National broadcaster Doordarshan on Friday removed a newsreader who mispronounced the name of the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping during a programme on Thursday.
During one of the evening slots, the anchor mistook the first part of the Chinese president’s name Xi for the Roman numeral eleven and pronounced accordingly. The mistake was immediately detected and disciplinary action was initiated, the officials said.
The sacked newsreader was on Doordarshan’s casual panel. Casual newsreaders are those whose services are sought when the regular newsreaders are not available.
“We have decided to discontinue the services of one of the anchors on the casual panel due to the serious mistake in the pronunciation of the name of a visiting dignitary,” DG (News) Doordarshan Archana Datta said.
The performance of those in the casual panel is constantly monitored and it was felt that the error was embarrassing for the public sector broadcaster, officials added.