Khabar Lahariya turns 14 today! Happy birthday, ladies!
The iconic newspaper, which exclusively features stories written by women belonging to marginalised communities, reports from the badlands of Uttar Pradesh. Khabar Lahariya is pioneering a grassroots media revolution. The collective consists of 40 women, who report stories in 7 local languages across 8 districts. Their reports shed light on almost 600 media dark villages, covering places that are usually sidelined by mainstream media. The collective was set up, mentored and trained by a group of activists and reporters from New Delhi. Today, the newspaper has a readership of 80,000 rural people. Today they also have a strong digital news arm, run by a small team of rural reporters, editors, designers and managers who produce . They have an active YouTube channel with videos uploaded almost daily.
Every week, the journalists of Khabar Lahariya break news and gender stereotypes. Their work has been awarded the Chameli Devi Jain Award in 2004 for an outstanding women journalists’ collective and the UNESCO King Sejong Literary Prize in 2009.
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To celebrate the spirit of the awesome women who have created important and thought-provoking work for years, we’ve put together a list of recent Khabar Lahariya stories that we admire and love.
1. Mirzapur’s Dalit Woman Pays A Terrible Price, Wins Election But Loses Daughter:
This article chronicles the terrible tragedy that befell Rajkumari, a Dalit and a single mother who fought in the recent local elections.
2. Women’s Day Special: Dalit, single and Pradhaan
In this video, a special for Women’s day, Khabar Lahariya interviews a single Dalit pradhaan. Sushila was the first girl from her village to get a BA and talks about her journey up to fighting the Pradhaan election and winning the support of people from her village.
3. Woman in Banda breaks her silence around violence:
In the village of Banda, Uttar Pradesh, local women speak up about the violence they had to undergo at the hands of a local male authority figure.
4. Pradhan Kaun? Mahila Pratyashi ya Pati?
In this satirical look at the culture of Pradhaan patis, Khabar Lahariya mocks the men who continue to speak for women, even if they are the pradhaans of the village. The video mocks the culture of not taking women seriously and having men speak for them at every step and turn.
5. Dadua- Daku ya Devta?
In this quietly humorous video, Khabar Lahariya investigates a temple in Bundelkhand dedicated to Dadua, an infamous dacoit. They interview the devotees who come to the temple and shed light on the notorious figure of Dadua.