“Women in Media Needed a Space of Their Own”

On behalf of the Kerala Chapter of the Network of Women in Media, India, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to our National Meet here in Thiruvananthapuram—this beautiful city of ideas, institutions, art, activism, and conversations, debates and discussions.

We are happy that we are able to get together — not just to meet, but to listen, reflect, debate, disagree, and, hopefully, leave with renewed energy and sharper questions. Thank you for travelling from across the country, carving out time from demanding newsrooms, classrooms, freelance schedules, homes, and care work, to be here together.

Your presence itself is a statement: that women in media matter, that our voices matter, and that solidarity is one of our most powerful tools.

I welcome author par excellence KR Meera, our past member and well-wisher.

Meera, completing 25 years as an author, is one of us and she continues to make her words and voice to assert that women deserve equality and the right to speak, write and to live her life as she wills it.

I welcome RS Babu, Chairman of the Kerala Media Academy, for his generous support to the NWMI meet and for his leadership in creating a visual archive that documents the lives of pioneering media persons from Kerala. The documentary on Ammu Joseph has been produced by the Academy.

I also welcome Arun, Secretary of the Kerala Media Academy.

With us today is Bina Paul, film editor, curator and founder member of the Women in Cinema Collective, and a strong voice for gender justice. The face of the International Film Festival of Kerala for a long time, Bina’s work gave IFFK a personality that makes it stand out from the other film fetes in India. Welcome, Bina.

Rima Kallingal, again a founder member of WCC, has carved a niche in Malayalam cinema, and pushes the boundaries of female narratives in cinema. Even when there were and are attempts to silence her as an actor for speaking up against injustice in her field, Rima continues to inspire with her work as an actor and dancer. I warmly welcome Rima.

Miriam Joseph, a member of the WCC, is an independent documentary filmmaker and was a broadcast journalist.

Who Are We?

For those attending an NWMI meeting for the first time, let me briefly introduce who we are.

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) is a national, autonomous, and inclusive collective of women working across different media platforms. Founded in 2002, NWMI emerged from a simple but powerful realisation: that women in media needed a space of their own, one that was independent of employers, political parties, and corporate interests.

NWMI brings together journalists, editors, photojournalists, videographers, filmmakers, media educators, researchers, digital content creators, translators, and media workers across languages and platforms.

What binds us is not a single ideology or professional pathway, but a shared commitment to: gender justice, media ethics, freedom of expression, and the belief that the media must serve democracy, not power.

What does NWMI do?

Over the past two decades, NWMI has worked quietly but consistently across the country.

We have documented and spoken out against gender discrimination in media workplaces, intervened in cases of sexual harassment and unfair dismissal, conducted gender audits of news coverage, produced research and training modules on gender-sensitive reporting, issued statements and solidarity actions in defence of journalists under attack, mentored young and early-career women journalists, and created rare spaces where women across generations and regions can speak honestly about their experiences.

The media world embodies contradictions that we as women journalists know all too well.

In many ways, these contradictions mirror the media landscape across India today. We live in a time of unprecedented connectivity, but shrinking spaces for dissent. A time when stories travel faster than ever, but truth is constantly under siege. A time when women are more visible in newsrooms and bylines, yet continue to face discrimination, harassment, online abuse, and structural exclusion.

It is in this context that gatherings like this one are not just important but necessary.

Importantly, NWMI has always recognised that gender does not exist in isolation. Our work has engaged with questions of caste, class, religion, region, language, disability, sexuality, and political power because the media reflects society, and society is deeply unequal.

Why this meet matters

In an industry driven by deadlines, we rarely get the chance to pause and ask: What kind of media are we producing? Who does it serve? Who does it silence? And what is it doing to us as individuals?

We have and will be having conversations on journalism and democracy, digital violence, workplace safety, representation, mental health, regional media, freelancing, new technologies, and the future of our profession.

But equally important will be the informal conversations in corridors, over tea, during walks, and late into the evening. NWMI has always believed that personal narratives are political, and that listening to one another is a radical act.

For younger members, this meet is a chance to learn, question, and find mentors.

For senior journalists, it is a space to reflect, share wisdom, and also listen. For all of us, it is a reminder that we are not alone.

We cannot gather today without acknowledging the difficult times we are working in.

Journalists are being arrested, sued, trolled, under surveillance, and silenced. Newsrooms are shrinking. Freelancers are increasingly vulnerable. Algorithms shape visibility. Hate campaigns, especially against women journalists, have become organised, vicious, and relentless.

And yet, despite this, journalism continues. Stories continue to be reported. Truth continues to surface, sometimes at great personal cost.

NWMI stands firmly with those who take these risks.

Looking ahead

As NWMI moves forward, the questions before us are urgent: How do we remain relevant in a rapidly changing media ecosystem? How do we bring in younger voices without losing institutional memory? How do we ensure regional, language, and caste diversity within our own spaces?

This meet is not about arriving at perfect answers. It is about asking the right questions together.

Before I conclude, I would like to thank the organising team and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make this meet possible, our speakers and facilitators and every participant here because NWMI exists only through its members.

I welcome each of you, you are the lifelines of NWMI.