Sudhir Chaudhary (journalist)

Sudhir Chaudhary is an Indian journalist and media personality. He is serving as the editor-in-chief of Zee News and hosts the prime-time show Daily News And Analysis (DNA) on Zee News.[1]

Sudhir Chaudhary
Chaudhary in 2016
OccupationJournalist, news anchor, editor
Years active1993–present
EmployerZee News
Known forAnchoring the television show 'Daily News & Analysis'
Spouse(s)Niti Chaudhary
AwardsRamnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award, (2013 and 2017)

Career

Chaudhary has been working in the television news industry since the 1990s. Belonging to the first generation of television journalists,[2] he was in live television reporting and then 24 hours news television.[3] Chaudhary was told to have been in the squad which has covered the Vajpayee–Musharraf Indo-Pak meeting at Islamabad,[4] after the Lok Sabha attack in 2001.

In 2003, he left Zee News. He was instrumental in the launch of Sahara Samay, the Hindi news channel of the Sahara group. He also joined India TV for a brief time. In 2012 he rejoined Zee News, where he hosts the news show Daily News & Analysis (DNA).[5][6][7][1]

Controversies and criticism

Fake sting against teacher

In 2007 Live India ran a sting operation on a Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya teacher, Uma Khurana, and called her a pimp for forcing students into prostitution. As a result she was beaten up by a mob and sent into judicial custody thereafter. Sudhir Chaudhary was the CEO of Live India at the time, he said "The entire sting is not fake but yes there are weak links".[8][9][10] During the sting, a journalist Rashmi Singh, posed as a schoolgirl.[11][12] The court let Uma Khurana go and subsequently Uma Khuara withdrew her complaint and settled the matter directly with the media house, "Since the matter has been settled/compromised between me and the channel and Chaudhary, I do not want to pursue this case against other accused TV reporter also. I am withdrawing this complaint against all accused."[13][14]

Blackmailing charges and arrest

In November 2012, Chaudhary was arrested, alongside his colleague, Sameer Ahluwalia on charges of extortion.[15] This followed a complaint that had been filed by Congress MP and businessman, Naveen Jindal. Jindal had alleged that the two journalists had tried to extort Rs. 100 Crore worth of advertisements from his company in exchange for dropping stories that linked the Jindal Group with the Coalgate scam. The two were sent to 14-day judicial custody in Tihar jail and were ultimately released on bail.[16][17] The Broadcast Editors Association suspended Chaudhary as its Treasurer in the wake of these charges.[18] Having scrutinised video footage from the incident, it determined that Chaudhary had acted in a manner prejudicial to the interests and objectives of the Association. In July 2016, the Supreme Court ordered Chaudhary and Ahluwalia to provide voice samples to the investigating agencies to further the investigation. In July 2018, the Jindal Group wrote to the investigating agencies requesting them to withdraw the allegations against the journalists and file a closure report in the case.[19]

Allegations against Mahua Moitra

Chaudhary accused Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra of plagiarising speech of Truman Longman pointing out early signs of fascism in India while both Longman and Moitra had denied of plagiarising the speech.[20][21] Mahua Moitra filed criminal defamation case against Sudhir Chaudhary after which Chaudhary on his daily prime time show accepted that only a part of Mahua Moitra's speech was broadcast and showed his regrets.[22] Zee Media also filed a defamation case against her for calling it 'chor' and 'paid' news.[23]

Accusations of Islamophobia

On April 10, on Zee News, Chaudhary (according to Al Jazeera) openly accused Muslims of impeding India’s coronavirus war.[24] Chaudhary said on his show DNA that the “Tablighi Jamaat betrayed the nation.”[25]

In May 2020, Kerala Police filed a first information report against Chaudhary for his March 11 broadcast of DNA, in which Chaudhary discusses the "types of jihads", which were criticized as Islamophobic.[26]

Awards

Chaudhary won a Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism in the "Hindi broadcast" category for 2013. He won the award for his interview with the friend of the Delhi December 16 gang-rape victim.[27]

References
  1. "Sudhir Chaudhary now also editor in Chief of zee business". Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  2. "Sudhir Chaudhary joins Zee News as Business Head & Editor". exchange4media.com. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
  3. "Sudhir Chaudhary". Jaipur Literature Festival. 26 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019 – via jaipurbook,ark.org.
  4. "Sudhir Chaudhary bids adieu to Live India".
  5. Staff, JKR (1 July 2016). "Supreme Court warns Zee News editors, Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia, directs them to follow procedure or they will be sent back to jail - Janta Ka Reporter 2.0". Janta Ka Reporter 2.0. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  6. Jebaraj, Priscilla (25 October 2012). "Jindal plays CD, claims Zee editors demanded Rs. 100 crore". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  7. "Zee editors get bail in Rs 100 cr extortion bid case - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  8. "Sting operation falls apart but channel isn't sorry". News18. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  9. "Uma Khurana reinstated". Outlook India. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  10. Sinha, Bhadra (11 September 2007). "TV sting victim Khurana gets bail". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  11. Bajpai, Ravi; Bhalla, Abhishek (7 September 2007). "Sting backfires: girl held for cheating". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  12. "TV 'sting' to settle scores". Telegraph India. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. "Fake sting: Uma Khurana withdraws defamation case". The Times of India. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  14. "Reporter, 2 others summoned in defamation case over fake sting". The Times of India. 17 January 200. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  15. "Two Zee editors arrested for 'Rs 100-crore extortion bid' - Times of India ►". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  16. "Zee editors in two-week custody". BBC News. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  17. "Zee News editors sent to Tihar jail". Hindustan Times. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  18. "Broadcasters' body suspends Zee editor over Naveen Jindal charge - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  19. "ED charges against Naveen Jindal, others as his firm settles case of extortion with Zee". The Indian Express. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  20. "Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra didn't plagiarise: US writer of fascism article shuts trolls". India Today.
  21. "American Analyst Dismisses Plagiarism Charges Against TMC MP Mahua Moitra". News18.
  22. "Mahua Moitra v. Sudhir Chaudhary defamation: Court stays proceedings". Bar & Bench. 25 September 2019.
  23. "Zee Media files criminal defamation case against TMC MP Mahua Moitra for calling it 'chor' and 'paid' news". Zee News. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  24. Vetticad, Anna MM. "Indian media accused of Islamophobia for its coronavirus coverage". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  25. Scroll Staff. "Tablighi Jamaat coverage: Supreme Court says complaints against media should be sent to NBA first". Scroll.in. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  26. "Kerala Police books Zee News editor Sudhir Chaudhary under non-bailable sections". The Indian Express. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  27. "Sudhir Chaudhary gets Ramnath Goenka Excellence". The Indian Express. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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