The BBC‘s news operation in India has formally split in two, as the UK broadcast organization seeks to comply with local media rules.
Six former BBC staff have launched Collective Newsroom as an independent Indian-owned media company. It will supply news to the BBC’s Indian operation, which has been targeted by officials several times in recent years.
Led by Rupa Jha as CEO, Collective Newsroom will create and publish journalism for BBC News in six Indian languages: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, as well as in English for the BBC News India YouTube channel, and produce other English content.
In December last year, BBC announced a restructure to its India operations to comply with the country’s investment rules. Publishing from India, Collective Newsroom will also be staffed by Mukesh Sharma, Sanjoy Majumder and Sara Hasan, who all bring extensive editorial and programming-making experience.
The arrangement with Collective Newsroom’s first client, the BBC, includes the contract to produce content for BBC News Hindi, the BBC’s language service with the largest audience. The company shared that in 2023, across all platforms, the service’s weekly reach figure grew 27% year-on-year.
“I’m thrilled that Collective Newsroom has officially launched with a clear, ambitious mission to create the most credible, creative and courageous journalism, and with a wealth of experience and talent in our incredible teams,” Jha said.