Friday, August 11 2006 12:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Srinandan Kasi, the Indian American deputy general counsel of the Associated Press, has been promoted vice-president and general counsel of the international news agency.

Kasi, popularly known as Sri, has thus become one of the most senior South Asians in the business side of the media in the US. He is a graduate of the University of Madras, India.

With this promotion, Kasi joins a handful of executives in the top management of US mainstream media firms, which includes Nusrat Durrani, senior vice-president and general manager, MTV World, Ketan Gandhi, president and publisher of the Home News Tribune in New Jersey (the first South Asian publisher of a US daily), Rene Golden, senior vice-president of CNN International and Manish Jha, senior vice-president and general manager of Mobile ESPN.

"Sri's wide-ranging technical, legal and business skills have served the AP well since he joined us as vice president-global business and deputy general counsel," a press release quoted Tom Curley, president and CEO of AP, as saying while announcing Kasi's appointment.

"His diverse background will come into play even more as the AP charts new ground in the digital era with its international editorial, business and technology initiatives," Curley said.

In an interview carried in the website of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), Kasi said that general counsel is responsible for the legal affairs of the entire organisation.

"These responsibilities are of particular significance in a US news organisation to ensure that the First Amendment protections for a free press are carefully used and safeguarded," he said.

Asked what he has learned while working in AP, he said that the 160-year old news organisation can protect its news values even while adapting to changing distribution models and news consumption patterns worldwide.

"The Internet has enhanced, not diminished the value of essential journalism," he added.

He has worked on a variety of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance matters, strategic alliances and joint ventures. He was previously a scientist at IBM.