Khabar
Lahariya,
the
country’s
only
rural,
women-led
media
collective
which
is
the
subject
of
the
Oscar
nominated
documentary
Writing
With
Fire,
on
Monday
said
its
representation
in
the
film
is
"inaccurate".
Directed
by
debutants
Rintu
Thomas
and
Sushmit
Ghosh,
Writing
With
Fire
chronicles
the
rise
of
Khabar
Lahariya,
a
digital-only
rural
news
channel
run
by
Dalit
women.
The
documentary,
which
bagged
a
spot
in
the
final
nominations
list
at
the
94th
edition
of
the
Academy
Awards
in
the
Documentary
(Feature)
category,
follows
an
ambitious
group
of
Dalit
women
–
led
by
their
chief
reporter,
Meera
–
as
the
team
switches
from
print
to
digital
in
order
to
stay
relevant.
In
a
lengthy
blog
post
ahead
of
the
Oscars
on
March
28,
Khabar
Lahariya
said
the
documentary--which
the
team
saw
recently--
captures
just
a
part
of
their
story,
"and
part
stories
have
a
way
of
distorting
the
whole
sometimes".
Thomas
and
Ghosh
could
not
be
reached
for
a
comment
on
the
post
when
contacted
by
PTI.
"The
film
is
a
moving
and
powerful
document,
but
its
presentation
of
Khabar
Lahariya
as
an
organisation
with
a
particular
and
consuming
focus
of
reporting
on
one
party
and
the
mobilisation
around
this,
is
inaccurate.
We
recognise
the
prerogative
of
independent
filmmakers
to
present
the
story
that
they
choose
to,
but
we
would
like
to
say
that
this
eclipses
the
kind
of
work
and
the
kind
of
local
journalism
we
have
done
for
twenty
years,
the
reason
we
are
different
from
other
mainstream
media
of
our
times.
It
is
a
story
which
captures
a
part
of
ours,
and
part
stories
have
a
way
of
distorting
the
whole
sometimes," the
post
read.
The
organisation
said
its
team,
led
by
Dalit
but
also
including
Muslims,
OBC
and
upper-caste
women,
is
committed
to
practise
impartial
journalism
and
isn't
just
a
"heartwarming
story" of
success.
The
team
said
its
journalistic
values
are
not
"reflected"
in
the
documentary,
which
has
created
a
splash
across
international
film
festivals.
"In
our
20
years
of
practising
independent
journalism,
it
has
been
a
foundational
value
to
be
deliberate
about
how
and
who
we
include
in
the
frame
or
story,
about
corroboration,
about
multiple
perspectives.
These
values
are
not
reflected
in
the
version
of
ourselves
we
see
in
the
film."
"And
so,
to
people
all
over
the
world
who
are
watching
us,
maybe
even
hero-ing
us,
we
want
to
say
that
ours
has
not
just
been
the
easy-to-digest,
heartwarming
story
of
the
small
figure
talking
back
to
the
big
powers
in
a
time
of
political
change."
Khabar
Lahariya
said
for
the
organisation,
it
has
been
20
years
of
financial
uncertainty,
of
reporting
on
violence
against
women,
navigating
their
way
out
of
complex
situations
and
"wading
through
mountains
of
FIRs".
"And
in
our
20
years
of
doing
this
unglamorous
work,
we
have
not
known
if
we
would
survive
another
week,
or
month,
or
year.
Even
as
we
speak,
and
as
some
of
our
stories
reach
the
glitz
of
Academy
Awards
luncheon
parties
–
we
feel
the
same
vulnerability."
Calling
out
the
documentary
for
its
apparent
rosy
representation
of
caste,
the
organisation
said,
"We
have
not,
as
the
film
would
have
one
believe,
been
able
to
carry
our
caste
identities
on
our
sleeves,
with
bravado
and
humour.
We
have
had
to
be
discreet,
often
fearful...
We
have
not
emerged
from
a
vacuum,
but
from
long
decades
of
ground
work,
on
empowerment,
on
literacy,
on
digital
access...
When
we
go
away
for
office
offsites
–
this
is
mostly
what
we
discuss,
not
just
the
way
we
feel
when
a
particular
party
wins
an
election
–
which
is
what
you’d
take
away
from
the
film."
Khabar
Lahariya
concluded
that
as
the
team
"unexpectedly"
makes
itself
known
all
over
the
world
with
the
film,
it
hopes
to
talk
more
about
"what
makes
women-led,
independent
rural
media
possible
–
which
is
a
much
more
complex
story
than
the
one
going
to
the
Oscars".