I don’t have any Agenda’, says Kanthi D Suresh, Editor-in-chief, Power Sportz, (www.powersportz.tv) visibly vexed at insinuations of creating hype for the sake of it. PowerSportz is India’s first Sports news & Journalism channel, and its Editor-in-Chief, Kanthi, is bold, fearless, and outspoken in her style of sports news broadcasting. Her show, Talking Turkey, it seems is unnerving and ruffling up some feathers.
This is what we got to know:
- On 28th July this year, Kanthi, on her show, Talking Turkey, highlighted the family run fiefdom in the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India.. Based on the facts brought to light, the Delhi High Court removed its President, Mr Janardhan Gehlot, and his wife, from the Federation on August 4ththis year.
- Kanthi’s next breakthrough came when she raised the issues governing transgender athletes, and the pronounced insensitivity in schools towards transgender persons. Now, The capital is seeing 30 schools take bold steps and has started a project called ‘Purple Board’ aimed at making education accessible for transgender and gender Non-conforming children by addressing transphobia and identifying and eliminating trans-bullying.
- In line with the spirit of objectivity and sensible reporting, Kanthi touched upon a rather sensitive topic in our country. She brought to light the fact that despite the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, the BCCI continued to push back and remained resistant to come under the purview of the RTI Act. On October 02 this year, the Central Information Commission ruled that BCCI is covered under the RTI Act and answerable to the people of the country under its mechanism.‘
It cannot always be a co-incidence’…’I’m sure she gets prior information’, are some voices doing the rounds, who like to believe that the topics she highlights are decided in cahoots with power centers. Her network amongst the powers that be in the Government, is a well known fact!
Kanthi’s irritation to allegations of a vested interest / hidden agenda is evident and natural, since she has always believed in honest news broadcasting and relies solely on raising factual issues that affect sportspersons and their millions of admirers. Given her candid and fearless style of reporting, she has consistently been successful in bringing to light scams, mismanagement, and other inadequacies in the realm of sport
Asked whether she would take credit if the Prime Minister, were to declare hockey as the national sport, as she had vehemently brought up the issue in one of her shows on Talking Turkey, she says, that her job is to only raise issues that concern athletes, and the sports fraternity, the rest is beyond her, and she would not exceed her brief! With the Hockey world cup being hosted in November this year In Orissa, one would not be surprised if hockey is announced as the national sport!
While speaking to her, the self-assurance came through unmistakably and palpably, which is why we believe her show is capturing and retaining the interest of the viewers. She seemed rather amused at the anxiousness and panic that her shows are creating, and is convinced that this is probably why the ‘panic stricken others’, would like all to believe that the topics she highlights are decided in league with power centers
Kanthi smiles and seems more relaxed when we ask about her plans for PowerSportz. While she is happy with the achievements till date of 2-3 lac users on a daily basis, with more than 1M views, everyday, she is certainly not resting on laurels, and informed us that she continues to forge ahead with ambitious plans for PowerSportz, including the launch of the App, and the start of the sales process as there is an interest being shown by large corporate houses.
‘Get ready for the mega app launch’, she exclaims, in her customary charm, and quintessential style!