'Hurts to see..': Ex-Prasar Bharati CEO on Doordarshan's saffron logo
What's the story
Doordarshan revealed its new logo for its news channel, DD News, on April 16, when the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections was just days away.
The logo's color change from red to saffron has received backlash from the opposition, including Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar, who served as CEO of Prasar Bharati between 2012 and 2014.
"As ex-CEO...it hurts to see the saffronization of Doordarshan's logo. It's not Prasar Bharati anymore; it's Prachar (publicity) Bharati!" Sircar said.
Twitter Post
Check out Sircar's video
As ex CEO of Prasar Bharati it hurts to see the saffronisation of Doordarshan’s logo
— Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) April 20, 2024
— just before elections!
It will influence voters, by overlaying the colour one religion and Sangh parivar colour with a ‘neutral’ Public Broadcaster and a biassed Govt/Regime! pic.twitter.com/g7m0PH9nMf
Political backlash
Political parties criticize Doordarshan's logo change
The new logo has faced criticism online, especially because the saffron color is often associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also known as the "Saffron party."
Congress leader and former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari alleged that "the logo color change was an attempt by the government to capture government institutions."
The current CEO of Prasar Bharati, Gaurav Dwivedi, however, disagreed with the criticisms, defending the change as necessary in terms of visual aesthetics.
CEO's defense
Prasar Bharti CEO defends logo change amid criticism
"Not just the logo color; we have redone our equipment and studios as well," Dwivedi said.
"The logo colors have changed multiple times over decades and different color combinations have been tried. The visual aesthetics need to be refreshed to differentiate the channel," he added.
As for the color's association with the BJP, he said, "That is absolutely not a consideration as far as we are concerned. Orange, yellow and black have the highest recall value. This is scientific."
Logo evolution
Doordarshan's history
Doordarshan, launched in 1959, originally had a saffron logo, which was later changed to blue, yellow, and red.
However, the two petals with a globe in the center have remained consistent throughout these changes.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose the first logo from among 14 designs submitted by eight students and six faculty members.
The iconic logo she chose was designed by Devashis Bhattacharyya, a former National Institute of Design (NID) student.