Our Team

JOURNALISTS IN ACTION

It’s action time. Across the streets of India, in the corridors of power, at the stock market the bullion market, in the sporting arena science and technology… arts and culture you name it. And there’s one channel that’s fully geared to bring all this action to you through some relentless, action-packed, honest and positive journalism a 24X7 Hindi news channel that’s set to redefine journalism standards in this country. So, get ready to get glued. It’s JIA News.

THE CHANNEL

JIA News is an off-the-beaten-path initiative in the Indian context. It is an attempt to cater international standard news content to Indian audience in Hindi. JIA News is an effort to explore the heart of India and dig up issues that matter. It aims at bringing credibility back to content. Hence, it is bringing international best practices in journalism to India. Because we realise that TV news is hardly news. Because, there are real stories to tell. And because, people matter. JIA News comes out of the realisation that news is not just about news, but about issues that people relate to. Issues, which mostly don't surface till tragedies occur. The consistent polarisation of TV channel content has left out several issues – common and uncommon – but relevant to people. There is in fact a net migration of viewers from news channels to entertainment channels. News has seemingly lost meaning due to the way it is dished out. But, this has practically left scope open for innovative news content. There is a growing feeling that news channels are airing more views than news, marginalising the very viewers they depend on for ratings. An increasing popular opinion wave is against the sensational content of news. From both normative and practical points, news channels have left the very space unaddressed for which they were created. In the Indian context, fiction has not moved towards fact, but the reverse has happened. Now news channels sacrifice originality and replicate entertainment content to be viewed.

THE MISSION

To re-establish credible journalism as a pylon of our democratic system and to create content that serves as effective change agent. To create niche for itself in the TV news genre that would induce change in TV content in general in the Indian context.

 

 

The channel is an attempt to highlight issues in India relevant to its development needs. It takes birth in the realisation that media is not sufficiently highlighting issues of concern in the country. JIA News is a move against the conundrum of sensations that mark news channels now. The channel is conceptualised as an offbeat attempt at covering news in its entirety. This means giving adequate coverage to grassroots issues in the country. It is an endeavour of the channel to be a means of development dissemination and not just a platform of information... definitely not just of opinions. News content is presented in an unbiased manner... without sensationalising in any way. The content is objective, ethical, culturally sensitive and politically correct. Quality of news prevails over pace of news, in line with the practice of reputed international brands. JIA News has the look and feel that is at par with several prominent international channels. In every aspect of its presentation the channel is an attempt to deliver the best. JIA News comes with the philosophy that the Indian audience deserves the best, much more than the usual bundle of sensations and discussions that they are subject to everyday. Hence the tag-line – FEEL THE CHANGE.

 

Content, for us, is a vital tool of progress. News is not fiction. It is reality and we treat it as such. Objectivity is the basis of our philosophy. Apart from regular news, the channel focuses on people's issues in different parts of the country. More often than not these are developmental concerns of people in various parts of India. Our news hence is not restricted to regular coverage. We break news from the grassroots. News for us is not just top-down information. It is also bottom-up. We aim at covering news that is relevant to masses but doesn’t feature in regular coverage. Unlike most new channels of national stature, JIA News puts a lot of stress on feature content. This allows the channel to ensure quality production from both editorial and creative perspectives. This also means, JIA News stresses a lot on research based productions. Our content is generally presented either in the form of programmes or documentaries. The flagship product of JIA News is JIA'S LENS – a series of insightful documentaries. This series would be a unique initiative not only in the context of Hindi TV news but Indian TV in general. We consider it as a bold effort, aimed at changing the content paradigm. This has hence become a necessity for the channel to dig out topics from all over the country. These topics, while focusing on developmental issues and concerns also comprise human interest issues and mild amusements. In the process JIA News is creating a unique repository of content that would help it in augmenting its business in the future. JIA News has dedicated programmes for – social issues, entertainment, crime and religion. In essence, the channel offers a complete bouquet, with development as its prime element of content.

 

DISTRIBUTION

JIA News has established a countrywide network for content generation and aggregation. The hub is in Noida, UP. A super-bureau has been established in Mumbai. In addition, JIA News has gone into agreement with several organisations to complete its bouquet of content. In effect, JIA News has deployed a countrywide network for quality coverage. The channel has particularly paid attention to establishing access in the remote corners of the country. In accordance with its aim, JIA News is creating the means to have easy access to gather content from the interiors. This would help generate unique content in the Indian context. JIA News has designed an elaborate distribution plan to reach 92% of Indian C&S households. The channel is also streamed live on the internet and mobile handsets. All Android, Blackberry and iPhone handsets can access JIA News. The channel is also beamed overseas. JIA News is particularly targeted at the Indian Diaspora in the UK, the USA and Canada.

ASSOCIATIONS

For JIA News, every Indian is the target. However, from a purely marketing perspective, we realise that our prime target would be between SEC B & C. Considering the reach of distribution networks, JIA News is more visible in Delhi, Mumbai and other Tier I, II and III cities in Hindi speaking regions. However, it is our endeavour to include A and D as well and spread the network across India. But even to start with, JIA News, with a strong distribution initiative, proposes to be a robust access medium for advertisers. JIA News provides unique partnership possibilities. The channel has been designed to incorporate unique ways of generating and placing content. JIA News has devised several ways of catering to its patrons and partners, so that they can leverage from the prospective popularity of the channel. Following are the basic partnership possibilities on JIA News –  Advertisements  Sponsorships  Featured Content/Advertorial (Stories and documentaries)  Custom Production By joining hands with JIA News one would a part of the next phase of change in the society.

 

ROHAN JAGDALE - CHAIRMAN

Rohan Jagdale is the son of former Ranji Trophy player Ashok Jagdale. He belongs to a family that comprises prominent personalities in politics, cricket and education. Rohan Jagdale, however, is the first entrepreneur in the family. He has graduated from the prestigious Sydenham College in Mumbai. Soon after his graduation, he started his own venture. He started working in the oil industry, and spread his activities in the middle-east and Russia. His global activities induced in him further aspirations that concerned India. He realised the need for free and unbiased information flow in a fast developing India. He and his team studied the need-gap closely and understood the relative lack of credible news content in India, despite a burgeoning media industry. This realisation led to the idea of a news channel that would be built on the fundamental ethical parameters of journalism. JIA News, hence has been founded to inculcate and induce positive thoughts in the popular psyche, and not incite negativism with sensational content. Rohan Jagdale wants JIA News to strengthen the fundamental rights of people to information.

MADHULIKA JAGDALE - DIRECTOR

Madhulika Jagdale is the wife of Rohan Jagdale. She is the first partner in all the thought-implementations of Rohan Jagdale. A graduate from LAD College in Nagpur, Mrs. Jagdale stands as the most important catalyst in putting the idea of JIA News into reality. She has been the prime initiator of the content philosophy of JIA News, personally choosing and designing much of the developmental content, which mostly concern backward sections and women. Mrs. Jagdale has taken a leading position in designing content that would be a balance between social commitment and business needs. In short, she compliments Mr. Jagdale's business acumen with a social vision.