Meet the MOJO Fellows

FELLOWS

From October 2020 to September 2021, 63 journalists from India participated in the Mobile Journalism Fellowship supported by Internews. This program equipped journalists to cover multimedia stories with their phones. They were offered live training sessions, one-on-one support, gear and app licenses. Learn more about the fellowship and the stories our fellows did here.

This journalism training program was supported by Internews. You can find out more about them at internews.org

AAKASH HASSAN

Aakash Hassan is a journalist based in Indian-administered Kashmir. He covers the conflict in the Himalayan region. He is a former Kashmir correspondent at Network 18, and has reported for The Guardian, South China Morning Post, and Al Jazeera and appeared on the BBC.

J&K

ADITYA OJHA

Aditya Ojha has studied Mechanical Engineering and is certified in Data Science by IBM. He is a member of [*101Reporters.com*](http://101reporters.com/) and his data reports have been published in *India Spend Hindi*. He is a podcast producer and founder of: [SRM Podcasts | Podcasts for Everyone](https://srmpodcasts.com/)

UTTAR PRADESH

AKASH GULANKAR

Akash Gulankar is a young, passionate Data Journalist from Pune currently working with The Federal. He has experience in working with local dailies as well as national websites including The Federal, News18 and Pune Mirror. Though his expertise lies in data journalism, he is well versed with the desk as well as ground reporting. The Lokmat Journalism Award 2020 for the best on-the-spot reporting is one of the testimonies to his diverse skill sets.

MAHARASHTRA

AMARJYOTI BORAH

Amarjyoti Borah is a Guwahati based journalist and has been reporting from the North Eastern region since 2006. He was initially a reporter for the *Down to Earth* Magazine, and after that worked in several national and regional publications.He has also written for the London based *Reuters* and *Guardian* newspaper, on environment, climate change, wildlife, water, gender issues, governance, politics, business and PSU in the region.

ASSAM

ANKITA GUPTA

Ankita Gupta is a journalist who participated in the In Old News fellowship 2020-21.

MAHARASHTRA

ANMOL ARORA

Anmol is an early-career journalist and a creative writer from Rajasthan. They are interested in covering urban issues, gender, society, and arts and culture while applying an intersectional approach. They recently completed their PG Diploma in Print Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism and is currently working on freelance projects and exploring different facets of digital journalism and communication.

RAJASTHAN UTTAR PRADESH

ANUP DUTTA

His writings explore a range of topics such as migrant tribal who have no respite from drought, deadly diseases, coastal village driven by sea soil erosion, a long trip in the world’s longest narrow-gauge railway track, and herbal beer that turns poisonous. His body of work also includes stories about toxic waste dumped in the premises of defunct Union Carbide plant responsible for world’s worst industrial disaster, and illegal bungalow of eminent writer and Magsaysay awardee Arundhati.

MADHYA PRADESH

ARMSTRONG CHANAMBAM

Armstrong Chanambam is a freelance journalist who covers politics, society and human rights in Northeast India. He has written for several publications such as *Asia Times, Firstpost, Newslaundry, Ozy* and *MediaNama* in association with *101Reporters* over three years. He has a post graduation diploma in journalism from the Asian College of Journalism. He's an incorrigible bibliophile and loves recommending underrated arcane authors to bookstore owners during his free time.

MANIPUR

BARKHA KUMARI

She has worked as a features writer for over eight years across Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle, The New Indian Express and Bangalore Mirror. Her interests lie in covering arts, food, culture, mental health, environment, science & technology, city and human-centric stories. This year, she took up freelance journalism rather unceremoniously yet it's the one she is learning a lot out of. Her bylines can be currently found in FirstPost, MoneyControl, The New Indian Express, Deccan Herald, The Chakkar, Gaon Connection English and Catharsis Magazine.

KARNATAKA

CHANDRANI SINHA

Chandrani Sinha is an independent multimedia journalist, currently based in Guwahati, Assam, India. She has been reporting stories from Northeast India for 9 years. This year her multimedia story "climate refugees of Assam" was among the top ten entries also the base award in Journalism for an Equitable Asia Awards 2020-21 by Asia Center and Oxfam. Currently, she contributes to both Indian and international media organizations. She is also the editor and founder of Badalta Northeast, a website dedicated to climate change sustainable development and solution journalism from NE.

ASSAM

CHRYSELLE D'SILVA DIAS

Chryselle is an independent journalist based in Goa. She writes about gender, environment, social justice and culture for national and international publications. Her work has appeared in TIME, BBC, The Atlantic, Guardian UK, The Telegraph, Hakai, Teen Vogue, Global Post, The Fuller Project, National Geographic Traveller India, Scroll.in. The Wire, Mint, HT, The Hindu among others.

GOA

FLAVIA LOPES

Flavia Lopes is an independent journalist covering land and sustainability. She has a master's degree in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics. She loves learning new languages and is busy with Farsi off-late.

MAHARASHTRA

HARSHAL DESHPANDE

Harshal has completed his Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, and is currently working as a Freelance Journalist at Siasat Daily, Hyderabad. He is interested in reporting on deprivation, developmental issues, environmental issues, education, casteism and gender issues, and politics.

MAHARASHTRA

HEMANT GAIROLA

Hemant Gairola is a News Editor at 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has more than a decade's experience in journalism and takes a keen interest in fleshing out exclusive stories. He enjoys working on human-interest features, development journalism and investigative stories as well as solutions journalism. Hemant has previously worked on the Bangalore desks of The New Indian Express and Daily News & Analysis. At 101Reporters, he dons various hats and helps freelance reporters refine their story ideas and shape their stories.

UTTARAKHAND

IRFAN AMIN MALIK

Irfan Amin Malik, a journalist & a gold medalist in Mass Communications & Journalism, is currently working at Moneycontrol, besides freelancing. His work has been published in both national & international media. He also works as a radio broadcaster and a voice-over artist.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAISHREE KUMAR

Jaishree Kumar is a freelance journalist, poet, and failed musician based in New Delhi. She writes on the intersection of gender, politics, culture, sexuality, and music, Her work has been published in TheWire.in, Firstpost, and Newslaundry amongst others.

NEW DELHI

JIGNESH PATEL

Jignesh is a researcher and trainer at fact-checking website *Alt News*. He currently focuses on *Alt News*'s Media and Information Literacy projects. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.

GUJARAT

KANIKA GUPTA

Kanika Gupta is a freelance journalist and a photographer based in New Delhi with a nose for unique stories. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Delhi University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her articles have appeared in India101, Kashmir Ink, Fodors, and Inc Arabia. She blogs extensively on Kashmir and its syncretic culture along with many other off-beat destinations, most notably Afghanistan. She lives between Delhi and Srinagar.

NEW DELHI

KAPIL KAJAL

Kapil Kajal is a freelance journalist with recent stints at The Federal and 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He writes on Politics, Business, Development, Human and Gender Rights, Media, Technology, Environment, Crime, Travel and Breaking News. He has written stories for organisations such as Scroll, The Quint, The Wire Science, Newslaundry, Mongabay, The Third Pole, The Federal, Deccan Herald, IndiaSpend and Nikkei Asia.

HARYANA

KETHOLENO NEIHU

Ketho Neihu is a journalist from Nagaland. She is a foodie and loves travelling. She reports and writes for the local newspaper in her state and likes to explore stories from the periphery, of unsung heroes in the tribal communities and local issues that are unheard of in the mainstream media.

NAGALAND

MADHAV SHARMA

Madav Sharma is a freelance journalist who has contributed special reports to multiple news publications which include The Wire, Down to Earth, Newslaundary, Logical Indian, and India Spend. He started his career in 2013 with Rajasthan Patrika, and went on to become the Special Correspondent with Dainik Bhaskar. He covers stories on Gender issues, Health, Environment, Social and Development issues.

RAJASTHAN

MAITREYEE BORUAH

Maitreyee Boruah is a freelance journalist from Bangalore. She has worked with The Telegraph, IANS, DNA and The Times of India. She has contributed to The Hindu, Scroll and Huffington Post. She enjoys writing human interest stories, about cinema and politics.

KARNATAKA

MAJID MAQBOOL

Majid Maqbool is a Kashmir based journalist and writer. His writing has appeared in several Indian and international publications including Al Jazeera English, Foreign Policy, The New Humanitarian, Asia Sentinel, Griffith Review, Mint Lounge, The Hindu Magazine, Blink, among other publications)

J&K

MAYANK JAIN

Mayank Jain is a journalist, who has been covering environment, wildlife, social media, poverty and rural affairs for the past two years in Delhi, Jammu, and Madhya Pradesh. Currently, he is working with a Delhi based weekly newspaper, The Patriot. He started his career as a freelancer for J&K based Kashmir Times. His stories have appeared in various digital as well as print publications including Newslaundry, The Patriot, The Sunday Guardian, Kashmir Times among others.

NEW DELHI

MEDHAVINI MOHAN

A journalist from Bundelkhand, Medhavini Mohan was born in Jhansi and brought up in different cities of Uttar Pradesh. After her Masters from Bundelkhand University in Mass Communication and Journalism, she worked for Dainik Jagran, Jhansi. She got her Diploma in Hindi journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi. She has worked for publications such as ScoopWhoop Hindi, and Rajasthan Patrika. She is currently taking translation projects and pursuing freelance journalism.

UTTAR PRADESH

NACCHINARKKINIYAN. M

Iniyan is a 26-year-old journalist working at the Tamil publication Jaya Plus. He was born and raised in the southern part of India, and freelanced for a couple of regional online media portals. He has a masters in English literature & a P.G.Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism. Iniyan has written and published nearly 30 journalistic articles and five interviews in Tamil.

TAMIL NADU

NEETOLE MITRA

Neetole Mitra is a storyteller. She loves to bring together words, photos and videos to document different cultures and ways of living. She will love to take you to different lands where she lives with the locals like the locals.

INDIA

NIHARIKA GHOSH

Niharika is a Culture Writer working for Homegrown, a youth media company based in Mumbai. She mostly writes on art & culture, films, photography and the environment. She has also worked at the Doordarshan Kendra Archives as a vetter, She enjoys dancing and trekking and would give an arm and a leg to spend the rest of her life outdoors.

WEST BENGAL

NIMISHA AGARWAL

Nimisha is a former trek leader turned freelance journalist, reporting primarily on animal agriculture, gender, and the environment from India. Their work has been featured in Sentient Media, Firstpost, Khabar Lahariya, and News18. They shed light on the underreported stories of India that have the potential to connect ideas and communities. With an MA in Gender Studies, the role of social locations and privilege feature heavily in their reporting. Their experience as a traveler has greatly helped them to understand the importance of stories to inform people.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NITIN THAKUR

Nitin Thakur is a journalist who participated in the In Old News fellowship 2020-21.

NEW DELHI

NUSRAT SIDIQ

Nusrat Sidiq is a journalist based in Srinagar, Kashmir. She is currently associated with Kashmir Reader newspaper as legal correspondent while she also works as freelancer. Her work has been published in different national and international media outlets like the NewHumanitarian, NewArab, Anadolu Agency and many more.

J&K

PARI SAIKIA

Pari Saikia is an independent human trafficking journalist from India. She has over seven years of experience in reporting on human trafficking (including cross-border), gender-based violence, reproductive health, child exploitation, LGBT, sex workers, menstrual hygiene, and other human rights subjects. She has reported from India, Bangladesh and Nepal, on cross-border human trafficking and now, she will be travelling to Europe for reporting on trafficking of migrants from India. Her stories have featured in Vice World News, StoriesAsia, Tehelka, EnergyNext, and others.

DELHI

PM NARAYANAN

PM Narayanan is a television journalist with 25 years of news production and reporting experience. Based in New Delhi, PM Narayanan covers news and feature stories from the South Asian region for the ARD First German Television.

NEW DELHI

PRATYUSH DEEP KOTOKY

Pratyush Deep Kotoky is an independent journalist based in Assam, India. He has worked as a reporter with a national weekly in Delhi after completing his Post Graduation diploma in English Journalism from Indian Institute of Mass Communication. He is a sociology enthusiast and writes on conflict, politics, agriculture, environment and human right issues.

ASSAM

PRIYAMVADA MANGAL

Priyamvada Mangal is a Mumbai-based journalist. She has been working as a journalist and photographer for three years and her work has been published in Mumbai Mirror Online, Firstpost, The Hindu, The Tribune, Manorama, Fact Checker, TRT Belgesel amongst others. Her work experience includes articles, photo stories, and video stories.

MAHARASHTRA

PUJA BHATTACHARJEE

Puja is a freelance journalist based in Kolkata. She reports and writes on public policy, health, LGBTQIA+ issues, social justice, and art and culture. Her stories have been published by The Wire, Firstpost, The Quint. Puja has also worked with international outlets like CNN, Earth Journalism Network, and ReThink Quarterly.

WEST BENGAL

PURNIMA SAH

Purnima Sah is a journalist with over seven years of experience covering healthcare, education, startups, and issues related to environment and Human Rights with national media organizations: Times of India and Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited. In 2020, she decided to take a break from her full-time career and invest in enhancing her skills to pursue stories that she strongly believes in. Since then she has been contributing to Mongabay India and Gaon Connection.

WEST BENGAL

QURATULAIN REHBAR

Quratulain Rehbar is a freelance journalist based in Kashmir. Her work has been published in many national and international outlets like RFI, TRT World, The Wire, Huffpost India, The Caravan etc. She has previously worked as features writer in The Kashmir Walla. Her focus is mainly on human rights, women's Issues and politics.

J&K

RAIHANA MAQBOOL

Raihana Maqbool is an independent journalist based in Kashmir and has been covering Kashmir and stories across India for more than seven years. Raihana has been covering under-reported issues from Kashmir on women, health, environment, education, gender, climate, and conflict for various international news organizations.

J&K

RAYIES ALTAF

Rayies Altaf is an STS (science-technology studies) researcher and a freelance science journalist. He holds two degrees. One in the area of Science Communication and other in the area of Science Policy from Jawaharlal Nehru University. His areas of interest include science-society interaction, ecology, climate change and sustainability. He has experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms and formats such as short documentary, photo-essays, print and online media.

DELHI

ROHIT UPADHYAY

After completing his studies from IIMC, Rohit Upadhyay's first stint was as *AajTak*, followed by a tenure at *Navbharat Times* as a video journalist. He then went back to *AajTak* followed by *News18.*After losing interest in corporate jobs, Rohit started travelling looking for stories on ground.

UTTAR PRADESH

SAFINA NABI

Safina Nabi is an Independent journalist from Kashmir. She has a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Kashmir and a short duration course in gender and policy from Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. She is fluent in Kashmiri, Urdu, and English and writes about gender, health, human rights, social justice, culture, and the environment. She writes for National and International publications like Nikkie Asia, Ours to Save, The New Humanitarian, Himal, Thirdpole, BBC Urdu, Article 14, among others.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

SAMIKSHA MISHRA

I am a journalist who loves telling stories. I am passionate about asking questions and talking about anything related to art, culture, politics, books and philosophy.

UTTAR PRADESH

SATYAM KUMAR JHA

Born in 1993, Satyam Kumar Jha is Bihar-based journalist. He has a Masters degree from Patna University.He has worked for a variety of media houses and is currently associated with Bihar coverage media. He is keenly interested in social work, and literature. He writes poetry in Hindi and Maithili

BIHAR

SEETU TIWARI

Seetu Tiwari has been a journalist for 15 years, where she has worked across platforms: print, electronic, digital, and radio. She started her journalism career with the Delhi Press as a trainee. Then she went on to report and anchor for many regional channels of Bihar. She has been a regular contributor to BBC Hindi since 2014. Having worked for regional channels, she got a chance to explore Bihar closely, and her stint with BBC Hindi has only made her go deeper into Bihar where she worked solo on photos, videos, and radio. She's a regular anchor for All India Radio and Doordarshan.

BIHAR

SEHAR QAZI

A journalist and photographer with over five years of experience at Hindustan Times, Catch News and Kashmir Life, Sehar Qazi crafts engaging photo-features and writes long-form narratives.From writing and reporting to photographing and editing, she is proficient at packaging stories in simple and interesting ways using various sources of information. A keen learner, she looks forward to honing her craft and growing as a multimedia journalist. She is presently working on independent projects in Kashmir focused on gender and heritage.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

SHAILESH SHRIVASTAVA

A journalist since 2007, Shailesh Shrivastava is the editor of IndiaSpend Hindi, a public interest journalism outfit which uses data to write and syndicate stories in areas like health, education, environment. Prior to that he was the Managing Editor at news agency 101Reporters, where he managed a pan-India network of reporters and national and international publishers. He has worked as an Assistant Editor at International Business Times and anchored desk operations in Bangalore bureaus of Deccan Chronicle, Daily News & Analysis and The New Indian Express.

KARNATAKA

SHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN

Winner: Asian Environmental Journalism Award 2019 Environmental Journalist of the Year, Environmental Story of the Year I Prem Bhatia Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting 2019 I Statesman award for environmental reporting 2015 I Earth Journalism Network grantee I Fellow: UN Water, IUCN, Asia Europe Foundation. DW Climate Change Reporting Fellow South Asia

TAMIL NADU

SHIGORIKA SINGH

Shigorika Singh is an aging fashion editor who needs to get with the tech updates asap. She was last seen at a 2.5 year stint at Amazon Fashion. Like any other feature journalist, she has written for many cliche lifestyle publications which everyone eventually stopped buying. She finds herself marooned in the digital landscape and is hoping the MoJo Fellowship will be a well-timed boat.

KARNATAKA

SHIKHA SHARMA

Shikha Sharma is an award-winning independent journalist and photographer based out of New Delhi, India. In the past, she has worked with leading media publications including The Indian Express, The Hindustan Times and Network 18, reporting on politics, culture, development and social justice. Currently, she leads the Climate Journalism Project at Youth Ki Awaaz, besides occasionally writing on gender, policy and world affairs for Moneycontrol magazine.

NEW DELHI

SHILPA SHAJI

Shilpa Shaji is a journalist working with Newsclick.in for the past three years. She covers social movements across the country and politics. She is in a nurturing stage as a journalist.

KERALA

SHURIAH NIAZI

Shurah Niazi is a correspondent with experience in covering Environment, Health, Political, Business, Religious and Social issues. In 2010, he traveled to the US as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), organized by the United States Department of State. He has received various other awards for his writing.

MADHYA PRADESH

SRISHTI JASWAL

Srishti Jaswal is a 24-year-old journalist who is exploring the intrepid world of freelancing during one of the most interesting times in India dominated by a pandemic amid religious polarization. As a reporter, she has closely seen the aftermath of religious persecution and has reported extensively on the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown in 2020. Working for Hindustan Times as a city reporter, she has written daily on education, social welfare and legal beats.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SUMAYYAH QURESHI

Sumayyah's career has spanned over 10 years, and includes editing and reporting experience. She started out as a reporter with the Indian Express and then moved on to work with a couple of local organizations in Kashmir. For the next eight years till September 2020, she was working on the desk at The Tribune, editing and reporting. Sumayyah is currently working as an independent journalist.

J&K

TANMOY BHADURI

Tanmoy Bhaduri has been an independent journalist and photographer for more than five years, covering under-reported issues on human trafficking, women and children's rights, climate change, land rights, conflicts and natural disasters. His work has appeared in international publications such as Science, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Sky News, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Foreign Policy, Aljazeera, Global Citizen, Huffington Post, Mongabay among others. He is also the recipient of Asian Enviromental Journalism Award in 2019.

WEST BENGAL

TEJASWI SUBRAMANIAN

Tejaswi is a journalist and public health researcher. She writes about the politics of mental health, gender & sexuality, and is staunchly anti-caste and always unlearning her Savarna ways. In 2020, during the pandemic, she worked with *Mojo News* where she was introduced to the world of multimedia and shot her first video report story. In another life, she worked as a management consultant, which helps her cover business & tech news as they unfold.

TAMIL NADU

TEMJEN YANGER

Temjen Yanger is a journalist who participated in the In Old News fellowship 2020-21.

NAGALAND

THEJOTO NIENU

Thejoto Nienu is a journalist from Nagaland and he loves travelling besides journalism. Currently he writes for a leading English daily Newspaper in his state and works across several beats that ranges from education, politics, development, health, etc.. He takes interests in socio-cultural explorations.

NAGALAND

VARSHA SINGH

Varsha Singh is working as an Independent Journalist from Dehradun. She has anchored programs on Doordarshan (Dehradun) and AIR Dehradun on contemporary issues. She has also presented two research papers on social media and womens' empowerment. With her career spanning over two decades, including 13 years at Sahara Samay. She also worked with IMS-UC Ghaziabad as Assistant Professor of Mass Communication department. She has written for Navbharat Times, Jansatta, NewsClick, Down to Earth, 101 Reporters, Mongabay amongst others.

UTTARAKHAND

VARSHA TORGALKAR

Varsha Torgalkar is a Pune-based independent journalist. She covers rural economy, public health, climate change and travel for various news websites. She treks and has scaled Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit Trek and Goecha La.

MAHARASHTRA

VASUDEVAN SRIDHARAN

Vasudevan Sridharan is an experienced journalist based in South India who writes on current affairs, geopolitical equations, environment, start-ups, and economy. His works have appeared in several Indian and global publications.

KARNATAKA

VISHNU KALARIKKAL

Vishnu Kalarikkal is an aspiring Journalist and alumnus of Indian Institute of Mass Communication. He is currently working as a Trainee Social Media Executive at ETV Bharat, Hyderabad. He has completed his Masters and has a graduation in History.

KERALA

YUVRAJ MALIK

Yuvraj Malik is a finance journalist based in New Delhi. He is currently a principal correspondent at *Business Standard* where he focusses on the tech sector and start-ups. He has earlier written for *Mint* and *Cogencis (Newswire18)*, which included stints in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Yuvraj likes to meet people and thrives on stories, business or otherwise. In his free time you’ll find him reading magazines, learning the flute and cleaning his room.

NEW DELHI

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