Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
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Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
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Asian News International (ANI Media Pvt. Ltd.) is a privately owned Indian news agency incorporated in 1971 that offers syndicated multimedia news to news bureaus worldwide. It was the first agency in India to syndicate video news, and as of 2019 was the biggest television news agency in India.
The agency’s website states that it is owned by ANI Private Limited Media.
The company, based in New Delhi, does business as (DBA) Asian News International, which is its brand name. The agency offers news on national and world events, politics and features, business, and sports. It serves the south Asia region in its area of coverage.
Asian News International was founded by Prem Prakash, who is chairman of the company.
ANI Media Pvt. Ltd.’s board of directors are: Sanjiv Prakash Sabharwal, Prem Prakash, Smita Prakash, Ishaan Prakash, Vishal Shashikant Parekh, and Drew Michael Lipshutz.
In the later 2000s, the increasing charges for ANI feed and claims about the low quality of its journalism, coupled with the introduction of broadcast vans, led to several national and regional channels unsubscribing from ANI. The launch of UNI TV in 2010 by Yashwant Deshmukh, a well-known media entrepreneur, journalist, and philanthropist, gave ANI competition in its market. Ishaan Prakash, Smita's son, who joined the company in 2011, acquired units of LiveU and expanded ANI's overseas bureaus. He signed contracts with multiple state governments and union ministries. A monopoly was re-created and most of its competitors eventually shut down.
By late 2011, ANI accounted for about 99 percent of the Reuters feed from India, and archived videos were sold at high rates.
Fact-checkers certified by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network have accused ANI of misreporting events.