Media Diary: Why Are There No Dalits In India's Newsrooms?

Being a journalist bestows no privilege on a Dalit. Every Dalit who steps into the media does so hoping to bring about a big change—“I won’t live the life I lived till now. I won’t spare caste. I will expose every atro­city.” But aspiring to write on caste makes a Dalit an alien in any media organisation. All thro­ugh my 18 years of journalism, I was seen as an alien in every media organisation I worked in. It takes just a week for the reality of the “mainstream” to hit you—just two editorial meetings are eno­ugh. There is always someone willing to write on corruption, crimes, scandals… In this barrage of sensationalism, the Dalit wonders whether to even discuss her ideas or the notes she made on a caste-rel­ated crime, say an honour killing. Being left tongue-tied in an indifferent atmosphere is often her first journalistic experience. If she musters enough courage to...