CNN-IBN (Network 18)

The first two months of my time in India, I interned at the Chennai bureau of CNN-IBN, CNN’s sister network in India. The IBN office in Chennai consisted of three IBN reporters (one for news, one for entertainment, and the bureau chief ), and one CNBC reporter, because CNBC and IBN are part of Network 18. There was one video editor, four camerapersons, and a team of marketing staff. Despite the small office and the the fact that only few stories were sent from Chennai to the main office in Delhi, I was lucky to have been there as election time approached and also for A.R.Rahman’s win for Slumdog Millionaire. (For more on my personal experiences while at IBN, see my blog.)

Being a national network, CNN-IBN’s scope for interns was limited, although they are willing in some cases to give interns a byline as credit for the stories they helped with or did on their own.

Below are some of the stories on which I worked with the Chennai correspondents.

To see the original versions used by network, click on the links provided.

Lesbian helpline launch

I suggested this story to the news reporters at IBN when I interned in Chennai Jan-Feb 2009. A lesbian helpline launched in Chennai to provide lesbians to seek help for the problems they faced at work, in society, and from their own families because of their sexual orientation.

Chennai Correspondent Prathibha Parameshwaran and I worked on this story together and it aired on February 6, 2009. See the version that was used by Network 18.

Recruitment declines even in IT sector

I suggested this story and worked on it with CNBC Correspondent Divya Rajagopal, during my internship at CNN-IBN in Chennai.

Although India didn’t face as serious a recession (or technically, a recession at all) in 2008-2009, the engineering colleges did have a hard time placing senior students, even in the Information Technology sector.

See the version used by the network here.

Namitha most Googled actress

I did this story while interning at CNN-IBN in Jan-Feb of 2009. Actress Namitha doesn’t carry the conventional image, but she managed to be the most Googled actress down South. Namitha is known for her “item girl” roles, although her popularity may land her some more prominent roles in the future. The version used by the network was voiced-over by Chennai Correspondent Prathibha.

Tambaram lady awaits land

When I was at IBN, I had filed a story on an elderly woman, who refused to leave a tent she had set up in West Tambaram, until the government gave back the land on which she had established a school and her home. The problem was that she didn’t have a patta (legal document) for the land, so officials demolished the school and home, leaving her only rubble and remnants of a playground.