Joshi began his career as a sub-editor at the Indian Express in Hyderabad in 1985, before moving to PTI in December 1986. Photo: PTINew Delhi: The Press Trust of India(PTI) has named veteran journalist Vijay Joshi, who has spent three decades covering Asia and the Middle East, as the news agency's editor-in-Chief.
Joshi, 54, replaces M K Razdan, who retired as editor-in-Chief in September.
Joshi, who took over Friday, previously worked at PTI in the '80s and had spent a large part of his career at The Associated Press(AP), where he served in various roles in India, Singapore, Egypt, Malaysia and Thailand.
He was until recently the APs director of news for Southeast Asia, overseeing text, video and photo operations. He previously oversaw APs Asia text report for four years.
"We are very pleased to have Vijay on board. He brings a wealth of experience in traditional and new media. We have no doubt that he will take PTI to greater heights," said chairman of PTI Riyad Mathew.
As PTIs editor-in Chief, Joshi will oversee the work of some 900 reporters, editors and part-time journalists across India and in bureaus in major world capitals.
"It will be an honor to work with such a talented and gifted group of journalists, who work behind the anonymity of a wire service to inform the nation of every significant development in the country," said Joshi.
"It is an incredibly exciting time to be returning to India," he said.
"The country is going through monumental changes in politics, economy, science, lifestyle and in the media. It will be a privilege to lead India's premier news organization as it continues to do what it does best report the news fairly, quickly and impartially."
Joshi began his career as a sub-editor at the Indian Express in Hyderabad in 1985, before moving to PTI in December 1986. After more than two years at PTI, where he was copy editor and reporter, Joshi joined the AP in New Delhi, helping cover South Asias politics, insurgencies, wars, tragedies and sports.
He was promoted as news editor of APs Singapore bureau in 1994, and three years later was sent to Cairo to be part of a large team of journalists covering the Middle East. During his three-year stint in Egypt he was also deployed to Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Libya.
Joshi subsequently served as news editor of the APs Thailand operations in the 2000s and as the chief of bureau for Malaysia and Singapore. He was named assistant Asia-Pacific editor in January 2011, and subsequently Southeast Asia news director.
Joshis deep interest in science led him to a bachelors degree in geology from Osmania University, Hyderabad, and a masters degree in marine geology from Andhra University in Waltair. But a career in geology was cut short by his interest in journalism, which he pursued by obtaining a journalism degree from Osmania.
