| Aroon Purie | |
|---|---|
Aroon Purie |
|
| Born | 1944 Lahore, Undivided India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Citizenship | Indian |
| Occupation | Editor-In-Chief and Chairman, India Today Group; Chairman, FIPP (The International Federation of the Periodical Press) |
| Spouse | Rekha Purie |
| Children | Kalli, Koel and Ankoor Purie |
| Awards |
Padma Bhushan - amongst India’s highest civilian honours – by the President of India in 2001
|
Aroon Purie is an Indian businessman who is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of India Today and the Chief Executive of the India Today Group. He is also the Managing Director of Thomson Press (India) Limited and the Chairman and Managing Director of TV Today. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Reader's Digest India [1]
Contents |
An indian Chartered Accountant, Aroon Purie was educated at the Doon School and went onto get his B.Sc in Economics from the London School of Economics[2] in 1965.
He started his career in 1970 at Thomson Press as Production Controller and still continues to be its guiding force even though he recently handed over the reins to his son Ankoor Purie. Thomson press is the largest commercial printer in South Asia and with five facilities across India has a national presence. He began the India Today Group with an eponymous magazine in 1975. Today the group is India’s most diversified media group with 32 magazines, 7 radio stations, 4 TV channels, 1 newspaper, multiple web and mobile portals, a leading classical music label and book publishing arm. Through its subscribers, readers, viewers and listeners, the group reaches out to over 50 million individuals.
Purie launched India Today, the magazine in 1975 as a strategic move to keep the printing press busy. The magazine was born in the time of emergency. Its never before seen brand of journalism without fear or favour transformed the landscape of Indian journalism. With editions in five languages, it is the most widely–read publication in India–a position it has held for over a decade–with a readership of over 11 million.[3]
He sets the journalistic style for the largest and most respected magazine publishing group in India and for the premier 24-hour news and current affairs Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak and English news channel Headlines Today.
He was conferred, Padma Bhushan - a prestigious civilian award, by the Government of India, for his contribution to Indian journalism.[4] He has received numerous other honors which include the B.D. Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism (1988),[5] 'Journalist of the Year 1990' award by the Indian Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers,[4] The G.K. Reddy Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism (1993–1994),[5] the Hall of Fame Award from the Advertising Club of Kolkata (2002) [5] and the NT Award for Lifetime achievement from www.Indiatelevision.com (2008).
He is associated with several prestigious councils, amongst them, as Member, Council of Management, Audit Bureau of Circulations (Chairman, 2000–2001).[4] He is on the Executive Committee of The Editors' Guild of India,[4] Council of Management All India Management Association (Special Invitee). He was also Chairman, CII National Committee on Media (2001–2002).[4] He is currently the chairman of FIPP Federation of International Periodicals and Publications.[6] This is the first time the post has been held by an Indian national. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts (England & Wales).
A media watchdog, CounterMedia, has found that the opening paragraph of Purie's October 18, 2010 editorial on the iconic south Indian actor, Rajinikanth, was identical to the one published by Slate, an US-based online Magazine.[7] The only difference between Slate's copy, written by Grady Hendrix, and the one written by Purie for the southern edition of the magazine is the capitalisation of the word 'Superstar' while Hendrix's copy reads 'SUPERSTAR'. Purie later apologized for the mistake occurred stating that it was an inadvertent error. However, Grady Hendrix who initially made mock of apology, accepted Arun's letter to the editor of Slate as a satisfactory closure to the matter.[8]
The magazines run by the India Today Group are [9]:
Along with the above, the group also publishes several supplements for their magazines.
The India Today Group has also entered into a tie-up with AOL Time Warner Group for exclusive marketing and distribution of Time and Fortune magazines.[9]
Apart from a number of publications, the group also controls TV Today, India's most wide-reaching television news network, which owns the popular Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and English news channel Headlines Today. TV Today, whose CEO is G Krishnan, is a listed company whose shares are traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Besides Aaj Tak and Headlines Today they also run two other channels - Tez, a snappy-format news channel, using a concept borrowed from CNN Headline News but in Hindi and Dilli Aaj Tak, a local news channel for Delhi.