MichaleFlint91 at 08:45, 19 April 2026

2026-04-19T08:45:50Z

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{{Short description|Indian news website}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}

{{Update|date=February 2022}}{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Khabar Lahariya
| logo =
| image =
| type = Rural Weekly Newspaper
| format = [[Broadsheet]]
| founder = Kavita Devi<br>Meera Jatav
| founded = 30 May 2002 in [[Chitrakoot district|Chitrakoot]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| chief_editor = [[Kavita Devi (journalist)|Kavita Devi]]
| headquarters = [[Karwi]], [[Chitrakoot district|Chitrakoot]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.khabarlahariya.org/}}
| language = Multiple editions in [[Hindi Belt|Hindustani dialects]] such as [[Bundeli]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bajjika dialect|Bajjikka]], etc<br/>English
| circulation = 6000 copies with a claimed readership of 20,000 (2012)
}}
'''''Khabar Lahariya''''' (translation: News Wave<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Sen|first=Arijit|last2=Nielsen|first2=Rasmus Kleis|author-link2=Rasmus Kleis Nielsen|date=May 2016|title=Digital Journalism Start-Ups in India|url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-04/Digital%20Journalism%20Start-ups%20in%20India_0.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806093856/https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-04/Digital%20Journalism%20Start-ups%20in%20India_0.pdf|archive-date=6 August 2018|website=[[Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism]]}}</ref>) is an Indian [[newspaper]], published in various rural [[dialects]] of [[Hindi]], including [[Bundeli]], [[Avadhi]] and [[Bajjika dialect]]s. The newspaper was started by Nirantar'','' a [[New Delhi]]–based [[NGO|non-government organisation]] which focuses on gender and education.<ref name="deccanherald.com">{{cite news|title=After UN award, rural Indian women's weekly has expansion plans|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/17769/after-un-award-rural-indian.html|access-date=18 September 2012|newspaper=Deccan Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://in.reuters.com/article/india-women-dalit/report-like-a-dalit-girl-one-indian-publication-shows-how-idINKBN1581E4/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043038/https://in.reuters.com/article/india-women-dalit/report-like-a-dalit-girl-one-indian-publication-shows-how-idINKBN1581E4/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 1, 2017|title=Report like a Dalit girl:one Indian publication shows how|website=Reuters India}}</ref> Initially seen as a women-only publication,<ref name="Sharma">{{cite news |last=Sharma |first=Kalpana |date=23 March 2008 |title=And Now The Good News |url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/03/23/stories/2008032350070300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080326224951/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/03/23/stories/2008032350070300.htm |archive-date=26 March 2008 |access-date=17 September 2012 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> it now covers local political news, local crime reports, social issues and entertainment, all reported from a feminist perspective.<ref name="deccanherald.com"/> As of September 2012, its total print-run, all editions included, was around 6000 copies; the management claimed an estimated readership of 80,000. Since its digitalisation its outreach has massively extended.

==Circulation and reach==
Established in 2002, Khabar Lahariya is an eight-page weekly local newspaper founded by Kavita Devi (CEO) and Meera Devi (Managing Editor). The inaugural issue of the newspaper was published in May 2002 from the town of Karwi in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh, in the local Bundeli dialect of Hindi. In 2012, the newspaper launched editions from Mahoba, Lucknow, and Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh in Bundeli, Awadhi, and Bhojpuri dialects, respectively. The newspaper also publishes an edition from the Sitamarhi district of Bihar in Bajjikka dialect and from Banda, Uttar Pradesh, in the Bundeli dialect. As of September 2012, its total print run, including all editions, was approximately 6,000 copies sold in approximately 600 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The newspaper has an estimated readership of 20,000.

Khabar Lahariya’s website was launched on February 13, 2013, in Mumbai. The website, which closely resembles the printed newspaper, curates and republishes the most noteworthy articles from the newspaper. Notably, it is the sole website where content is accessible in the local dialects in which the newspaper is published. Additionally, some stories on the website are now available in English.

Starting in 2016, the newspaper shifted largely to a digital format launching a video channel and creating news in video clips.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/aug/10/india-all-female-newspaper-khabar-lahariya-gender-taboos-old-news|title=India’s all-female paper goes digital to make gender taboos old news|last=Doshi|first=Vidhi|date=10 August 2016|work=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The women journalists collective now runs a digital media agency covering stories from rural India, mostly from the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/11/experiment-national-phenomenon-story-khabar-lahariya/|title=From experiment to national phenomenon: The story of Khabar Lahariya|date=2018-11-12|website=Asian Correspondent|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-18|archive-date=2019-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718225150/https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/11/experiment-national-phenomenon-story-khabar-lahariya/|url-status=dead}}</ref> As a result of digitalisation, the news outlet has substantially increased its reach.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-01 |title=Print-Digital, 20 years of Khabar Lahariya |url=https://khabarlahariya.org/from-print-to-digital-20-years-of-excellence/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=Khabar Lahariya (खबर लहरिया) |language=en}}</ref> Owing to the support of the readers' community, ''Khabar Lahariya'' grew from a local newspaper in 2002 to publishing their own website in 2013, and launching their own subscription model, Sound, Fury and 4G in 2019.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

==Distinctive features==
The intellectual input for the newspaper is provided by a collective of 40 rural women journalists. The newspaper is written, edited, produced, distributed and marketed entirely by rural women from disadvantaged communities ([[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]], [[Dalit]]s and [[Muslims]]).<ref name="Wander">{{cite news|last=Wander|first=Andrew|title=Reading the Future|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2009/09/20099882935561705.html|access-date=17 September 2012|newspaper=Al Jazeera|date=8 September 2012}}</ref> The women who report the stories also edit, produce, distribute and market the newspaper. Meera Jatav is the Editor-in-Chief and has been working from [[Karwi]] since the newspaper was started in 2002. The newspaper specialises in exposing local scandals. It mainly carries local news that, although primarily of interest to its rural readership, has wider resonance nationally and internationally. Examples are reports on violence against women, discrimination against Dalits, deaths in illegal mining operations, and the rise of Hindu nationalism.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Singh |first=Anita |date=2022-03-09 |title=Storyville: Writing With Fire, review: the all-female newspaper speaking truth to power in India |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/storyville-writing-fire-review-all-female-newspaper-speaking/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
In 2004, the collective of women journalists bringing out ''Khabar Lahariya'' was awarded the prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for Women in Journalism. In 2009, the newspaper was awarded the [[UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize]].<ref name=hindu2009>{{cite news|title=Newspaper by rural Indian women wins UN literacy award |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200908041021.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125105757/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200908041021.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 January 2013 |access-date=23 February 2012 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=4 August 2009 }}</ref> Following this, plans to expand the newspaper were made.<ref name="deccanherald.com"/> In 2012, the newspaper went on to win the Laadli Media Award for gender sensitive reporting. Also, in the same year the Indian news channel [[Times Now]] awarded ''Khabar Lahariya'' the Amazing Indian Award. In 2013 the newspaper was presented with the Kaifi Azmi Award in memory of poet [[Kaifi Azmi]]. The award is presented by the All India Kaifi Azmi Academy every year on the anniversary of his death.<ref name=kaifiyat.in>{{cite news|title=Kaifi Azmi's 11th death anniversary|url=http://www.kaifiyat.in/kaifi-azmis-11th-death-anniversary}}</ref>

In 2014, German media channel [[Deutsche Welle]] awarded the prestigious Global Media Forum Award to the newspaper's website at the Best of Blogs annual conference held in [[Bonn]] in Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/waves-of-news-sweep-the-indian-countryside/a-17743997|title=Waves of news sweep the Indian countryside|date=30 June 2014|website=DW.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/lives/66|title=Khabar Lahariya - a weekly paper run by women journalists wins German Award|date=10 July 2014|website=THe News Minute}}</ref>

An Indian documentary film about the newspaper titled ''[[Writing with Fire]]'' was released in 2021. It has won numerous international awards, including some at the [[2021 Sundance Film Festival]], and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] at the [[94th Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|first1=Mythreyee|last1=Ramesh|access-date=2021-12-26|title=Khabar Lahariya: Tale Of India's Only All-Women Newsroom in 2022 Oscars Race|url=https://www.thequint.com/neon/gender/khabar-lahariya-profile-writing-with-fire-oscars-documentary-feature|date=25 December 2021|website=TheQuint}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|access-date=2021-12-26|title=‘Pebbles’ out of Oscars 2022 race, ‘Writing With Fire’ advances to next level|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/pebbles-out-of-oscars-2022-race-writing-with-fire-advances-to-next-level/article38010118.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=22 December 2021|issn=0971-751X|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> The publication also won a Courage Award from the [[International Women's Media Foundation]] in June for how it "disrupts and interrogates the status quo, where newsmakers have long been male, upper-caste, and politically connected".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2021-12-27|title=The IWMF Announces 2021 Courage in Journalism Award Winners - IWMF|url=https://www.iwmf.org/2021/06/the-iwmf-announces-2021-courage-in-journalism-award-winners/|website=www.iwmf.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Sushmita|last1=Pathak|access-date=2021-12-27|title=India's all-female news outlet faces sexism, death threats. A new film tells the story|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/04/04/980097004/indias-lowest-caste-has-its-own-news-outlet-and-shes-in-charge|newspaper=NPR|date=26 November 2021|via=NPR}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.khabarlahariya.org/ Khabar Lahariya Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121102074535/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-08/lucknow/28135447_1_dacoits-meera-claims-shanti The Times of India, Lucknow edition]
*[https://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/postcard_from_chitrakoot.php/ Columbia Journalism Review]
*[http://www.nirantar.net/ Nirantar]
*[http://aadiwasijanjagruti.org/ Aadiwasi Janjagruti]

{{Media of India}}
{{IWMF awards}}

[[Category:2002 establishments in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Weekly newspapers published in India]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 2002]]
[[Category:Newspapers published in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Chitrakoot district]]

Khabar Lahariya - Revision history

MichaleFlint91 at 08:45, 19 April 2026