एनडीटीवी समूह में जमकर छंटनी की जा रही है. खुद एनडीटीवी ग्रुप ने मुंबई स्टाक एक्सचेंज को सूचित किया है कि वह करीब 25 प्रतिशत स्टाफ में कटौती करने जा रहा है. उधर, एनडीटीवी की एडिटोरियल डायरेक्टर और सीनियर एंकर सोनिया सिंह ने ट्विटर पर कहा है कि एनडीटीवी को सरकारी विज्ञापन नहीं मिल रहा है.
पायनियर के पत्रकार जे गोपीकृष्णन ने ट्विटर पर कहा है कि एनडीटीवी में छंटनी के खिलाफ क्या कोई प्रेस क्लब में इकट्ठा होगा? ‘NDTV informs Stock Exchange of terminating 25% of staffers. anybody assembling in Press Clubs to protest?’.
एनडीटीवी की पूर्व मैनेजिंग एडिटर बरखा दत्त ने जे गोपीकृष्णन के ट्वीट का समर्थन करते हुए कहा कि वाकई अब कोई छंटनी के मारे पत्रकारों के समर्थन में प्रेस क्लब से मार्च नहीं निकालेगा.
पायनियर के पत्रकार के ट्वीट के जवाब में एनडीटीवी की सोनिया सिंह ने सरकारी विज्ञापन न मिलने वाली बात कही है. ‘Yes they should actually to ask why NDTV isnt getting any ‘official’ ads. Speaking truth to power has its financial costs & we’re paying it’।
उधर, बताया जा रहा है कि कई दिनों से हर रोज पचास मीडियाकर्मी की नौकरी एनडीटीवी समूह से जा रही है. कुल तीन सौ लोगों को निकाला गया है या निकाला जाने की प्रक्रिया जारी है. इस बाबत वरिष्ठ पत्रकार शाहिद फरीदी कहते हैं : ”NDTV sacked 50 employees yesterday and will fire another 200 in the next couple of weeks. I hope Press Club managing committee would convene a meeting in support of fired journalists just like it did when the owners of NDTV were raided for alleged financial bungling. It’s time to see if the present committee of the Press Club stands as strongly for working journalists as it did with owners of the TV channel.”
सूत्रों का कहना है कि एनडीटीवी वल्ड वाइड की पूरी टीम बाहर कर दी गई है. स्पोट्स डेस्क इंग्लिश से कई लोग बाहर किए गए हैं. कई वरिष्ठ तक छंटनी के दायरे में आए हुए बताए जाते हैं. करीब पंद्रह वीडियो एडिटर्स की नौकरी गई है. एनडीटीवी इंडिया से भी ढेर सारे लोग निकाले गए हैं.
नीचे देखिए एनडीटीवी की तरफ से जारी मेल और प्रेस रिलीज…
Hi,
We have a big year coming up with NDTV restructuring to focus on one goal: Consolidation To Content.
A part of this plan was implemented in the last quarter and included our much-noted move to mobile journalism. Our reporters across the country are now using mobile phones for the fastest and most efficient delivery of breaking news. (Other news networks in India are still experimenting with similar training.)
NDTV Convergence continues to grow rapidly with its traffic and revenue hitting an all-time high this year. It remains profitable, exceptional for digital content in India. It is launching new products and sites, with careful attention on where to expand and how quickly.
For our broadcast business, we need to regain our financial strength. The consolidation strategy that we are adopting calls for a far leaner operation which will feed only our core business: our English and Hindi news channels, and NDTV Convergence, its digital team and the slate of apps and sites they run.
This means minimizing some ancillary businesses that NDTV had expanded into over the last few years. We believe our strength lies in our fair, accurate and comprehensive journalism, in reportage that makes a difference. Making this the only priority requires the full concentration of the top management, our newsroom, and all available resources.
Given our reprioritization, our workforce has to be altered too. A leaner operation will enable speed, agility and innovation, all required for our new systems of news-gathering and dissemination. This reconfiguration involves the very tough decision of parting with some of our colleagues. This process has begun. Severance packages have been organized, we will work hard to help them find jobs elsewhere, and Heads of Departments and HR are now talking to those affected.
NDTV thanks with immense gratitude these colleagues and friends for their hard work and wishes them the very best. We will always think of them as ours.
As part of this exercise, top management has taken a pay cut. Several verticals that were created around similar functions have been merged and are already working together for increased efficiency. We have a new team handling Sales and Revenue to give us a head-start on our path to profitability. They have already launched new initiatives for strategic alliances and new partnerships.
I guarantee that Saurav as Co-Ceo, the new strategy team and I are working round-the-clock to make this transition quickly and effectively, in keeping with the values that NDTV is known for, and to facilitate what we love doing – journalism that makes a difference.
If you have any concerns or feedback, please do email or call me.
Many thanks,
Suparna
Group CEO, NDTV
