SAJA Home | In Memoriam: South Asian Journalists Association
June 1996: APPAN MENON
distinguished TV and print journalist, and former SAJA member, passes away in Delhi

APPAN MENON , news editor and anchor with New Delhi Television, died in his sleep of a heart attack on Friday, June 28, 1996. He was 49.

 Appan was India's best-known foreign television correspondent and reported widely from major global events for Prannoy Roy's "The World This Week," the country's longest-running current affairs program.

 Appan earlier worked for The Hindu, The Press Trust of India, and United News of India. He studied at the Doon School and the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Appan also spent time covering the United Nations HQ for Inter Press Service. He was an active member of SAJA during the limited time he spent in New York.

 In a condolence message quoted by the Press Trust of India, Prime Minister Deve Gowda said that Appan Menon was one of the leading television journalists of the country and his sudden death has "snatched away a committed broadcaster who would be remembered by his numerous friends and admirers." An obituary in The Hindu described him as follows: "A low-profile person whose mild manners verged almost on shyness, Menon was one of the more 'human' faces on the box."

Appan is survived by wife Kamala, daughter Mallika (age 12) and son Karthik (age 8).


A memorial service was in Manhattan held at the July 10, 1996, SAJA meeting.
Among the speakers was Ian Williams, president of the United Nations Correspondents Association (right) and Kiran Bedi, India's first woman police officer.