Sarah Jacob

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sarah Jacob

• Sarah Jacob is an Indian journalist and news editor who is known for hosting the talk show ‘We The People,’ a flagship primetime show of NDTV 24×7.

• She hails from a family of army personnel; both her father and grandfather were in the Indian army.

• Sarah spent her childhood in various cosmopolitan cities across India due to her father’s frequent transfers.

• Jacob’s grandmother wanted her to become a doctor. However, Sarah loved reading books and decided to study Humanities in her class 11 and class 12.

• A year before her board examination, a new program in journalism was launched by Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi. It was then that she decided to pursue a career in journalism. Sarah enrolled herself in the program after clearing the entrance exam for the program; she was one of the 18 students who secured a seat in the program.

• While studying at New York University, Sarah was honoured with Sidney Gross Award for Enterprising Journalism.

• Sarah Jacob began her career as a news reporter and anchor in June 2013 at NDTV, New Delhi. As a part of her job, she worked in different niches including health, crime, and education. She worked with the channel for around eight months and then took a break from her job to pursue further education.

  

• After completing her post-graduation in 2005, Sarah started working as a US Bureau Chief for NDTV in New York, United States.

• As a US correspondent, Sarah covered the Presidential elections two times, in 2008 and in 2012.

• In 2009, she anchored the show Inside Guantanamo, a half-hour program on the politics behind the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities, becoming one of India’s first journalists to report from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

• Based in New York, she also covered the Oscars from the red carpet and also hosted news bulletins on the Indo- US nuclear deal, US Open, and the G-20 summit.

• In 2010, Sarah accompanied President Obama on his first state visit to India as a part of the White House travelling press.

• While in the US, Jacob interviewed many prominent personalities like Bill Gates, Salman Rushdie, and Evan Williams.

• Sarah relocated to India in June 2013 and started working as a senior editor and anchor with NDTV.

• In India, she anchored primetime shows like Crime And The City and NewsFirst@10 with Sarah Jacob.

  

• She has also hosted several shows on health and the environment.

  

• Sarah once travelled across the coastline of India to report on the environmental destruction taking place there as a part of the news series Save India’s Coast.

• She gained immense popularity by working as an anchor and producer of the weekly show ‘We The People.’ A flagship program of the New Delhi Television (NDTV), the show was an audience-based program that discussed the most pertinent social and political issues of the day. Sarah invited primary stakeholders to the show, where they were made to sit face-to-face with members of civil society and discuss a particular issue in its entirety. As the anchor and producer of the show, Sarah was responsible for everything about the show starting from concept development to the final packaging of the show.

  

• In January 2020, she gave up her full-time job and started working as a part-time anchor and senior editor at NDTV.

• In May 2023, Sarah Jacob hosted a news bulletin on NDTV, where she presented PM Narendra Modi in a great light. The bulletin attracted widespread criticism for broadcasting agenda-driven news, with many questioning the integrity of NDTV. Sarah was also criticised by the netizens for projecting PM Narendra Modi as a great messiah for women. Soon, a video clip, showing Sarah anchoring the news bulletin with the caption- ‘how Modi respects women’ went viral on social media.

  

• Following the viral video, Sarah tendered her resignation from NDTV. Announcing her departure from NDTV, Sarah Jacob tweeted,
  

  Last night, I resigned from NDTV. To Dr (Prannoy) Roy and Radhika Roy, Thank you for building what was one of India’s great media institutions.”

  Expressing gratitude for all that NDTV offered to her, she wrote,

  It has been a fantastic ride from 2001 to 2023 at NDTV in various capacities. From being a reporter to having my own show has been rewarding and I am forever grateful for all that NDTV gave me and continues to offer. To be in the middle of the most spectacular years of the Indian TV news industry boom, that too at NDTV, which has set the standard of excellence for the industry, has been a magical career thus far.”

• In an e-mail to NDTV staffers, Sarah reportedly described her workplace as,
  

  amazing newsroom filled with the most creative and driven reporters.”

  She also wrote that it was an honour to work with the best.

• With her resignation, Sarah Jacob became the ninth journalist and senior editor to exit the channel after its ownership vested with the Adani Group in December 2022. Ravish Kumar was the first one to resign from NDTV after the acquisition. Soon, Suparna Singh, NDTV’s group president, Arijit Chatterjee, chief strategy officer, and Kawaljit Singh Bedi, product officer, also joined the line. A few months later, Sreenivasan Jain and Nidhi Razdan also stepped down.

• Sarah Jacob worked at NDTV for around 22 years, and it was the only job that she held since the beginning of her career.

• In her spare time, Sarah Jacob loves to read books.

• She is skilled in journalism, broadcasting, live television, interviewing, storytelling, and editing.

• In 2020, she was invited as a guest speaker at the TEDx Talks.

• A fitness enthusiast, Sarah works out regularly at a gym. ^[5]NDTV

• Sarah Jacob resides with her family in New Delhi.