Kavita Bundelkhandi
Born
Kavita Devi

Kunjan Purwa, Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation(s)Editor-in-Chief and News Anchor at Khabar Lahariya
AwardsChameli 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]

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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