Sudeep Mukhia, Bhupendra Chaubey and Praveen Thampi quit Network18

Sudeep, Bhupendra and Praveen were working as the managing editor, the executive editor and the editor respectively.

Network18 managing director Rahul Joshi has announced the exit of three top journalists - Bhupendra Chaubey, Sudeep Mukhia and Praveen Thampi. Joshi in an an internal memo to the group’s employees said:

I wish Sudeep Mukhia, Bhupendra Chaubey and Praveen Thampi all the best in their future endeavours. I also thank them from the bottom of my heart for their tremendous contribution to and remarkable leadership of CNN-News18, both TV and digital.

Sudeep Mukhia joined us four years ago and revamped the channel, first along with the widely-admired Managing Editor Radha, before stepping into his shoes admirably. He led from the front and provided the much-needed stability and leadership at a time the channel was going through one of its most challenging phases. Sudeep’s passion fired the newsroom’s imagination as the channel enhanced its reputation in reporting and prime-time programming. I will personally miss Sudeep and his firebrand ways.

Executive editor Bhupendra Chaubey has also decided to hang up his boom. I fondly remember our election trips together, especially to UP where we can both trace our roots to. The Benarasi babu has been a chronicler of the great Indian political story for two decades. As a senior journalist and anchor, he’s a keen student of politics and a great observer of social trends. Bhupen was also the lead prime-time face of this channel for almost a decade. It’s difficult to imagine CNN-News18 without the face that launched a thousand quips!

The strong, silent, talented, backroom boy of CNN-News18, Praveen Thampi, also decided to call it quits in favour of an academic sabbatical. Praveen and I have worked together for over two decades and I remain grateful for his contribution in making News18 digital the powerful force it has become. Just over three years old, news18.com is breaking all records and I have Praveen to thank for it. He’s a gifted writer, and a leader par excellence who’s put together a great team that is taking our digital journalism to newer heights.

It’s always a jolt to any organisation if its big guns coincidentally leave within a few weeks of each other. But if they leave behind a legacy so strong and a second line that’s raring to go, the competition is the one that will face the bigger jolt.