Tamil news channel, News 7

Channel officials say an editorial board will ensure that owners and advertisers do not impact news coverage

The newly-launched Tamil news channel, News 7, promises to present news with a unique Tamil perspective.

After the announcement of its launch, questions were raised about its ownership and how it would impact its news coverage.

Rajesh Sundaram, news head of the channel, said an editorial board has been formed to decide on the editorial policy that will not only look into matters on how issues are covered, but also ensure owners and advertisers do not impact news coverage.

Stating that the editorial board “consists of names with impeccable credibility”, Mr. Sundaram said, “We have people like former Al Jazeera journalist Nick Walsh, Justice Venkataraman, poet Meena Kandasamy and others to formulate the editorial policy, which will govern the way news will be covered. We are also instituting a redressal system, a first for a news channel, to look into complaints from viewers,” he said.

The channel is also said to have a young team whose average age is not more than 25 years old.

Mr. Sundaram said national English channels do not adequately take into account regional perspectives when debating critical issues. 

The channel is in for a long innings, he added. “The organisation aspires to be like a BBC or CNN.”

H 2 Nov 2014