Pakka Politics: Sugitha Sarangaraj, Tamil TV’s First Female News Editor | News7 Tamil | Tamil Media

A recent study by the Reuters Institute reveals that only 24% of the 174 top editors across 240 brands on five continents are women. Similarly, the 2020 Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) report on Indian media shows a decline in women’s presence as news subjects and sources. Only 11% of women journalists cover politics and government, compared to 89% of men, highlighting how women journalists are often confined to specific topics. Organizations like the Network of Women in Media (NWMI) have raised concerns about the lack of female representation in Indian media. In Tamil Nadu’s television media, women have long been restricted to covering features, health, and gender-related issues, but there is a visible shift as more women journalists and anchors take on crucial newsroom roles, including political debates. In this context, Sugitha Sarangaraj has emerged as the first female news editor to lead a television news channel. Since 2012, she has been one of the few women anchors to moderate political debates during prime time. In this episode of Pakka Politics, Shabbir Ahmed speaks with Sugitha Sarangaraj about her journey from reporter to news editor, the changing dynamics of the media industry, women in media, gender sensitivity, and newsroom politics.