Thomson Talks: Former Google director to lead Thomson Foundation Thought Leadership events

Madhav Chinnappa, the former Director of News Ecosystem Development at Google and veteran news executive, is launching a Thought Leadership events series over the next year for Thomson Foundation.

‘Thomson Talks with Madhav Chinnappa’ will be expert-led, high-level events where news executives, tech experts, policy makers and other stakeholders can talk about, debate, and share their experience about the key issues relevant to today’s news ecosystem in a private but open environment. 

The surge in disinformation, exacerbated by the explosion in generative content and the need for newsrooms to build digital resilience, are central to Thomson’s work. Hence, in the last quarter of 2023, the first of the quarterly, invitation-only events, will focus on an Artificial Intelligence related topic.

“I can’t think of a better person to lead thought leadership conversations for Thomson Foundation than Madhav,” says Caro Kriel, Thomson Foundation's Chief Executive. “His knowledge of tech, with a journalist’s approach, and his wide network across both media and technology, makes him uniquely placed to bring stakeholders together for meaningful, thought-provoking discussions. Thomson Talks with Madhav Chinnappa will focus on the key issues that journos grapple with starting with a focus on AI.”

Background in tech and journalism

Madhav spent 13 years at Google, working at the intersection of tech and media. As Director of News Ecosystem Development, he worked closely with countless media organisations globally as they navigated tech and business changes.

Madhav joined Google in 2010 as Head of Strategic Partnerships, Google News and Magazines EMEA and held other leadership roles related to news and publishing.

He has been a journalist and news executive since 1994 and was part of the team that set-up a new news agency, Associated Press Television (APTV) where he served in editorial, marketing, and business roles. After that, he spent nine years at BBC News including as Head of Development & Rights.

In his role at Google, Madhav was instrumental in facilitating conversations between tech and journalists. It is this background, in tech and journalism, and his wide network of friends on all sides of the tech and media world, that makes him uniquely placed to lead these conversations.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to create this thought leadership conversation series with Thomson Foundation,” he says. “I passionately believe that the challenges facing the news ecosystem are best dealt with through dialogue, discussion and collaboration, now more than ever. This is the goal of TT with MC!”