Vishnu Som (born July 1974 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

) is an Indian

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He is the Executive Editor and Principal Anchor with

New Delhi Television New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

(NDTV), India's first 24-hour news network. Som reported extensively on war, environment, conflict, aviation and natural disasters. He has covered, in person, the

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in Ja ...

(North Kashmir),

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and 2022 Russo-Ukrainian wars as well as the 2004

Asian tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

, 2001 Bhuj (Gujarat, India) earthquake and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami (for which he was awarded for his coverage). In April 2012, he was awarded the best Television Presenter in India by the News Television Awards. Vishnu anchors Left, Right and Centre at 9pm and the 10 pm news on NDTV. He has conducted one-on-one interviews with international leaders such as President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter, Bill Gates and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

among others. His work has been recognised both in India and abroad through awards including the Ramnath Goenka Award, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Award and the Indian Telly awards. His father

Himachal Som Himachal Som (died 26 November 2013) was an Indian diplomat. He was an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1970 Cadre and retired as the Indian Ambassador to Italy and the Permanent Representative to various United Nations bodies in Europe. Life ...

was an IFS (Indian Foreign Service) officer and former Indian Ambassador to Italy and his mother Reba is an academic, historian, writer and classical singer from India. Som attended

St. Paul's School, Darjeeling St. Paul's School is an independent boarding school for boys in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is known as "Eton of the East" because it is thought to follow the similar cultural and traditional values of Eton College. St. Paul' ...

. He completed his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in History & Political Science (1994), and

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Communication & Media studies (1996) from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Som has completed a multi-part documentary series called ''Great Battles'', on the role of Indian soldiers in some of the greatest battles of the last century, from

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to the Siachen high altitude conflict. His documentary series, India's Underwater Treasures, which looked at the impact of global warming on India's coral formations, won the best series award at the Indian Telly Awards, 2008 and a special commendation at the Commonwealth Broadcasting Awards.

References

Living people Indian male television journalists 1974 births St. Paul's School, Darjeeling alumni NDTV people {{Denmark-bio-stub