Digital Media in India: The women redefining the news scene

News on your fingertips may not have been a reality without the efforts of these women who are transforming the digital scene. Breaking the glass ceiling in the media business - traditionally dominated by male editors - these women are taking the opportunity in the digital news space head on.

Here is a list of gutsy women who are rocking with some of the biggest digital news platforms in India and making us smarter citizens.

Ritu Kapur, The Quint:

Ritu Kapur, co-founder of The Quint (Pic Credit: www.bestmediainfo.com)

The Quintessential Woman - Ritu is a veteran in the media industry with a considerable part of that experience at CNN-IBN as Executive and Feature Editor. She is the co-founder of The Quint with husband and media baron Raghav Bahl. She calls the future of news SOLOMO defined by social, local, mobile. She is powering ahead with The Quint bringing bite-size news for people to 'snack on.' Ritu keeps her pulse on spotting news that's trending. She is bullish on using social media platforms to push news through the consumer ecosystem. "It was so exciting – to explore what people were doing across the world with digital, to try and keep up with the crazy pace of the evolution of this medium," she says in a chat with She The People. "To see how tech and content tango-ed to an all new sound, and to see how close one could be to one’s audiences."

Madhu Trehan, News Laundry:

Madhu Trehan SheThePeople

Madhu Trehan is the co-founder of News Laundry, a media critique, news and current affairs portal. News is not new to Madhu who was the founding editor of the leading news magazine India Today, Editor-in-chief of NewsTrack for TV Today Network, a columnist and an explorer. She is best known for her daring stories as a media person with hard hitting stories. Today she manages and seeks for incredible scoops at News Laundry, where she and her team grill journalists, politicians and other personalities on a variety of pressing and newsy issues.

Chitra SD & Dhanya Rajendran, The News Minute:

Dhanya and Chitra SD on SheThePeople

The News Minute was set up by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra SD & Vignesh Vellore. The NewsMinute is an online news website that picks news stories from India, mainly curated from on South India. Chitra S Duella is widely known for boldly investigating the Bofors scandal story back in the late ’80s.

Dhanya Rajendran is Bengaluru-based and leads the digital news platform from there. Her focus is mainly going in depth and finding out sharp-witted news, a skill she honed well while working with TV Channel TimesNow.

Seema Mustafa, The Citizen:

Seema is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of The Citizen, a digital newspaper which focuses in bringing news, views and analysis from some well-known journalists. The portal calls itself as the first online Newspaper in India.

Born in Delhi, Seema Mustafa began her journalist career with The Pioneer in Lucknow. Later on moved to The Patriot in 1979, and including The Telegraph, Economic Times, Asian Age and Indian Express, she has tasted the trigger in hardcore journalism with many other Indian publications. She calls herself a born feminist, and her journalism is extensively on politics and socialist perspectives. She has authored two books V.P.Singh: The Lonely Messiah; and more recently Azadi’s Daughter. She has edited a book of essays on Journalism: Ethics and Responsibilities.

Seema Mustafa, Editor-in-Chief and founder of The Citizen (PIc Credit: alchetron.com)

Sukriti Gupta, Jagran Online:

Sukirti Gupta brings over 15 years of digital experience to MMI Online - a Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) Venture. She is renowned journalist, who has juggled with different aspects of news, especially in the technology industry. Having worked for both for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, Gupta now manages the group’s digital portfolio which includes Jagran.Com, JagranJosh.Com, D2Hshop.Com, OnlymyHealth.Com among other sites. Famous for her work in the corporate development, business development and strategy in the ICT industry

She is recognized as an expert in the industry and have been awarded for the same including Women Engineer of the Year from the Society of Women Engineers and the Naval Underwater Systems Center, Most Promising Engineer from the Providence Engineering Society and the Helen Martha Sternberg Award.

Sukriti Gupta Jagran