Srinandan Kasi,
deputy general counsel of the Associated Press, has been promoted to vice president and general
counsel of the AP, making "Sri" one of the most senior South Asians in
the business side of the U.S. media.
Kasi answered three quick questions from SAJAforum via e-mail on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006. See bio, press release, press contact and the three questions below (photo on right, from AP, is available for reprinting - click to get high-resolution version; feel free to use any material from this post).
Kasi, who was raised in Chennai, India, joins a handful of executives in the top management of U.S. mainstream media firms, including Nusrat Durrani, senior VP and general manager, MTV World; Ketan Gandhi, president and publisher of the Home News Tribune in New Jersey (first South Asian publisher of a U.S. daily); Rena Golden, senior vice president of CNN International; Manish Jha, senior VP and general manager of Mobile ESPN.
Three SAJA.org questions for Srinandan "Sri" Kasi, new general counsel of the Associated Press (press release below)
SAJAforum.org: Why is a general counsel important in the life of a news
organization?
KASI:The general counsel is responsible for the legal affairs of the entire organization. The general counsel's primary role is to advise the company and senior management 
on a broad range of legal and compliance matters and to identify areas of risk and ways to mitigate them. These responsibilities are of particular significance in a U.S. news organization to ensure that the First Amendment protections
for a free press are carefully used and safeguarded.
KASI: Three lessons so far:
(i) a 160-year old news organization can protect its news values even while adapting to changing distribution models and news consumption patterns worldwide
(ii) the legal rights and protections that enable the flow of truthful information to the public are not self enforcing
(iii) the Internet has enhanced, not diminished the value of essential journalism.
SAJAforum.org: Tell us about your life in India and when you came here. Do you ever visit Chennai?
KASI: My life in India was rooted in the basics—family and education. I left India in 1984, to pursue "higher studies," as they used to say, after completing my undergraduate education at Vivekananda College, University of Madras (I went to Vidya Mandir for high school). The United States has afforded me the opportunity to experience the richness of different industries and professions. I visit Chennai at regular interval as I still have friends and family there.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESS RELEASE
Monday, Aug. 7, 2006
http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/pr_080706a.html
CONTACT: Linda Wagner, Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs
E-mail: lwagner[at]ap.org
Srinandan Kasi named vice president and general counsel of The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The Associated Press has named Srinandan Kasi, who has been with the news cooperative since 2004, to be vice president and general counsel.
"Sri's wide-ranging technical, legal and business skills have served the AP well since he joined us as vice president-global business and deputy general counsel," Tom Curley, president and CEO of AP said in announcing Kasi’s appointment on Monday. "His diverse background will come into play even more as the AP charts new ground in the digital era with its international editorial, business and technology initiatives."
Prior to joining the AP, Sri was with the law firm of Dewey Ballantine LLP. He has served as general counsel and head of strategic planning for an e-commerce company, and was an attorney with Rogers & Wells. Sri has worked on a variety of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance matters, strategic alliances and joint ventures. He was previously a scientist at IBM.
A graduate of the University of Madras, India, Sri holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Houston, and a JD from Columbia University.
[The photo above, from AP, is available for reprinting - click on it to get high-resolution version; feel free to use any material from this post. Feel free to comment below - requires free, one-time registration - or to leave messages for Kasi.]
This is one is a series of Q&As SAJA is doing with media and other folks. See the answers to the questions we asked Raju Narisetti in April 2006.
