“Never before has the so-called free world been deprived to this extent of full information, non-partisan analysis and the “other point of view”. For years, people who see themselves as liberals and democrats have railed against the firewalls that China erected around what its citizens are allowed to know, banning media like Facebook, Google, Twitter and The New York Times. But today, we who don’t live in China are also being firewalled and our access to information and different opinions is being cut off and most of us don’t even realize it.
Our knowledge about the world today is to a large extent controlled by a handful of media organizations, which trumpet their liberal values and claim to have zero-tolerance policies on misinformation. Yet, right now, they are acting as political instruments. I am certain that currently, common Russians have no access to any information that is not approved by Vladimir Putin and his men. But Putin’s Russia is an autocracy which scorns human rights and freedoms. We expect no better from it. Russians know this too. But when powerful corporations in the democratic world turn into propagandists for the countries where they are headquartered, it should worry us."
But there is still hope when we watch this Indian documentary “Writing With Fire” which earned a nomination in the Best Documentary Feature category for the 94th Academy Awards,2022 Oscars, becoming the only Indian film to earn a nod this year.
This rousing documentary follows the reporters of India’s only all-women news outlet as they pivot to digital journalism while battling personal and political challenges.
In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, a group of women set up India’s only newspaper run entirely by women. All of them are from the lowest caste, Dalit, and are expected to fail, but instead they stir a revolution.This Oscar-nominated film follows chief reporter Meera and her team of journalists as they break with tradition to work on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues.
Find below this review published in the New York times in November of last year.
'Speaking Truth to Power
Several times in the documentary “Writing With Fire,” we see women reporters standing alone in a crowd of men — cops, miners, political rallyists — asking gentle but firm questions. The women’s grit in the face of palpable hostility is impressive, and it becomes more so when you learn that they’re in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian province known for crimes against women, and that they are Dalits, or members of the country’s so-called untouchable caste.
These are the reporters of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only women-led newspaper. In “Writing With Fire,” the directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh follow the outlet’s pivot to digital coverage in the lead-up to the general election in 2019. Many of the women have never used smartphones or cameras, and for much of the film, the reporters train each other and exchange feedback in heartening displays of sororal solidarity.Scenes from the reporters’ home lives emphasize how trivial these technical challenges seem compared to domestic ones.
Meera, a veteran, tough-as-a-nut journalist, was married at 14 and earned three degrees while raising her children; the feisty Suneeta cannot get married because her parents can’t afford the dowries charged by men who would not allow her to work.
But Thomas and Ghosh focus on arcs of resistance rather than repression, tracing how, as Khabar Lahariya’s YouTube channel rapidly gains followers, its stories achieve real results: a neglected town receives medical attention; a rapist is prosecuted. If the film’s brisk telling sometimes presents these victories as too easily won, it’s a necessary corrective to the skepticism the women still face (“They’re destined to fail,” Meera’s husband scoffs).
And at a time when the profession faces increasing dangers ....., the film’s faith in the powers of grassroots journalism is nothing short of galvanizing."
