Rajini Vaidyanathan Biography
Rajini Vaidyanathan is an award winning media personality serving as BBC NEWS South Asia Correspondent. Previously, she was BBC NEWS Washington Correspondent.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Age
Her exact age is unknown.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Height
She is 5 feet and 1 inch tall.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Nationality
Vaidyanathan is a British citizen.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Education
In 1997, Rajini enrolled at the University of York. She graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Parents and Siblings
Born and brought up in Milton Keynes, Rajini is the daughter of Dr Arun Vaidyanathan, a letter writer. Her father left India for the UK in May 1966 to take up a doctoral scholarship at Leeds University. A decade later her mother followed. Her parents married in Chennai 1975.
Her grandfather worked for the United Nations and met India’s first Prime Minister Jawarhlal Nehru.
In 2016, Rajini’s father died after several years of treatment for multiple myeloma. At the time of his death he had picked up a total of 9 degrees and postgraduate diplomas, and accomplished so much more.
Vaidyanathan has two sisters; a dentist and a doctor.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Husband
She is keeping her personal life private. It is therefore not known whether she is married, single or in a relationship.
Rajini Vaidyanathan BBC
Vaidyanathan is BBC South Asia Correspondent. As a foreign correspondent, she has reported from across the world. Currently, she is covering the South Asia region which includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan.
Some of her recent stories include the Indian elections, Sri Lanka terror attacks, the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis, Trump’s visit to India, the Delhi riots, and an interview with the Dalai Lama. In 2020, she presented two investigative documentaries, “Panorama” on call centre scams and BBC “Our World” on India’s missing children.
Prior to that Rajini spent six years as BBC Washington anchor and correspondent. She was a regular anchor of “BBC World News America”. During her tenure, she covered the 2016 US presidential race, from the first debates to the first years of the Trump presidency. She also anchored live coverage from the presidential debates, not only on TV, but also on Facebook. Additionally, Rajini covered America’s racial divides extensively from Ferguson, Baltimore and beyond, and fronted a four part documentary series for BBC Radio, on race relations in the USA.
From 2011-13, Rajini was BBC Mumbai correspondent, covering the changing dynamic of India. She has also been a Westminster correspondent for BBC News, where she interviewed Prime Ministers.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Awards
- In 2019, Rajini was named Indian TV journalist of the year for an exclusive investigation into sexual harassment in Bollywood.
- She won several accolades for long form writing, including a finalist in the National Magazine Awards in 2016.
- Vaidyanathan is a recipient of a young journalist of the year award.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Sexual Harassments
Vaidyanathan revealed in a blogpost on the BBC website that she had been sexually harassed by three colleagues, one of whom was later sacked.
She decided to go public in the wake of ‘Me Too’ social media trend, used by women to share their experience of sexual harassment, which emerged after the exposure of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
In her blog post, she revealed a married colleague started sending her sexually explicit messages a few years ago.
She wrote, “But his messages continued and became more creepy. He said he’d fantasized about sex with powerful women, and how he wanted to cheat on his wife. I told him to talk to someone else not me and to get help. I didn’t tell anyone at first and I felt disgusted but kept it to myself.”
She later learnt another female colleague had also been targeted with sexually explicit messages from the same man.
“Soon after I heard he’d been fired. Another colleague had filed a complaint against him.”
She also recounted two other examples of another colleague who made sexual advances at an Italian restaurant in New York in 2004 and another married colleague who knocked on her hotel room door after sending her a “suggestive” text.
In a tweet she revealed managers were “open” about her complaint and the colleague was “sacked within days” of a complaint being made.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Salary and Net Worth
She earns an average salary ranging between $45,781-$62,906. She also has an estimated net worth ranging between $1-$5 million.
Rajini Vaidyanathan Social Media Accounts
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