Mr Hall, who started as a trainee with BBC in 1973, is in the country to see for himself what BBC means to the Indian market. In the process, he has had talks with some leading media companies of India, including the national broadcaster All India Radio, for exploring possibilities of working along with some of these players. Mr Hall spoke to Nivedita Mookerji on the new India focus of BBC, and more. The excerpts:

Is there any special reason for you to visit India?
India is traditionally a very important market for BBC. It has always been like that. I'm here in India to get a feel of what we're doing here, with particular focus on news gathering. I'm here to see how BBC speaks to the world. I believe that it's a cardinal sin to rest on your laurels, so it's important to take stock. I have a blackbook with me in which I'm noting down my ideas about India. We'll work on those ideas once I'm back in London.

Some of the top BBC personalities have been visiting India regularly. Recently, Mr Nigel Chapman and Mr Sam Miller were here. And after your visit, Mr Richard Quest is supposed to be here. Is it an indication of some bigger plans for India?
Yes, we do have plans of increasing the India coverage. As I mentioned earlier, India is very important for BBC: I can see that intellectually. Now that India is opening up several new areas such as broadband and convergence of new media, we're formulating plans to exploit the opportunity. But I can't talk about those plans yet.Have you identified any Indian partners for BBC Hindi online service or any other broadcasting venture in India?
No, we have not identified any partners yet. It's still early days. We're talking to a lot of media players for the purpose. We also spoke to All India Radio on offering training programmes to its staff. AIR is very keen to learn from us.

Why did you shut down the BBC Hindi TV channel in India? What went wrong? Any plans to revive the channel?
It was a very ambitious venture. The partnership that we entered into didn't work. No, we have no plans to revive the Hindi TV channel.

Are you planning to step up your India-specific budget?
That's what we are trying to figure out. We have to look at it.

Recently you commented on why the US media had gone wrong in its coverage of the presidential election. What, according to you, is the ideal stand of a media organisation in giving news?
A media organisation should stick by its principles. It's hard, but that's the only way. Be certain yourself when you're giving some news. Don't mind what others are doing. After all, there's a thin line between what we know and what we don't.

Every news organisation should remember this: If you're first and right with the news, it's fine. But if you're first and wrong, you lose credibility.

You've often spoken about trust in a brand, in relation to media organisations. Please explain.
In the plethora of voices, there are certain voices that you trust. And whatever you trust has a brand value. In other words, if BBC loses trust of its viewers, it will lose the essence of what BBC is all about.

You have worked in both radio and TV. What do you enjoy doing more?
I'll be diplomatic in answering that. I like both in different ways. But, radio has an immediacy that appeals so much. I also like the intimacy of radio: you can go anywhere with it. So, radio is more of a companion than TV could ever be.

In the case of television, I like the powerful images. But TV is always a team effort, unlike in radio where an individual can create wonders.During your tenure at BBC, what's been the most challenging task for you?
It's difficult to pick up any one. But, on the whole, I feel it's very challenging to confront traditional values and turning them into new ways and new things. For instance, at present we're merging the way radio, TV and online divisions work at BBC.