We are all stories in the end. Just make it a good one eh?

- Doctor Who

The '90s were transformational years in India. I grew up in a working-class neighbourhood in Hyderabad, India, surrounded by family members who were blue-collar factory workers who lost jobs due to government privatization policies and could not bargain for fair settlements. We had to live through inefficient government machinery, inadequate civic infrastructure, lack of consumer protection, political corruption, and communal riots.

All these life situations have impressed upon me that no matter the nature of the societal problem, the only way to fight it is to have a collective voice and a platform, and this lead me to choose journalism as a career.

Over 15 years as a journalist, I progressed from Reporter to Assistant Editor of a digital news platform, where I mastered investigative storytelling, audience engagement, and strategic content development.  My career has always been about finding connections—between people, ideas, and systems. I have sought to understand how narratives shape public perception, how digital platforms amplify discourse, and how content ecosystems can be optimised or manipulated.

I started as a field reporter and covered the news with a specific focus on governance, women empowerment, and socio-cultural issues related to human trafficking, climate-related agrarian crisis, discrimination of marginalized sections, honour killings, extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the police, natural calamities and elections. I have produced stories for digital platforms, Radio, and World Television bulletins in English, Telugu, and Hindi.

I transitioned from broadcast to digital journalism during my employment with BBC (June 2017 to February 2021). The stories that I have worked on are published on digital platforms of BBC News (Indian languages, English, Spanish, African, and Middle East)

Today's newsroom is a constant tussle between the constant flow of information from numerous channels, fact-checking, impromptu decision-making on the editorial direction, and deployment of physical assets into the field to further report on developing stories.

Journalism everywhere is under the constant stress of harsh economic realities and fierce competition to get audience attention and is now inexplicably tied to ad-revenue targets. None of our journalism degrees have prepared us for this industry in India or equipped us with the lessons and knowledge to manage editorial policy and economic resources.

Over the past years, I have seen many fellow women journalists bow out of this profession, and many of my journalist colleagues burn out due to chaos induced due to lack of proper management and planning.

I felt the need for project management in journalism. I experimented with adopting lean methodologies like Kanban, enabling me to manage news production and promote accountability and transparency across all stages.