Amol Rajan

Amol Rajan (born 4 July 1983) is the editor-at-large of The Independent website. Rajan's appointment to the post of the then newspaper's editor was announced on 17 June 2013.[1] When The Independent announced it was dropping the print edition in February 2016, and continuing as only an online operation, Rajan was retained as "editor-at-large".[2] He will become the BBC's Media Editor on 12 December 2016.[3]

Life and career

Rajan was born in Calcutta, India; he was three when his family moved to England,[1] and he was raised in Tooting, south London.[4] The son of Hindu parents, he has not believed in any god since the age of 15.[5][6] He was state school educated[7] at Graveney School, then a comprehensive,[1] and read English at Downing College, Cambridge, where he contributed to Varsity. He was Editor of the student newspaper for a term in 2005.[8] At the age of 18, Rajan worked in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for one year during his gap year.[9]

Rajan was the secondary presenter on The Wright Stuff, the daytime talk show on the Five network,[10] during its 2006-7 season. He was also a researcher on the programme.

He joined the The Independent newspaper in August 2007 where he has been a news reporter, sports correspondent, columnist, comment editor[11] and editor of Independent Voices.[12] He has also written a Monday column for the London Evening Standard, restaurant criticism for The Independent on Sunday[12] and has contributed to The Salisbury Review. The latter publication, according to Rajan, "still publishes writing on politics, history and culture that is among the finest produced in English today. It is frequently offensive and I cannot say I often agree with its editorial position, but that is all the more reason to read it."[13]

Rajan became the first non-white editor of a national newspaper when his Independent appointment was announced,[1][7] although that claim has also been made on behalf of Rachel Beer.[14] His predecessor as editor of the Independent, Chris Blackhurst, became Group Content Director.[15] When The Independent proprietor Evgeny Lebedev announced a move to digital-only in February 2016, with the imminent closure of the print edition, it emerged that Rajan is remaining with the company to help facilitate the change in direction.[16] Rajan was appointed as the BBC's first Media Editor in November 2016 and will take up his new post on 12 December.[3] His role as editor-at-large for The Independent website will end.[17]

His first book, Twirlymen, the Unlikely History of Cricket's Greatest Spin Bowlers, a history of spin-bowlers in cricket, was published by Random House in 2011.[18]

Rajan is a cricket enthusiast[19] and plays for the Authors XI cricket team.[20] He married Charlotte Faircloth, an academic, in Cambridge, during September 2013.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Josh Halliday "Amol Rajan appointed as Independent editor", The Guardian, 17 June 2013
  2. ↑ Sweney, Mark; Johnston, Chris (12 February 2016). "Independent aims to keep stars and boost quality in digital shift". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Amol Rajan appointed as BBC's first media editor". BBC News. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Amol Rajan "From Tooting to Islington, our high streets are bereft of buzz and variety", The Independent, 13 November 2012
  5. ↑ Rajan, Amol (6 January 2012). "Belief without a faith to follow". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Rajan, Amol (27 December 2011). "Religious lessons of Christmas for a non-believer". The Independent.
  7. 1 2 The Independent's Amol Rajan Becomes UK's First Non-White National Editor", The Huffington Post, 17 June 2013
  8. ↑ Rosie Boycott "What I learnt from a night with Daisy", The Observer, 17 April 2005
  9. ↑ Amol Rajan , standard.co.uk, 14 August 2014
  10. ↑ Amol Rajan "Still top of the morning: Channel Five's The Wright Stuff turns 10", The Independent, 16 September 2010
  11. ↑ "Amol Rajan", David Higham (agent's page)
  12. 1 2 "Amol Rajan", Independent biography page
  13. ↑ Amol Rajan "Sooner or later, every voice is heard and heeded", The Independent, 15 March 2012
  14. ↑ Nina Macintyre "The First Lady of Fleet Street", Prospect (blog), 19 June 2013
  15. ↑ William Turvill "Amol Rajan is made editor of The Independent as Chris Blackhurst becomes group content director", Press Gazette, 17 June 2013
  16. ↑ Armstrong, Ashley (12 February 2016). "The Independent newspaper confirms an end to print production". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "Former Independent editor Amol Rajan named BBC's new media editor". The Independent. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  18. ↑ Andy Bull "Rejoicing in the Twirlymen and the forgotten art of medium-paced spin", guardian.co.uk (blog), 17 May 2011
  19. ↑ Hasan Suroor. "Amol Rajan makes Fleet Street history". The Hindu.
  20. ↑ "My Education Blog". theauthorsxi.com.
  21. ↑ Rajan, Amol (9 September 2013). "Five good reasons why I am ready to be wed". London Evening Standard.

External links

Media offices
Preceded by
Chris Blackhurst		 Editor of The Independent
2013–present 		Incumbent
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