Kavita Devi (journalist)

Last updated

Kavita Bundelkhandi
Born
Kavita Devi

Kunjan Purwa, Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation(s) Editor-in-Chief and News Anchor at Khabar Lahariya
Awards Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons (collective)

Kavita Devi, alternatively Kavita Bundelkhandi, [1] [2] is an Indian journalist and news presenter. [3] She is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the grassroots feminist news network Khabar Lahariya. [2] [4] Devi was notably the first Dalit ("untouchable") to become a member of the Editor's Guild of India. [3]

Biography

Kavita Devi was born in the remote village of Kunjan Purwa, [5] near Banda, Uttar Pradesh, to a family of Dalit farmers. [2] [6] The eldest among six children, [5] she was married off at the age of 12 and received no formal education. [7] In her testimony, Devi states that a non-government organisation (NGO) had opened a center in her village where she studied extensively for six months, [5] and after substantial resistance from other villagers including her family. [8] She is noted to have been the first woman from her village to have received an education as a result. [9] In later years, she has gone on to complete her graduation and earned a Master of Arts in journalism. [6]

Devi states that she started working with a small newsletter Mahila Dakiya, which was run by the center in her village and marked the beginning of her journalistic career. [3] [6] Eventually in 2002, [9] she co-founded Khabar Lahariya along with seven other women, with the support an NGO called Nirantar, [10] and funding from the Dorabji Tata Trust, the National Foundation of India and the Dalit Foundation. [11] [12] In 2004, the journalists at the paper collectively became the recipient of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons. [10] By 2014, the paper had six editions and journalist staff of around 40 women. [13] It was described by Business Standard , as having become the backbone of the people in the impoverished rural regions of Bundelkhand and Awadh, in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. [14]

Over time, Devi has served in a number of positions in the organisation such as the editor of the Banda edition, [15] the head of digital operations, [16] and initially as a solo field journalist. [7] She also runs a weekly news commentary show called The Kavita Show on the network and has been the editor-in-chief since 2019. [6] [17] In the same year, she appeared as a speaker at a TED conference which resulted in widespread attention on her story, [18] and was described by the host and actor Shah Rukh Khan as an inspiration. [19]

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References

  1. ↑ Bhandare, Namita (16 October 2020). "A model for rooted, inclusive journalism". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Pande, Pooja (2020). Momspeak: The Funny, Bittersweet Story of Motherhood in India. Penguin Books. ISBN   978-0-14-349778-3.
  3. 1 2 3 Murti, Aditi (31 October 2020). "Tell Me More: Talking Media Ethics and Representation With Kavita Devi". The Swaddle. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kavita Devi on the jobs that will define India's future". Quartz India. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Dhamini, Ratnam (9 November 2019). "'People wouldn't think of me as a journalist': Kavita Devi, editor-in-chief, Khabar Lahariya". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hazra, Nivedita (10 November 2019). "In Conversation With Kavita Devi: The Editor-In-Chief Of Khabar Lahariya". FII English. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 Kotamraju, Priyanka (27 June 2017). "A reporter's notebook". Business Line . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  8. ↑ "Khabar Lahariya, A Women Rural Newspaper in Uttar Pradesh, India". Ritimo. 1 September 2011.
  9. 1 2 Gupta, Neha (23 September 2019). "Women in News panel discusses impact of 'Me Too' in Indian newsrooms". WAN-IFRA . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  10. 1 2 Katakam, Anupam (25 April 2008). "Making news". Frontline . The Hindu . Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  11. ↑ Gahilote, Prarthana (2 April 2004). "Khabar Lahariya: When six women started a wave". The Hoot. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Chakraborty, Sanghamitra (1 November 2004). "Mother India". Outlook India . Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Ratnam, Dhamini (9 November 2019). "Small-town newsrooms fail to provide equal space to women". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Khabar Lahariya: Making rural media a force for change (Media Feature)". Business Standard India. Indo-Asian News Service. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Pande, Manisha (10 November 2012). "Writing from the roots". Business Standard . Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "The First Woman With Her Own Talk Show in Bundelkhand Shares What Freedom Means to Women". The Better India . 15 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "A video featuring a 'witch' goes viral with seeming complicity from the police and press in UP's Banda". Firstpost . 14 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "कविता गुनगुना रहीं बुंदेलखंडी हक की 'लहरिया'". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). 6 November 2019.
  19. ↑ ""Kavita Devi is an inspiration for all of us" says Shah Rukh Khan on TED Talks India Nayi Baat". Telly Chakkar. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
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