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Who tells the story: 191 of 218 newsroom leaders in a 2022 count were general category

Who holds the top jobs and the anchors’ chairs in Indian news media, by caste, as Oxfam India and Newslaundry’s survey counted them?

By The Dalit ProjectUPDATED OCTOBER 12, 2026

Key takeaways

  • In the 2022 edition of Oxfam India and Newslaundry’s survey, general-category journalists held 191 of the 218 leadership positions counted (87.6%). Exhibit 1
  • Across the media studied, SC journalists held 3.17% of leadership positions and ST journalists 0.4%; the general-category share ranged from 77.78% in digital media to 94.12% in English newspapers. Exhibit 2
  • In the 2019 edition no medium had an SC journalist in a leadership position; the 2019 report counted 106 of 121 leadership positions held by upper-caste journalists. Exhibit 3
  • None of the 36 English or 40 Hindi prime-time anchors counted in 2022 was SC or ST. Exhibit 4
  • 1.6% of the Hindi and 0.5% of the English prime-time debates watched were on caste and tribal issues. Exhibit 5

Leadership positions, prime-time debate anchors and debate topics in the Indian news outlets that Oxfam India, a member of the international Oxfam confederation, and Newslaundry, a news site based in New Delhi, chose for the 2022 edition of their survey “Who Tells Our Stories Matters”: seven English and seven Hindi newspapers, 12 magazines, nine news websites (two of them what the report calls alternative media), and the prime-time debates of English and Hindi TV news channels, April 2021 to March 2022, with the 2019 edition (October 2018 to March 2019) for comparison. People are placed in Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) or the general category by the researchers. Survey figures for these outlets only, never a national share.

newsroom leadership positions held by general-category journalists, April 2021 to March 2022 (survey, Oxfam India and Newslaundry)
191 of 218
of leadership positions held by SC journalists across the media studied, 2022 (survey)
3.17%
of 36 English and 40 Hindi prime-time anchors counted was SC or ST (survey, 2022)
None

  1. Exhibit 1

    General-category journalists held 191 of the 218 newsroom leadership positions the 2022 study counted

    Leadership positions (editor-in-chief, managing editor, executive editor, bureau chief, resident editor, director, producer) across the newspapers, TV channels, magazines and news websites the study chose, April 2021 to March 2022, by whether the researchers placed the holder in the general category.

    1. General category19187.6%
    2. Every other category, or not placed2712.4%

    Note: Caste was assigned by the researchers, not declared by each person: for leaders, the report says it relied on “triangulation methods and on data available on public domain”, because the media houses hardly answered. The 27 other positions are the 218 less the 191; the report does not give their categories as counts.

    Source (survey): Oxfam India and Newslaundry, “Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of Marginalised Caste Groups in Indian Media”, October 2022, Key Highlights (p. 3); covering April 2021 to March 2022. The study’s own outlets, not a national count. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026.

  2. Exhibit 2

    In each medium the study covered, the general category held between 77.78% and 94.12% of leadership positions in 2022; SCs held 3.17% across all media

    Share of leadership positions held by people the researchers placed in each category, %, by medium, April 2021 to March 2022, as the report’s table prints it.

    MediumSCSTOBCGeneral categoryUA (religious minorities)Can’t say
    English newspapers0.0%0.0%2.9%94.1%0.0%2.9%
    Hindi newspapers3.2%0.0%6.5%83.9%0.0%6.5%
    English news channels1.6%0.0%3.3%88.5%3.3%3.3%
    Hindi news channels1.6%0.0%1.6%91.9%1.6%3.2%
    Magazines3.6%0.0%3.6%89.3%3.6%0.0%
    Digital media11.1%2.8%5.6%77.8%2.8%0.0%
    All media3.2%0.4%3.6%88.1%2.0%2.8%

    Note: Caste was assigned by the researchers, not declared by each person: for leaders, the report says it relied on “triangulation methods and on data available on public domain”, because the media houses hardly answered. The report prints shares only, not the number of positions in each medium, so a small share can stand for one person.

    Source (survey): Oxfam India and Newslaundry, “Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of Marginalised Caste Groups in Indian Media”, October 2022, “Caste representation among the editors and proprietors of the all media in 2019 versus 2022” (p. 6); covering April 2021 to March 2022. The study’s own outlets, not a national count. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026.

  3. Exhibit 3

    In the 2019 count no medium had an SC journalist in a leadership position; in 2022 SCs held 3.17% across all media and 11.11% in digital media

    Share of leadership positions held by SC and general-category journalists, %, by medium, in the 2019 and 2022 editions, as the 2022 report’s comparison table prints them. The chart shows the general-category share.

    1. English newspapers2019202291.7% 94.1%
    2. Hindi newspapers87.5% 83.9%
    3. English news channels89.3% 88.5%
    4. Hindi news channels100.0% 91.9%
    5. Magazines72.7% 89.3%
    6. Digital media84.2% 77.8%
    7. All media86.2% 88.1%

    Note: The two editions chose different outlets, covered different periods and counted different posts: 2019 counted editor-in-chief, managing editor, executive editor, bureau chief, input/output editor; 2022 counted editor-in-chief, managing editor, executive editor, bureau chief, resident editor, director, producer.

    Source (survey): Oxfam India and Newslaundry, “Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of Marginalised Caste Groups in Indian Media”, October 2022, “Caste representation among the editors and proprietors of the all media in 2019 versus 2022” (p. 6); its 2019 figures are from the earlier edition (October 2018 to March 2019). The studies’ own outlets, not a national count. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026.

  4. Exhibit 4

    None of the 36 English or 40 Hindi prime-time debate anchors the study counted was SC or ST; 55.6% and 67.5% were general category

    Anchors of prime-time debates on the English and Hindi channels the study watched, April 2021 to March 2022, and the share the researchers placed in each category, %.

    ChannelsAnchorsSCSTOBCGeneral categoryUA (religious minorities)Can’t say
    English channels360.0%0.0%11.1%55.6%8.3%25.0%
    Hindi channels400.0%0.0%20.0%67.5%2.5%10.0%

    Note: Caste was assigned by the researchers from “location, surveys and from information available in the public domain”, not declared by each anchor. The Hindi table lists no SC or ST row; its rows add up to all 40 anchors, and the report says: “None of the channels had any SC/ST anchors for hosting debates.”

    Source (survey): Oxfam India and Newslaundry, “Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of Marginalised Caste Groups in Indian Media”, October 2022, anchors tables (pp. 35 and 44); covering April 2021 to March 2022. The study’s own outlets, not a national count. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026.

  5. Exhibit 5

    Caste and tribal issues were the topic of 1.6% of Hindi and 0.5% of English prime-time debates the study watched; religious identity and communal politics, 9.4% and 4.8%

    Share of each channel’s prime-time debates on each topic, %, of the 981 Hindi and 1,094 English debates the study watched, April 2021 to March 2022, as the report’s tables print them.

    ChannelLanguageCaste and tribal issuesReligious identity and communal politics
    Aaj TakHindi1.8%4.9%
    ABP NewsHindi2.4%11.4%
    News18Hindi0.0%24.0%
    India TVHindi0.8%18.9%
    NDTVHindi3.6%5.8%
    Republic BharatHindi0.0%5.9%
    Sansad TVHindi1.3%1.3%
    Zee NewsHindi1.3%11.3%
    All Hindi channels studiedHindi1.6%9.4%
    News18English0.5%8.0%
    India TodayEnglish2.6%13.0%
    Mirror NowEnglish0.0%3.1%
    NDTVEnglish0.5%2.8%
    Republic TVEnglish0.0%1.1%
    Sansad TVEnglish0.0%0.0%
    Times NowEnglish1.2%14.0%
    All English channels studiedEnglish0.5%4.8%

    Note: Topics are as the researchers coded each debate; the report says not every archived show could be found for some channels.

    Source (survey): Oxfam India and Newslaundry, “Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of Marginalised Caste Groups in Indian Media”, October 2022, debate tables (pp. 7 and 8); covering April 2021 to March 2022. The study’s own outlets, not a national count. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026.

What’s next

The next update

We will update these figures on release of a new edition of “Who Tells Our Stories Matters”. This is version 1.

What the data can’t tell us yet

A national figure, or caste as people declared it: the survey covers its own outlets, and its researchers placed people in categories themselves, the 2019 edition by matching surnames to examination results, which the 2022 edition used again.

What you can do

About this data

What this shows
The share of leadership positions, prime-time anchors and debate topics by caste category in the Indian news outlets one NGO-and-newsroom survey chose, 2021-22, with its 2019 edition.
Source
Oxfam India and Newslaundry, 2 documents, Key Highlights (p. 3); “Caste representation among the editors and proprietors of the all media in 2019 versus 2022” (p. 6); anchors tables (pp. 35 and 44); debate tables (pp. 7 and 8); Methodology (pp. 9 to 11) and Key Highlights (p. 6); Introduction and Methodology (pp. 1 to 5). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 12 Oct 2026. Every source
What it does not show
A national figure, or caste as people declared it: the survey covers its own outlets, and its researchers placed people in categories themselves, the 2019 edition by matching surnames to examination results, which the 2022 edition used again.
Last updated
12 Oct 2026 · Next expected update: on release of a new edition of “Who Tells Our Stories Matters”
Corrections
Changelog (version 1) · Corrections policy

Sources, caveats and definitions