Journalists Emerging as News Content Creators

Over the past few years, the internet has given rise to news content creators, some building their presence through YouTube and Instagram. In contrast, others have transitioned from legacy media to independent reporting. These creators command massive followings but have remained largely unregulated until now.

Here’s a look at some of the most influential news content creators who have reshaped journalism in recent years.

Faye D’souza

Faye D’souza, born and brought up in Mangalore, worked with The Times Group as executive editor of Mirror Now, till she decided to strike out on her own. The Urban Debate on Mirror Now had brought her into the limelight with the feisty journalist. Furthermore, anchoring shows corruption, communal violence and press freedom. Earlier, Faye was an anchor and editorial lead on Investor’s Guide for ET Now. She bagged the RedInk Award for ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2018.

Her YouTube channel, Faye D’souza, posts fresh news content with facts and context. She is known for her objectivity, although she gets trolled for her stance frequently. She commands an impressive 1.1 million followers on Twitter and 1.9 million on Instagram. Furthermore, her YouTube channel continues to grow, with 379k subscribers.

Palki Sharma Upadhyay

Palki Sharma Upadhyay shot into the limelight when she quit WION after working with the television channel as its managing director for three years and hosting its popular show Gravitas in September 2022. Starting with Doordarshan in 2002 as a reporter and news anchor, Palki joined Hindustan Times and CNN-News18. After she departed from WION, First Post picked her up as the face of its new show. Besides, Palki draws in audiences through her insightful analyses and sharp presentations.

Fans have loved her hit programs “Flashback” and “Between the Lines,” which compressed complicated topics into short and sweet snippets. She is among the more popular youth icons in Indian online journalism, with a strong 7 million following her on the First Post YouTube channel. Her loyal fans track her on Instagram, where she has 867k followers, and on X, where she has 731k followers.

Anubha Bhonsle

46-year-old Anubha Bhonsle had spent two decades in journalism and was executive editor at CNN IBN before she decided to go the entrepreneur route and launch Newsworthy. Studio. The studio uses storytelling and strategy for impact and has powered foundations, nonprofits, OTTs, educational institutes and developmental organisations in India and overseas. She has made films, led teams, and covered some of the biggest stories. She also authorises a non-fiction book, ‘Mother, Where’s My Country?’

As the CEO of Newsworthy, she believes in “news and not noise”, connecting and not conflict. She produces information-worthy, valuable content for people’s time and mental health. Her loyal fan following stands at 64.2k followers on Instagram, 175k followers on X and over 6k subscribers on YouTube.

Kunal Purohit

For the last six years, Kunal Purohit has been an independent journalist. Moreover, I will report on issues like the rise of right-wing politics, hate crimes, and gender and social justice at the intersection of development. For many international publications, he has tracked India’s foreign policy, especially its relations with China and the EU. However, He travels extensively through India’s hinterlands, capturing development stories. Furthermore, structural inequalities and how they affect people’s lives, and more recently. However, religious hate is altering the country’s social fabric. He has been published in various international and national media publications. However, from Al Jazeera to South China Morning Post, Deutsche Welle to the National Geographic Traveller.
His documentary podcasts are pretty popular, and his fans are, too.

Kunal was awarded the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism in 2012, the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting in 2014, and the UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitive Reporting in 2014 and 2019. His follower count continues growing, at 21.1k followers on Twitter and 3K on Instagram.

Ravish Kumar

As the senior executive editor of NDTV India, Ravish Kumar was the face of the news channel during his stint there from 1994 to 2022. He hosted several programmes, including the channel’s flagship weekday show Prime Time, Hum Log, Ravish Ki Report, and Des Ki Baat. He launched his own YouTube channel in November 2022 after quitting NDTV. And reached 12.6 million subscribers on YouTube this year. A recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism award. Ravish has been at the end of death threats several times for his firm stand on several political and civic issues on his channel, which has now hit 11.4 million subscribers. 3.9 million people follow him on X and 4.4 million on his Instagram page, making him the top news content creator.