TMR 2023: Being a minority voice in a majority-driven newsroom

India’s newsrooms lack diversity across roles and departments, isolating minority voices across communities. What’s it like being a minority voice in a newsroom skewed towards majority communities? How can media owners make their organisations more diverse?

These were some of the themes discussed during “Diversity in Media”, a panel discussion at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. Moderated by The News Minute editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran, the panel comprised Meena Kotwal, founder of The Mooknayak; Ankur Paliwal, founder of Queerbeat; Shadab Moizee, associate editor of The Quint; and Gunjan Singhvi, news product partnerships at Google.

Meena talked about the launch of Mooknayak and how small news organisations can show the way for Big Media to achieve diversity. Dhanya said there’s a gap in inclusive policies and their implementation, and equality doesn’t guarantee equity. 

“If you leave people on the margins,” Ankur said, “they will leave you.”

Watch.

Listen to the conversation here: