Shobha S V

Biography

I am a doctoral student at The Media School. I am interested in the fast-changing media landscape mediated by technology with a particular focus on journalism, its labor, gender, consumption of media, and its impact on democracy.

Before starting my PhD, I worked in different capacities in the world of media in India. I have had a combined cross-sectoral experience of fifteen years in journalism, research, and digital media for non-profits. As a journalist, I have worked with prominent Indian news publications including the Times group, DNA and Mid-day. I have reported extensively on gender and have also been the recipient of awards and fellowships for the same. Some of my stories about gender were published in the following book: Across the crossfire Women and Conflict in India published by Women Unlimited.  My engagement with gender also had me leading a team at a women’s rights organization that worked on digital campaigns aimed at mitigating violence against women using pop culture, media, and technology. I have also worked with the ICFJ‘s Knight Journalism Fellowship as their program manager in India. My stint at Co Media Lab, a journalism resource non-profit allowed me to interact with working journalists through various digital skill-building workshops, develop educational materials, and teach reporting, fact-checking, and journalistic misinformation at different universities in Bengaluru. As an advocate of open access, I am an active Wikipedia volunteer and have worked on varied projects contributing towards bridging the gender gap on the platform.

I have a Masters’s degree in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India.

Publications

Khan, A., SV, S., & Chamuah, A. (2019), From Objectivity to Openness: A Study of Digital Journalism in the 2019 Elections. Economic and Political Weekly, 54(51). https://www.epw.in/engage/article/objectivity-openness-study-digital-journalism

Book chapter

Gajjala, R., Chattopadhyay, S., Nori, S., SV, S. & Purayil Sneha, P. (2019). Dialogue Interlude: ‘Ghar and Bahir’ In Gajjala, R. Digital Diasporas: Labor, Affect in Gendered Indian Digital Publics (pp. 65-80). UK: Rowman and Littlefield International.

Scholarly Annotations

In Shah, N., Purayil Sneha, P., & Chattapadhyay, S. (2015). Digital activism in Asia reader. Lüneburg: Meson Press.

• Annotation for “Wikipedia, Bhanwari Devi and the Need for an Alert Feminist Public,” pp. 177-178.
• Annotation for “Old and New Media: Converging During the Pakistan Emergency (March 2007 – February 2008), pp. 233-234.

Conference presentations

SV, S (2024, August 8-11). Gendered violence, precarious labor and solidarity – Notes from a journalistic field. AEJMC 2024, Philadelphia, United States. [Poster presentation]

SV,S (2023, August 7-10). #MeToo: Is free speech really free? [Conference presentation]. AEJMC 2023, Washington DC, United States. (Full paper)

SV, S (2023, May 25-29). #MeToo: Is free speech really free? [Conference presentation]. ICA 2023, Toronto, Canada. (Extended abstract)

Awards and honors

• Paper winner (second place), #MeToo movement’s dilemma: Is free speech really free?, Commission on the Status of Women, AEJMC 2023 
• Kern Award for Innovation in Journalism (Research proposal) (2022)
• Best Graduate Class Research Paper, Media School, Indiana University (2021)

Teaching experience

• Instructor of Record for MSCH-C101 Media in Summer 2021 (Required course for all Media School undergraduate majors)
• Assisted as grader and discussion leader in classes including MSCH-C 250 Story Lab I, MSCH-C101 Media 

Service

• Grant winner,  IU Cinema Creative Collaborations Award – More Than Masala: Indian Food and Culture Through Film (2024)
• Conference chair, Common Ground 2024
• Co-ordinator, South Asia Graduate Students Networking Event

Pilot study