Suvarna News


Suvarna News is a Kannada news channel operated by Asianet News Network, a news media subsidiary of Jupiter Capital Private Limited. The majority shareholder of the company is Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Launched on 31 March 2008, the channel was the third news channel to be aired in the Kannada language. The channel has telecast fabricated news and social media hoaxes on various occasions. Personnel from Suvarna News had also provided technical assistance for setting up NaMo TV before the 2019 Indian general election.

History

Suvarna News was launched as a 24x7 Kannada news channel on 31 March 2008. The channel became the third Kannada language news channel with the launch. It was launched by Asianet Communications Limited, the media enterprise of Jupiter Capital Private Limited under the brand name of Suvarna. The flagship channel of the brand, Suvarna TV had been launched 9 months earlier in June 2007. Suvarna News had existed as a news bulletin on Suvarna TV before the launch of its own channel in 2008.
In November 2008, Star India acquired Asianet Communications excluding its news media operations. As a result, Suvarna News was placed under the Asianet News Network which continued to be owned by Jupiter Capital.

Reception

The channel has a history of frequent changes in its editorial leadership. According to Shashidhar Bhat, the first and former editor of the channel, Rajeev Chandrasekhar maintains editorial control through the corporate management of the company. The channel has also been documented to have telecast fabricated news on multiple occasions; in instances picked up from unverified social media hoaxes.