Smitha T. K.: I Love Stories and Strangers.: [Journalist, Ex The Quint, India]

 Smitha T. K. Interview

“What I have learned to do is read the silences.” 

Through climate crises, caste violence, gender injustice, and political upheaval, Smitha T K’s journalism uncovers the hidden structures of power shaping everyday lives across South India.

Q. You’ve reported from the frontlines of caste violence, climate breakdown, political upheaval, and gender injustice for over a decade. How has your understanding of power in South India evolved through these intersecting beats?

South India has this fascinating, layered political history. When you talk power, it depends on whose story you're telling and who gets to tell it. In over a decade of reporting on caste, class, climate and conflict, I've come to understand that these aren't separate beats. The Irular family that waited 14 years for justice after alleged custodial violence, the Dalit communities in flood-prone Chennai colonies that bear the brunt of every climate disaster despite contributing least to it, the women in marginalized communities navigating both patriarchy and poverty… power shows up in all of them. And it loudly knows to protect itself. What I have learned to do is read the silences. Who isn't in the room when a policy is made? Whose name doesn't appear in the government report? and understanding that has made me a sharper, more honest reporter. .

Q. From NDTV’s breaking news ecosystem to long-form investigative and documentary storytelling at The Quint and now independent journalism, how has your storytelling method changed, and what format do you believe creates the deepest public impact?

I started on the digital desk at Hindustan Times at a time when journalism itself was learning how to speak ‘digital.’ It taught me early that format shapes reach. Like, what works in print doesn’t necessarily work online, and audiences are far more diverse than we assume. Then came NDTV, where I was thrown into some of the most eventful years Chennai has seen. The 2015 floods, a series of cyclones, the hospitalization and death of a political stalwart Jayalalithaa and the political chaos that followed. That phase taught me urgency, accuracy, and how reporting can sometimes directly trigger government intervention.

At The Quint, I became a one-woman team: reporter, cameraperson, scriptwriter, editor. One day I'd be tracking illegal fly ash emissions from a thermal power plant choking prawns and affecting human health. Next day, I'd be walking alongside a man who made music with his nose, or waiting for three rescued elephants to give me their permission to enter their sanctuary. That range is also what I loved about digital journalism. What creates the deepest impact? Honestly, there's no single format. Different people consume news differently. But if I had to pick, then it is a story that makes someone feel something and think something.

Q. Your work consistently bridges policy failures with lived human consequences, whether in water crises, renewable energy, or marginalized communities. How do you balance emotional storytelling with hard accountability journalism?

A journalist is a fly on the wall. Present, watching everything, but invisible enough that the story breathes naturally. But journalists are not invisible. We enter every story with our own contexts and privileges. Acknowledging that is essential to doing honest journalism, especially when reporting on caste, class, and marginalisation. Accountability journalism isn't just about exposing the problem once and moving on. It's about staying with it until someone answers it. And sometimes, the most powerful accountability tool is just showing up again and again to the same family, the same community, the same story

Q. As an Earth Journalism Network grantee and climate reporter, what do you think mainstream climate coverage still misunderstands about how environmental collapse disproportionately affects caste and class realities in India?

Climate reporting today is where gender reporting was about a decade ago. Treated as a separate beat, rather than a lens. But climate isn’t just about melting glaciers or extreme weather events. It's the connection between that rising temperature and the farmer in a tier-2 city whose crops are failing, or the petrochemical plant whose emissions are quietly giving an entire generation of children respiratory illness. Unless we draw a direct line between global climate events and everyday lived realities, people won’t fully grasp the scale of the crisis. And importantly, climate stories shouldn’t just highlight problems, they should also spotlight solutions. When done well, they can push governments toward long-term change, not just temporary fixes.

Q. You’ve built a rare career that combines television, digital, documentary filmmaking, and independent journalism. In today’s fragmented media landscape, what skills are most essential for journalists who want both credibility and longevity?

Confirm before you share. That sounds simple, but in today's landscape it's almost radical. The basics matter more than ever. Verify before you amplify. Cross-check, confirm, and don’t rush to publish without evidence, especially in an ecosystem flooded with misinformation. The media landscape right now is genuinely volatile with governments pressuring newsrooms, and political leanings increasingly undisguised in the reporting. Honestly, part of why I chose to go independent was to protect my work from that influence. It's not always comfortable, but it's clean.

Q. Your reporting has contributed to policy conversations and financial aid outcomes. Do journalists have a responsibility to pursue measurable social impact, or should their role end at exposing truth?

The role of a journalist is to tell the truth. Impact isn't what you chase. It’s what happens when you do the work honestly and keep showing up. Sometimes the impact is immediate. A civic authority responds, funds are raised, a policy is questioned. Other times, it’s slower and less visible. Your story becomes part of a larger conversation, or even evidence in a legal battle years later.

Q. You’ve also cultivated a strong personal media identity through TEDx, social platforms, and independent storytelling. How do you navigate the line between journalist, public intellectual, and personal brand?

I love stories. I love strangers. My colleagues are often people I've just met, and my office changes every other week. What I share publicly is an extension of that same curiosity. Sometimes it's a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a story. Sometimes it's the absurd, unglamorous reality of field journalism. And sometimes people just like to see you completely goof up, because it makes you more relatable.

There has never been a strategy to build a ‘personal brand.’

Q. After fellowships and reporting experiences across India, the UK, Germany, and beyond, what global lessons about democracy, media freedom, or inequality have most sharpened your reporting lens back home?

You realise very quickly that the challenges journalists face aren't all that different once you cross a border. Media freedom under pressure, gendered experiences in newsrooms, the exhaustion of reporting on power while power tries to ignore you. Just disturbingly universal. I’ve compared notes with journalists from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan the UK and the US on covering elections as women, on how to manoeuvre around a tricky mining story involving powerful corporates and also the best snacks to keep you going when you're filing a story at 2 a.m. under deadline pressure. What these global spaces also offer is perspective on solutions. You begin to see how other regions are responding to crises and how some of those ideas can be adapted back home. In fact, sometimes simply citing these solutions in reporting can nudge governments to act.

Q. You’ve covered some of society’s harshest realities, but your public persona also carries relatability and humor. In a profession built around trauma and urgency, how do you protect your own optimism?

I once spent a day in a community living near a thermal plant, surrounded by ash, where the children had grown up breathing polluted air. At the end of the day, the people there took me to a neighbor's home. A man they called Badshah anna, someone I'd never met. Within 20 minutes, he had whipped up a full five-course meal, complete with a sweet, for everyone. No expectation, no transaction, just kindness. This job exposes you to the worst of systems, but also the best of people. Also, if you can't laugh at the chaos of chasing an elephant for permission to film in their sanctuary, or doing a live broadcast during a cyclone while your hair stages its own protest, it becomes very tough.

Q. You’ve gone from disaster zones and political crises to TEDx stages and Instagram reels, so be honest, if your life became a documentary series, what would its title be?

Ha ha. Well, ‘Fly On The Wall.’

Bio:

I am a multimedia journalist with over ten years of experience reporting across South India on climate, caste, conflict, politics and human rights. I currently work as an independent journalist with Deutsche Welle, BehanBox, ABC News, Greenpeace India and Article 14. I have previously reported for The Quint, NDTV and Hindustan Times.

 I began my career on the digital desk at Hindustan Times, and then moved to NDTV, where I reported for both NDTV 24x7 and NDTV Profit/Prime. I contributed to weekly programming focused on real estate and civic issues, while also reporting for primetime news on a wide range of beats including politics, environment, law, human interest, gender, disasters and business across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Then, I worked as the Principal Correspondent at The Quint and Bloomberg Quint, where I functioned as a one-person multimedia team, reporting, writing, shooting and editing stories.

As a consultant with The Federal at Puthiya Thalaimurai, I produced video stories on caste, gender, reservation policies, sports and civic issues.

I have contributed to investigative projects with Bloomberg, including reporting on labor exploitation and the fertility racket in India, and have worked with Project 39A (National Law University) to document custodial deaths, published in Article 14.

In the past two years, I have completed the Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme at the University of Westminster and the International Visitor Leadership Program in the United States. I was also invited by the German government to attend the Global Media Forum and have participated in fellowships and workshops on constructive journalism, AI tools, and fact-checking. My work has received multiple awards, and I have been invited to deliver a TEDx talk on the hidden costs of climate change.

My reporting has contributed to tangible impact, including mobilising financial support for a visually impaired couple during the pandemic, prompting infrastructure changes, getting financial and institutional support for girl students of a fishing hamlet, prompting state-level committees to address sexual harassment in schools, and aiding the national wheelchair basketball team to get funding and recognition from the national sports department.

 

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Interview by: Abhisek Rath