Using media to further social causes
Nivedita Pal | Kolkata
The Draft, in continuance of the International Women's Day celebrations held on 8 March 2021, profiles superwomen of sorts, from all walks of life, for a full week on till 15 March 2021
(Read all the Women's Week stories here)
In India’s history, journalists have played an important role in starting the independence movement, creating awareness among the masses, advocating for the rights of the citizens and then post-independence in aiding the government in carrying out mass campaigns and keeping a check on the other pillars of democracy. Women journalists, through the years, have not only made strong inroads gradually, they’ve taken charge and are leading the industry.
It was in 1959 when the first television broadcast started in India from Delhi as part of the All India Radio's services and on an experimental basis with a financial grant from UNESCO. In 1965, a daily one-hour program with a news bulletin started. Till the 1990’s, autonomous public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India and owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Doordarshan was monopolising the newscast on television and was the primary source of news information for the country.
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| Palki Upadhyay |
In 1988, New Delhi Television (NDTV) produced show ‘The World This Week’ started telecasting every Friday night. Eventually, several news channels entered the race. NDTV became the first private producer of the national news ‘News Tonight’ in 1995. TV Today Network, in 1995 only, occupied a 20- minute slot in DD Metro channel and aired current affairs programme ‘AajTak’, Business AajTak and Newstrack. One of the most known faces of women journalists in India, Nalini Singh produced a five-minute fast-paced daily news segment ‘AnkhonDekhi’.
The first women of television journalism
When Doordarshan was the primary news broadcasting service in the country, many women news readers presented the news to the country. They were the first and set a template for the next generation of news presenters. Some of the names include Shobhana Jagdish, Avinash Kaur Sarin, Sarla Maheshwari, Neelam Sharma, Salma Sultan, Neethi Ravindran and Rini Simon Khanna who epitomised grace and simplicity.
Born into a Sikh family, broadcast journalist Avinash initially joined Doordarshan as a presenter but went on to become the main newscaster. She was one of the most popular news anchors of the 80s and 90s. Later, she became a documentary director and television personality.
She is known for her documentaries on Asian culture. Neethi Ravindran with her short hair was different from her counterparts who donned long locks. She had presented several historic moments in the country including the news of the death of Mother Teresa in 1997. Born in Kerala to an Indian Air Force officer, Rini Simon Khanna was a popular news anchor of the time during her 16-year stint with Doordarshan.
Remembered for her signature style, a red rose locked into her hair below her year, Salma Sultan worked as a news anchor in Doordarshan from 1967 till 1997. She also had a unique way of draping the saree that stayed with the viewers. Born to scholar and secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mohammed Asghar Ansari and a homemaker mother, after her stint with Doordarshan Salma went on to direct television shows such as 'Panchantra Se' that was telecast soon after Mahabharata in 1989. Her serial 'Jalte Sawal' telecast in 2004 on DD News on Sundays focussed on women issues.
Women making a difference
One of the most known faces of among broadcast journalists, Nalini Singh has been the anchor of several news-based and current affairs programmes on Doordarshan. She is remembered for her programme on investigative journalism Aankhon Dekhi. Daughter of consumer rights activist H D Shourie and sister of Indian journalists Arun Shourie and Deepak Shourie, Nalini Singh produced and anchored a social documenting series Hello Zindagi for Doordarshan in 1995.
A journalist for more than three decades and the face of Times Now news channel, Navika Kumar has covered and reported on some very important issues in the country particularly on developments in Indian politics and business. She has ‘broken’ many high-profile stories and scams including the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Scam in 2010-11, the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006, etc.
News presenter and journalist Shweta Singh has been presenting hard-hitting news segments for years. Executive Editor of Special Programming at the Hindi language news channel AajTak, Shweta started her career in 1996 and has several prestigious awards to her credit.
Television journalist and news anchor Marya Shakil started her journalistic career in 2005 after completing Masters in Mass Communication. Marya has won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards as Best Political Journalist (Broadcast) in 2012 for her show on 2012 UP elections and then again in 2014 for the 2014 general elections coverage.
Taking journalism up a notch
Executive Editor at WION Palki Sharma Upadhyay reports extensively on foreign affairs. A native of Rajasthan, she hosts India's only international news and views prime time show called 'Gravitas' on WION. After completing her Master’s degree in communication and journalism, she started her career in 2002 by joining Doordarshan.
She has interviewed several world leaders including India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Pakistani politician Pervez Musharraf, Sri Lankan Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and more.
More recently, Palki also reported on Israeli politics especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial in the face of corruption charges, Queen Elizabeth lobbying the British government to conceal her private wealth from the public, the US-China face-off in the high seas where China warned off a US warship in South China Sea and the US deployed one of the world's largest warships to the Indo-Pacific.
News Agency Asian News International (ANI) offers syndicated news feed to several media entities in the country and is one of the biggest television news agencies in India. ANI Editor Smita Prakash joined the agency in 1986 as an intern and was later recruited as a full-time employee. In December 2020, during her interaction with Governance Now MD Kailash Adhikari as part of a talk series, Smita said, “Media is a service. Why are industrialists interested in media if not to wield power and furthering their business interests?”
In a sphere, where debates about political meddling in media are ripe, it’s challenging to stay untouched. “Viewers are smart to figure out that the media house is agenda-driven and it doesn’t work and last long. If it is only a tool, it is a temporary phenomenon.”
Any discussion on women journalists in India is incomplete without Barkha Dutt. Born in New Delhi to S P Dutt, an Air India official and well-known journalist Prabha Dutt, Barkha credits her journalistic skills to her mother. Her younger sister Bahar Dutt is also a television journalist. Television journalist and author Barkha was part of NDTV for 21 years and is one of the most prominent journalists in the country. She gained recognition after her reportage of the Kargil War in 1999. Recipient of several awards such as Journalist of the Year, Best TV News Anchor for her programme ‘We the people’, Barkha Dutt was also awarded the Padma Shri in 2008.
The percentage of women in Indian journalism has been on the rise in print media, television and new media and in English, Hindi as well as vernacular media and they have proved their mettle time and again.
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The first women of television journalism
When Doordarshan was the primary news broadcasting service in the country, many women news readers presented the news to the country. They were the first and set a template for the next generation of news presenters. Some of the names include Shobhana Jagdish, Avinash Kaur Sarin, Sarla Maheshwari, Neelam Sharma, Salma Sultan, Neethi Ravindran and Rini Simon Khanna who epitomised grace and simplicity.
Born into a Sikh family, broadcast journalist Avinash initially joined Doordarshan as a presenter but went on to become the main newscaster. She was one of the most popular news anchors of the 80s and 90s. Later, she became a documentary director and television personality.
She is known for her documentaries on Asian culture. Neethi Ravindran with her short hair was different from her counterparts who donned long locks. She had presented several historic moments in the country including the news of the death of Mother Teresa in 1997. Born in Kerala to an Indian Air Force officer, Rini Simon Khanna was a popular news anchor of the time during her 16-year stint with Doordarshan.
Remembered for her signature style, a red rose locked into her hair below her year, Salma Sultan worked as a news anchor in Doordarshan from 1967 till 1997. She also had a unique way of draping the saree that stayed with the viewers. Born to scholar and secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mohammed Asghar Ansari and a homemaker mother, after her stint with Doordarshan Salma went on to direct television shows such as 'Panchantra Se' that was telecast soon after Mahabharata in 1989. Her serial 'Jalte Sawal' telecast in 2004 on DD News on Sundays focussed on women issues.
Women making a difference
 |
| Navika Kumar |
A journalist for more than three decades and the face of Times Now news channel, Navika Kumar has covered and reported on some very important issues in the country particularly on developments in Indian politics and business. She has ‘broken’ many high-profile stories and scams including the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Scam in 2010-11, the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006, etc.
News presenter and journalist Shweta Singh has been presenting hard-hitting news segments for years. Executive Editor of Special Programming at the Hindi language news channel AajTak, Shweta started her career in 1996 and has several prestigious awards to her credit.
Television journalist and news anchor Marya Shakil started her journalistic career in 2005 after completing Masters in Mass Communication. Marya has won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards as Best Political Journalist (Broadcast) in 2012 for her show on 2012 UP elections and then again in 2014 for the 2014 general elections coverage.
Taking journalism up a notch
 |
| Smita Prakash |
She has interviewed several world leaders including India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Pakistani politician Pervez Musharraf, Sri Lankan Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and more.
More recently, Palki also reported on Israeli politics especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial in the face of corruption charges, Queen Elizabeth lobbying the British government to conceal her private wealth from the public, the US-China face-off in the high seas where China warned off a US warship in South China Sea and the US deployed one of the world's largest warships to the Indo-Pacific.
News Agency Asian News International (ANI) offers syndicated news feed to several media entities in the country and is one of the biggest television news agencies in India. ANI Editor Smita Prakash joined the agency in 1986 as an intern and was later recruited as a full-time employee. In December 2020, during her interaction with Governance Now MD Kailash Adhikari as part of a talk series, Smita said, “Media is a service. Why are industrialists interested in media if not to wield power and furthering their business interests?”
In a sphere, where debates about political meddling in media are ripe, it’s challenging to stay untouched. “Viewers are smart to figure out that the media house is agenda-driven and it doesn’t work and last long. If it is only a tool, it is a temporary phenomenon.”
 |
| Barkha Dutt |
The percentage of women in Indian journalism has been on the rise in print media, television and new media and in English, Hindi as well as vernacular media and they have proved their mettle time and again.
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