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]
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]
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]
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]