Newsrooms need to be more inclusive: Journalist Faye D'Souza

MUMBAI: News reporting needs to be more sensitised and newsrooms should be more inclusive for people from all backgrounds to provide for a broader perspective, said journalist Faye D'Souza while speaking at an online event organises by Meeting Minds on Saturday.
Meeting Minds, a virtual community experience, hosts monthly sessions on impactful topics with expert speakers. D'Souza was speaking about the impact of journalism, and ethics in a post-truth era.

"Much of our news is often given from a very established, privileged perspective," said D'Souza. "We need to be more inclusive, we need to have people in our newsrooms from different backgrounds, genders, and castes," she said.

Amita Haribhakti and Shailesh Haribhakti were among those present at the event. Amita is the co-founder of the Meeting Minds initiative.

D'Souza said that as people grow weary of Indian news television, they will be willing to pay for news that is clear and honest, without having to worry about shouting matches and information overload.

"When I left television, people were worried about me. But over the last year, television has shown its true colours," she said.

Currently, D'Souza runs a team of four people and reports the headlines on her Instagram page. She said that people have been very receptive to digital media as a reliable form of news, but mentioned that lacking a proper newsroom comes with its own challenges.

"There used to be a 100 people researching and working, big equipments, and bright lights. Not having all that means we have to be more selective in our approach," she said.