Profile

John Brittas was born on October 24, 1966, in Kannur. Born into an agrarian family he had a very humble upbringing. As he himself puts it, “There is nothing remarkable about my parents or family. I had a simple and ordinary childhood and I grew up just like any other boy who wanted to grow up, have a job and to settle down in life. Whatever I have achieved is by sheer hard work.”

His wife Sheeba works in the Railway Recruitment Board. They have a daughter and a son aged 7 and 4 respectively.

Education and career

After primary education in a nearby school, he was put in Don Bosco School, Trissur- a residential school, for high school studies. From there he went to S S College, Thalipparambu in Kannur for his predegree. He had his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Political Science from Kerala Varma College, Tissur. He secured 1 st rank in both the exams. From Trissur, John Brittas who was now 22 years old, went to Delhi and joined the famous Jawaharlal Nehru University for M.Phil and later PhD. He was there for 6 years. That was the first time he was exposed to the big city life and it had a profound impact on making him what he is today.

Though he had a knack for writing and was involved in college level literary activities, journalism came his way by chance. He has no qualms in admitting that it was for the sole purpose of getting a job that he had applied for the post of sub editor in “Desabhimani”, a newspaper in the vernacular. As luck would have it, that became the landmark of a remarkable journalistic career. When he went to Delhi for his higher pursuits, the newspaper was considerate enough to transfer him to Delhi as its bureau chief. From the day he reached there and joined office, he’s been involved in active journalism. In Delhi, even before joining his office, he got an assignment- to escort the then CM of Kerala to Punjab for a discussion with the “Akalis”, a radical group screaming for a separate state in those days. John Brittas acknowledges the exposure he got in Delhi at that very young age for all his achievements. He arrived in Delhi at a time when the political stage of India was undergoing radical changes. He became a witness to many major changes that designed the country’s future both at the home front and in the international arena.

By the time Kairali TV was launched in 2000, John Brittas, the small town boy from Kannur had become a seasoned media personality. He was an ideal choice for the post of Associate Director in charge of the Delhi Bureau for Kairali TV- the leftist founded, much loved Malayalam Channel. That was the time when many of the print journalists were switching to visual media. John also took it as an opportunity to dabble with the electronic media after a long association with the print media. Brittas accepted the offer and soon began to love it. After working for three years in Delhi he was made the Managing Director of the channel and was transferred to Kerala. Presently he is posted in Trivandrum where he lives with his family.

Ideology and views:

John Brittas is an open believer in egalitarian values. He believes that people from all walks of life should be given equal life chances. He is proud to be born in a state like Kerala which is progressive in this sense. The incidence of caste and community clashes in the state is almost non existent here. But he feels that is not enough. People of Kerala should be more open to ideas and should be willing to learn from others.

He is of the opinion that the present day journalism is tainted with biased and pressurized writings. Mass media should be used as an instrument to help out people rather than being fed on them. In most of the cases media coverage shows lack of responsibility. There is more of commercialism than social concern. He is piqued by this trend and as the managing director of a leading channel is trying at his level best to change the scenario.