"In no other country is journalism more dynamic": Richard Quest, CNN

CNN Worldwide has announced the expansion of its CNNMoney brand internationally, across both TV and digital, with the addition of staff in Hong Kong, New Delhi, London, and Dubai. This venture will have Richard Quest, CNN International's foremost anchor and international business reporter, serving as editor-at-large. Currently in India for the CNN Asia Business forum for CNN Business Traveller, and to roll his popular show 'Quest Means Business' in Mumbai, Quest speaks to us about his inimitable style of presentation, and his journey in news. Edited excerpts:

Edited Excerpts

The word is authenticity -- it's not planned. Do I sometimes 'perform', do I exaggerate? Well, it's all about the tele-visual. At home or with friends, I'm not like that, but what you see on air is still me. Be it business, general or entertainment news, I'd get engaged and involved. It's about -- 'Have I explained what is happening in the best possible way?' Some say it's over the top. 'Gargling with glass' is how one person described it -- that's fine. My answer to them is -- I'm not putting on an act. People write to me and say they don't like me, but will still watch me -- I say, 'what sort of masochist are you?'

The fundamental difference doesn't exist. BBC focusses more on what the UK thinks, we focus on what Washington thinks. But, both organisations are huge, have a high level of bureaucracy, chaos and dysfunctionality. The first thing I saw was how similar they were with a large number of management and the rest of the staff complaining about them. But, both are deeply committed to getting it right. The American audience likes news more racy with more graphics, but things are changing in the UK as well. Both have their international arms to address that.

I have seen 24-hour news networks here and I can't think of any other place in the world which is more dynamic when it comes to journalism. The other night I was watching this debate on the JNU story and the reporters were brilliant, they were shredding people. Journalism here is thriving. Of course, journalists sometimes could forget that politicians, business leaders and CEOs have to make complex decisions that do not lend themselves easily to 15 seconds of a sound byte. I'm not running a company with 30,000 employees, I'm not a minister who has to come up with a policy affecting a 100 million people. Someone once told me that "Richard you are nothing more than a light in a box in the corner of a room that someone can switch off." I'm aware that what I'm about to broadcast is not the sermon from the Mount or the Gettysburg address -- it's a live shot from Mumbai explaining what's happening in the Indian economy. Of course, I understand that I'm doing this on CNN, a global network of immense viewership, I better know what I'm talking about.

I have to be. I'm 53 and I haven't got that many years left of doing this. I need to make sure that the next generation loves this, and they are not weighed down by the technology or overwhelmed by management. Senior people like myself need to make sure that the ground is fertile.

Oh it's delicious! There's nothing nicer than putting the boot into your own company -- they expect it. I worked on Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, at the time of the worst merger in corporate history -- AOL Time Warner, which destroyed shareholder value like nothing has done ever before. Here's where you have to be careful. You've got to be fair, you can't be harder on them than you would be to others just because it's your own company. When I've had the CEO of Time Warner on the programme, my producers start hyperventilating. Jeff (Bewkes) tells me to ask what I like, and I always do. If it's negative news, everyone else - WSJ, CNBC, Sky, is going to report it -- why would I pull back? It's about being honest and fair, and Jeff can afford a few nasty comments from Quest.

Although most general news editors hate business news (they would happily not give one column inch to business news), they know it brings in money and it's important to people interested in it. Yes, it's always been 'boring business' and they'd much rather cover politics. But, they learned in 2008, that 'business' can threaten global stability, so 'we better cover it'. I guarantee you editors here will spend hours looking at the minutiae of BJP versus Congress versus coalition versus what not. But, more senior editors now realise the significance of business news. Also, it all depends on who your readers/viewers are -- if it's Mr and Mrs Ordinary, you won't get into the details of IMF lending money to Kazakhstan. You'll look at subsidies or pump prices. So, know your audience. Also, business news is not about when the DOW went up or the dollar went down -- it's about why you bought that phone or chose that shirt.

Let's be honest. We don't know. All we know is that mobile is going to be big. In India, it's bigger because you have leapfrogged the landline, and people will leapfrog the desktop too. We are getting an idea of the range of things that the consumer wants. You can look at original page-views or click-throughs or how long a video is watched. We have people doing this programmatic stuff where advertising goes into a particular range of sites for 'men with moustaches aged 32 to 35 and have a Ford car'. That's great, but you and I have to write for an audience. I'm shown numbers and statistics, but somewhere along the line I have to remember that it's a human being, and rely on my gut. Television by numbers is a disaster -- you may end up with a perfect programme that no one wants to watch.

If I really want ratings all I have to do is put cage-fighting topless women on, and I'll get ratings. I can put in tech stories and movie clips that will attract the lowest common denominator, but that won't help the person understand what's happening in the global economy. It's all about a balanced diet in programming. Top editors need to pick the right people to do this. Also, for the audience your approach should be - 'this is important according to the financial world' and ' if you're interested, you should know this, here are our views', but not 'this is what you need'. You are not giving an opinion, but an assessment.