Former ABP CEO & MD Dipankar Das Purkayastha On Wednesday (April 24) launched his maiden e book, ‘Headline: Memoir of a Media CEO’, in New Delhi. The e book narrates the non-public journey in addition to skilled journey of Purkayastha, who got here from a small city and went on to change into the highest govt of a distinguished media home.
The e book was launched on the India Worldwide Centre. The occasion began with ABP Community CEO Avinash Pandey introducing Purkayastha, adopted by a hearth chat hosted by veteran journalist Dr Anurag Batra with whom Purkayastha shared insights from his life and his 42-year stint with ABP.
Talking in the course of the Q&A session, Avinash Pandey shared his expertise of working with Purkayastha and stated the latter ‘walks the discuss’ and works with empathy.
“In my final 20 years with ABP, I’ve gone to him many occasions for recommendation. He at all times shares his experience and suggestions very candidly. He’s somebody who walks the discuss with empathy.” Pandey stated.
DD Purkayastha, fondly known as “DDP” by his colleagues, has served because the ABP CEO & MD for 14 years and is without doubt one of the most revered CEOs within the Indian media panorama. Purkayastha continues to function Non-Govt Director at ABP submit his 42-year-long tenure with the media large.
From his first handle with international media to the time when his firm stood beside him like a rock throughout his mom’s most cancers therapy, Purkayastha reminisced in regards to the time he spent with ABP.
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Household And Assist
The previous CEO talked in regards to the “immense assist” he received from his household and the way he at all times maintained a cautious barrier between his private {and professional} life. He talked about how his spouse says that he’s a very totally different man when he steps exterior the automobile.
“My skilled and private life is completely totally different.”
He additionally shared how his firm supported him when his mom was present process most cancers therapy.
First To Deliver In Work From Dwelling Coverage Even Earlier than Covid-19
Purkayastha additionally spoke about how he was the primary one within the media trade to pitch the thought of full do business from home even earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020. He spoke about how he persevered with the thought regardless of going through stiff opposition from throughout the departments.
In his e book, he describes at nice lengths how the transition to WFH was a “cakewalk” and the way efficiently they treaded by way of the pandemic.
Breaking Even Regardless of Covid-19
He wrote within the e book that how the trade was going through an enormous problem as a result of folks weren’t shopping for newspapers. “That was the hardest problem I confronted ever and succeeded,” Purkayastha stated. “I used to be imagined to retire in April 2020. I advised Sarkars, ‘I can not go away ABP in such a situation’.”
He stated most places of work of ABP have been closed off and the corporate saved some huge cash by switching to do business from home. He cited how the graceful do business from home coverage helped as a result of it was already carried out earlier than the pandemic struck. “Solely TV journalists who couldn’t do business from home have been allowed within the workplace. Anybody who wished to come back to workplace needed to take permission from the Human Useful resource division. In case anybody contracted Covid-19 at house, we made positive the corporate took care of it.”
He stated he needed to take many robust selections and cease a number of editions, however by March 2021 he might promise that “we are going to break-even this 12 months!”.
His memoir talks about on how he ushered the corporate in direction of breaking even regardless of enormous challenges going through the newspaper trade. “We labored with WHO and undertook enormous promotions and campaigns to unfold consciousness that Newspapers do not unfold coronavirus.”
Talking on the success of Telegraph, DDP stated it got here as a shock to the media trade. “The younger era cherished it and it gave a tricky time to newspaper behemoths within the trade.”
The e book additionally talks in regards to the success story of Telegraph and the way it entered markets that have been vastly dominated by huge newspaper giants.