Asians In Media magazine | 20 most powerful Asians in British media


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The Panel Selection Criteria Others we missed out
01. Lord Waheed Alli 02. Meera Syal 03. Nav Raman 04. Aaqil Ahmed 05. Anil Gupta 06. Jay Kandola 07. Sham Sandhu 08. Dharmash Mistry 09. Tommy Nagra 10. Bobby Friction and Nihal	11. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown 12. Zarin Patel 13. George Alagiah 14. Avtar Lit 15. Samir Shah 16. Ahmed Versi 17. Sharmila Nebhrajani 18. Krishna Guha 19. Vijay Sharma 20. Narinder Minhas
News articles: Guardian: 'The prospect of an Asian editor seems laughable' BBC: UK Asian media figures recognised

24th January 2005
Lord Waheed Alli 'most powerful' Asian media figure in the UK

Labour Peer Lord Waheed Alli has been named the most powerful British Asian in the media industry today, with actress Meera Syal grabbing the second spot. An annual list of the 20 most powerful British Asians in the media industry is published in the Guardian newspaper on Monday, 24th January 2005.

It is the first time such a list will be published, which aims to celebrate the achievement of the Asian community in Britain's media as well as provide a partial snapshot of how diversified the industry has become. It will be published annually.

The list has been compiled by Asian in Media, with a panel consisting of AIM editor Sunny Hundal; BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti; ITV media and arts correspondent Nina Nannar; Guardian journalist Vikram Dodd and Pedro Carvalho, founder of FNIK PR agency.

Sunny Hundal says: "This exercise proves that the media industry, especially press and advertising, still have a long way to go in truly reflecting Britain's population. However it also shows that there are quite a few powerful figures behind the scenes that sometimes don't get acknowledged."

"This list wasn't published merely to complain about the lack of diversity in the media industry, but to show how far British Asians have come. It is important for us as British citizens to play a greater role in engaging with the media."

The list will be published annually to highlight the progress of the Asian community in the media industry.

ITV media and arts correspondent Nina Nannar says: "It was encouraging to see some there are some decision makers in that list rather than the people who were very obvious i.e. in other words the on screen talent.

There are so many upcoming people that in five years time we'll be really struggling to make such a list because there would be far too many people to choose from."

The list includes 6 entries from the BBC, 3 from Channel 4 and one from Five, with none from ITV or Sky. However all three of the Channel 4 entries are in the top 10.

Seven of the entries are 7 women and the same number is under the age of 40. Sham Sandhu, controller of music and live events at Five is the highest youngest entry at the age of 33.

Asians In Media is an online media and current affairs magazine. We publish news, reviews and opinion that fits into that editorial remit. We also aim to promote further diversity in British media.

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