From international newsroom to Indian company: BBC starts historical new innings in India

A shiny new plaque now hangs in the reception of BBC India’s office in Delhi. Embossed with the words Collective Newsroom, it’s the latest step in the corporation’s journey in India, with operations kickstarting from April 10.

The new avatar is the latest in BBC’s rollercoaster ride in India over the last few years – the government’s banning of a BBC documentary that examined the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots,  a “survey” by the Income Tax department of its offices in Delhi and Mumbai, and then a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. 

BBC India, of which BBC UK owns 99 percent, was accused of breaching its foreign direct investment cap, which was limited to 26 percent by the Indian government in 2020. Importantly, BBC’s largest market outside the UK is in India.

So, to comply with FDI norms, Collective Newsroom – a wholly Indian-owned company – was set up by four former BBC employees in December 2023. It will be the corporation’s sole provider of content for its Indian-language website, social media platforms, and BBC India’s YouTube channel in English.

Newslaundry learned that BBC has also applied for 26 percent share of the company in line with regulations. 

“The situation forced us to think differently and out of the box,” said Rupa Jha, CEO of Collective Newsroom. “BBC was clear with its intent, that it didn’t want to leave this market nor did it want to do offshore journalism. We had other options but this was the most viable – to make it an employee-owned company with operations in India.”

Jha’s cofounders are Mukesh Prasad Sharma, director of journalism and deputy CEO; Sanjoy Majumder, deputy director of journalism and managing editor; and Sara Hassan, chief operating officer. There are also five minority shareholders.

As of now, 265 employees have transferred from BBC India to Collective Newsroom, moving entirely from the fifth floor to the sixth floor of the building. Sitting in her cabin a stone’s throw from where I-T officials visited last year, Jha said the documentary and raids weren’t the sole reasons for the restructure, but they were definitely a “trigger”.

“There was a lot of confusion around the FDI rules for digital media when they first came in. There still is,” she said. “It also came into place when Covid hit so we couldn’t change structureship at the time.”

BBC’s Modi documentary was banned in January 2023. The visit from I-T officials took place a month later, and the ED case was registered in April that year. Jha emphasised that BBC “puts a premium on how to be compliant with the laws of the land”. “Once you are clear this is a law, you can’t be knowingly non-compliant,” she said.

Audiences may not find much changing with BBC India’s content. But for the government, Collective Newsroom is now the publisher that holds responsibility for content, a “huge project in trust and creative thinking”, as Jha said. Collective Newsroom is also unique in that it’s entirely employee-owned and always will be. If a cofounder leaves, they’ll have to leave their stake behind.

More intriguingly, Collective Newsroom has big plans beyond the BBC. Its cofounders told Newslaundry that BBC may be their “readymade client” but they want to build their own clientele as well. Jha said they’re eager to cover India for other organisations as well as venture beyond the news genre, and “carry forward the legacy” of BBC.

The logistics of a new newsroom

BBC’s history in India dates back to 1932, starting as a shortwave radio programme broadcast from London, three oceans away from the sub-continent. But Jha, who has over two decades of experience in journalism, said their approach to covering current affairs has changed the most only over the last few years.

“Access has become very difficult and has become the biggest challenge in the last few years,” she said. “People have also become more hesitant to speak on video.  Trolling is draining and the issues of minorities have become difficult to cover.”

But what was it like for one company to transition into another?

Between December and April, new service agreements were drawn up and BBC’s trademark licence was transferred to Collective Newsroom. Employees, who got new contracts, were moved from the fifth floor to the sixth, and their email addresses were accordingly migrated from BBC to Collective Newsroom. Other logistics include returning their laptops and phones to BBC and purchasing new devices. New press cards will have the logos of both BBC and Collective Newsroom. 

Jha said job cuts were “minimal” and there were no pay cuts. She also said Collective Newsroom will retain terms and conditions of employment that are similar to BBC’s.

“Benefits and support will be of the same level if not better,” she said. “Employees who are moving should not think they are worse off or that ‘ab toh yeh Hindustani newsroom ban gaya hai jaha gaali galoch hai’ (‘now this has become an Indian newsroom, where abuses and swear words are okay’). We cannot compromise on that and are very conscious of that responsibility. People will look to see if our journalism standards have been maintained but also our work environment.”

If Collective Newsroom faces legal action for its work, will BBC step in?

“We have ensured that if there is any kind of legal issue related to anything published for BBC, then BBC will indemnify our journalists,” Jha said. “This has been agreed on and we are quite happy with the way BBC has helped us gain people’s confidence through these measures. These are things that have helped people make the decision to move over.”

But letting go of its former “international newsroom” tag will make Collective Newsroom more vulnerable to the rules and regulations that apply to Indian companies. Jha agreed that losing that “cushion” will be tough and that she, as director, “will definitely be more exposed now”.

Cofounder Mukesh Prasad Sharma said the new newsroom has a “talented team” of journalists and also “demand from audiences for this quality editorial offer”.

“I’m ambitious for what our future holds and the potential of Collective Newsroom in the years to come,” he told Newslaundry.

Collective Newsroom’s other cofounder, Sanjoy Majumder, said employees are  “anxious” but it’s helped that the new company is led by the same management team they’d worked with before.

“Of course there was anxiety about what is going to happen and what this represents. But the BBC is quietly confident that we have the leadership since we have been running the newsroom in different capacities since 2017,” he said. “Media in India has become one-dimensional but there is a lot of talent. The response we received to this venture shows that there is a desperate need for more space for talented journalists.”

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