Barkha Dutt
Barkha Dutt | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 18, 1971 |
| Nationality | Indian  |
| Education | Modern School, New Delhi, St. Stephen's College, Jamia Milia Islamia,Graduate School of Journalism |
| Alma mater | Graduate School of Journalism |
| Employer | New Delhi Television |
| Known for | Maligning Hinduism and inflaming communal passions. |
Barkha Dutt (born December 18, 1971) is a TV journalist with New Delhi Television (NDTV).
Biography
Early life
Barkha Dutt was born to S.P. Dutt (called "Speedy" because of his initials) and Mrs Prabha Dutt (nee Behl).[1] Dutt was an official in Air-India and Prabha was Chief of Bureau of the Hindustan Times for some time. Her childhood days were spent shuttling between New Delhi and New York.[2]
Barkha credits her journalism skills to her mother, Prabha, a pioneer among women journalists in India. Prabha Dutt graduated from the Chandigarh School of Journalism with honours and did her inhouse training with the Hindustan Times, Delhi in 1964. Prabha Dutt died in 1984, when she was in her prime, due to a brain haemorrhage. At that time Barkha was just thirteen.[1]
Education
Dutt was educated at the Modern School, New Delhi. She then did her Bachelor's degree in English literature from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. After this, she did her Master's degree in Mass Communication from Jamia Milia Islamia's Mass Communication Research Center New Delhi.
She was a 1997 winner of the Inlaks Scholarship, which sends six Indians abroad annually for graduate work. Barkha took two years off from work and got a master's in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, New York.
Career
Barkha Dutt's frontline reporting of the Kargil conflict in 1999 rose her to prominence in India. She had interviewed Capt. Vikram Batra during the Kargil conflict.
Since then, Dutt has reported on a large number of conflicts, covering areas ranging from Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Currently, she is the Managing Editor of NDTV 24x7, India's premiere satellite television network, and the host of We the People, a discussion show covering current events.
She also writes a weekly column for The Hindustan Times and Khaleej Times.
Awards
Her work has won her over twenty international and national awards including:
- Global Leader of Tomorrow Award from the World Economic Forum, 2001;
- Commonwealth Broadcasters Award, 2002;
- Broadcast Journalist of the Year award from the Indian Express, 2005;
- Padma Shri Award (Journalism), 2008.
Criticisms
She has been criticized at times for putting the lives of soldiers in danger.
During the Kargil conflict, Indian Army sources allegedly repeatedly complained to her channel that she was giving away locations of soldiers through her camera lights, thus causing Indian casualties.[citation needed].
This story however has been refuted by General Malik in his book on Kargil, where he mentions how the media was mistakenly accused of endangering soldiers when actually rocket launchers and satellite phones emitted far more light and were actually responsible. This was reported in DNA http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/12/03/0812030539_terror_takes_back_seat_navy_chief_targets_media.html
After the November 2008 Terror Attacks in Mumbai, the Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta criticized the media, and Barkha too. This criticism is the result of the current pressure that the media has brought to bear on the naval forces and the coastguard, for their negligence in stopping terrorists coming to Mumbai via the sea route, despite various warnings.
Barkha's outspoken nature and her refusal to defend herself against rumours has led to her being viewed as a controversial figure at times. However, many of the good influences that she has had (eg after her coverage of the Mumbai attacks and the delay it took the National Security Guard to reach the Taj, a plane was sanctioned to the NSG, and the NSG acknowledges her help in obtaining this) have remained private.
- We the People (TV Program)
- http://www.saja.org/dutt.html
- http://living.oneindia.in/celebrity/barkha_dutt.html
- http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web203101632Hoot80432%20PM1258&pn=1
- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040711/spectrum/main1.htm
- http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=14002
- http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/12/03/0812030539_terror_takes_back_seat_navy_chief_targets_media.html
References
- ^ a b The Tribune Article
- ^ "She dares". Retrieved 2007-03-20.