Sashi Kumar

Bio

Sashi Kumar is a print and broadcast journalist, filmmaker and media entrepreneur.

He founded andchairs the Media Development Foundation which administers the Asian College of Journalism.

He was among the earliest Newscasters in English on national television, Doordarshan, Middle East Correspondent of The Hindu and news anchor on Radio Bahrain in the 1980s.

He has anchored and produced numerous studio shows, documentaries and news features for national television in India.

In 1992 he founded and launched Asianet, India’s first satellite TV channel in a regional language (Malayalam), and the country’s first statewide cable TV network in Kerala.

In 2004 he scripted and directed ‘Kaya Taran’ an award winning Hindi feature film based on the 1984 anti- Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has acted in a few Malayalam feature films.

His latest media venture, Asiaville Interactive launched in 2019 is a startup to “reimagine journalism” for the millennial generation and includes multimedia digital portals in Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.

He is a regular commentator on topical issues, particularly relating to the media, and contributed a regular column titled ‘Unmediated’ in Frontline, which is also the title of the book comprising his essays and articles published by Tulika Books in 2013.

He has been conferred many awards for his work in the media.