online operation, Rajan was retained for a period as "editor-at-large".

Early life

Rajan was born in Calcutta, India, to a mother from Pune and a Tamil father from Kumbakonam.[1] Due to Tamil naming customs, Rajan was born V. Amol, with the V. for his father's given name of Varadarajan.[1] This name was modified to Amol Varadarajan when he came to England, and the family later changed their surname to Rajan.[1]

Rajan was three when his family moved to England,[3] and was raised in Tooting, South West London.[4] The son of Hindu parents, he has not believed in any god since the age of 15.[5][6] He was state school educated at Graveney School[7][3] and read English at Downing College, Cambridge,[8] where he contributed to Varsity.[9] He was editor of the student newspaper for a term in 2005.[10] At the age of 18, Rajan worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for one year during his gap year.[11]

Career

Rajan was the secondary presenter on The Wright Stuff, the daytime talk show on the Five network,[12] during its 2006–7 series. He was also a researcher on the programme.

He joined The Independent newspaper in August 2007, where he was over the next few years a news reporter, sports correspondent, columnist, comment editor,[13] and editor of Independent Voices.[14] He has also written a Monday column for the London Evening Standard, restaurant criticism for The Independent on Sunday,[14] and has contributed to The Salisbury Review. The latter publication, according to Rajan, "still publishes writing on politics, history and culture that is among the finest produced in English today. It is frequently offensive, and I cannot say I often agree with its editorial position, but that is all the more reason to read it."[15]

In 2013, aged 29, Rajan became the first non-white editor of a national newspaper when his Independent appointment was announced,[3][7] although that claim has also been made on behalf of Rachel Beer.[16] His predecessor as editor of The Independent, Chris Blackhurst, became Group Content Director.[17] When The Independent proprietor Evgeny Lebedev announced a move to digital-only in February 2016, with the imminent closure of the print edition, it emerged that Rajan would remain with the company to help facilitate the change in direction.[18]

His role as editor-at-large for The Independent website ended after he was appointed as the BBC's first Media Editor in November 2016, and he assumed his new post on 12 December.[2][19] He has also hosted The Big Debate on the BBC Asian Network.[20]

From May 2017, he has presented The Media Show on BBC Radio 4 in succession to Steve Hewlett.[21] Since 2017, Rajan has provided holiday cover for several presenters on BBC Radio 2, including Simon Mayo,[22] Jeremy Vine[23][24] and Zoe Ball.[25] Rajan has occasionally presented The One Show.[26]

Personal life

Rajan is a cricket enthusiast,[27] and plays for the Authors XI cricket team.[28] His first book, Twirlymen, the Unlikely History of Cricket's Greatest Spin Bowlers, was published by Random House in 2011.[29] He married Charlotte Faircloth, an academic, in Cambridge in September 2013.[30]

References

1. Rajan, Amol (17 March 2018). "Two words, nine letters and the endless, infinite trauma of my name". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
2. "Amol Rajan appointed as BBC's first media editor". BBC News. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
3. Josh Halliday "Amol Rajan appointed as Independent editor", The Guardian, 17 June 2013
4. Amol Rajan "From Tooting to Islington, our high streets are bereft of buzz and variety", The Independent, 13 November 2012
5. Rajan, Amol (6 January 2012). "Belief without a faith to follow". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
6. Rajan, Amol (27 December 2011). "Amol Rajan: Religious lessons of Christmas for a non-believer". The Independent.
7. The Independent's Amol Rajan Becomes UK's First Non-White National Editor", The Huffington Post, 17 June 2013
8. "Asian Network;s Big Debate: Amol Rajan", BBC Asian Network, retrieved 12 June 2020.
9. Mark Sweney; Chris Johnston (12 February 2016). "Independent aims to keep stars and boost quality in digital shift". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
10. Rosie Boycott "What I learnt from a night with Daisy", The Observer, 17 April 2005
11. Amol Rajan , standard.co.uk, 14 August 2014
12. Amol Rajan "Still top of the morning: Channel Five's The Wright Stuff turns 10", The Independent, 16 September 2010
13. "Amol Rajan" Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, David Higham (agent's page)
14. "Amol Rajan", Independent biography page
15. Amol Rajan "Sooner or later, every voice is heard and heeded", The Independent, 15 March 2012
16. Nina Macintyre "The First Lady of Fleet Street", Prospect (blog), 19 June 2013
17. William Turvill "Amol Rajan is made editor of The Independent as Chris Blackhurst becomes group content director", Press Gazette, 17 June 2013
18. Armstrong, Ashley (12 February 2016). "The Independent newspaper confirms an end to print production". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
19. "Former Independent editor Amol Rajan named BBC's new media editor". The Independent. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
20. Ponsford, Dominic (21 November 2016). "Amol Rajan appointed as the BBC's first media editor". Press Gazette. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
21. "Amol Rajan announced as presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Media Show". BBC Media Centre. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
22. "BBC Radio 2 - Simon Mayo Drivetime, Amol Rajan sits in". Retrieved 29 July 2017.
23. "Airport Drinking and Mental Stability, Jeremy Vine - BBC Radio 2". BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
24. "Amol Rajan sits in". BBC Radio 2.
25. "Amol Rajan sits in...joined by Peter Crouch". BBC. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
26. Harp, Justin (24 September 2020). "The One Show suprises [sic] Mercury Prize 2020 winner on air in live TV reveal". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
27. Hasan Suroor. "Amol Rajan makes Fleet Street history". The Hindu.
28. "My Education Blog". theauthorsxi.com.
29. Andy Bull "Rejoicing in the Twirlymen and the forgotten art of medium-paced spin", guardian.co.uk (blog), 17 May 2011
30. Rajan, Amol (9 September 2013). "Five good reasons why I am ready to be wed". London Evening Standard.

External links

• The Media Show (BBC Radio 4)