Dhanya Rajendran Explained

Dhanya Rajendran
Nationality:Indian
Occupation:Journalist

Dhanya Rajendran is an Indian journalist and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The News Minute. She previously worked with Times Now and The New Indian Express.[1]

Career

Dhanya Rajendran started her career by working for Kerala's first 24-hour news channel India Vision in 2003. In 2004, she moved to New Indian Express in Chennai. She subsequently moved to working for Times Now as a reporter in 2005 and went on to become its bureau chief of South India. Along with her husband Vignesh Vellore and Chitra Subramaniam, she then went on to co-found The News Minute, a digital news website focussing on the news coverage of the southern states of India in 2014.[2] [3] [4] Dhanya is also a member of The Network for Women in Media, India.[5] She is also chairperson of digipub funded by Open society foundation.

Facing online harassment as a woman journalist

Rajendran has often had to face online harassment on account of her work. In 2017, she faced a barrage of abuse on Twitter — all for expressing an opinion about Sura, a film she did not like. Her opinion about a Tamil film starring Vijay, a popular Tamil actor, angered his fans. Rajendran's phone crashed after it couldn't handle close to 31,000 tweets spread across a couple of minutes. #PublicityBeepDhanya—a hashtag was created just to abuse Rajendran— started trending. And choicest of abuses laden with sexual harassment followed.[6] [7] [8]

Rajendran filed a complaint with the cyber crime branch of the Chennai police. In response, an FIR was filed under IPC sections 354 D (stalking), 506(1) (criminal intimidation), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), 509 (insulting the modesty of women), section 67 of IT Act (publishing obscene material), section 4 of TN Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, and section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act.[9]

M. K. Stalin, the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also an issued a statement against the misogynistic threats.[10] Despite deleting the original tweet, the violence continued. The Network for Women in Media, India and International Federation of Journalists issued statements in support of Rajendran and condemned the online harassment she had to face.[11] Finally Vijay issued a statement asking his fans to stop the online harassment against Rajendran.[12]

The Chennai police investigated Ramkumar, one of the accused, a Vijay fan and a Tamil Nadu resident in connection with the online harassment. He apologised for his deed after the police met his mother and the denial of his bail by the Madras High Court.[13] [14] [15]

When she reported about godman Swami Nityananda being accused of sexual abuse, she had to face sexualized harassment on social media from the followers of Nithyananda's cult.[16] In response to her reportage, the followers made several news videos by calling her choicest of abuses including presstitute, anti-national among others.[17]

Rajendran has been vocal about online harassment faced by women journalists on the field. Immediately after former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha's death, she wrote a piece about how she was molested by one of her security men when she was out to do stories around election coverage.[18] She reacted strongly against the harassment faced by women journalists reporting about the entry of women in Sabarimala. In 2019, she issued a strong statement in support of women journalists protesting against harassment of the secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club against a woman journalist by saying: “If you touch one of us, we will retaliate. No longer your fiefdom.” [19] She has also come out in support of women sharing their stories during the Me too movement in India by consistently featuring several stories about the issue and also speaking out about it.[20]

Against sensationalism

Rajendran has also come out against sensationalism in news media by reflecting upon her own experiences as a journalist and the pressures that compel journalists to resort to digging out voyeuristic information in cases related to 'sexual abuse'. She has said that journalists should exercise restraint and shouldn't publish graphic details of a sexual crime since it is not of use to anyone, least of all to the victim or the survivor.[21]

Awards and accolades

Rajendran has amassed several awards in her career. She was named as one of India's best entrepreneurs in Fortune magazine's 40 under 40 list in 2018.[22] Rajendran was also awarded Namma Bengaluru media person of the year in 2017.[23]

Education

Rajendran grew up in Palakkad, Kerala. She was educated at Kanikkamatha Convent School, Palakkad and at Government Victoria College, Palakkad. She is an alumnus of The Asian College of Journalism in Chennai.[24]

References

  1. Web site: Smt. Dhanya Rajendran. NAMMA BENGALURU AWARDS. en-US. 14 March 2020. 15 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200215213747/http://nammabengaluruawards.org/portfolio/smt-dhanya-rajendran/. live.
  2. Web site: TNM’s Editor Dhanya Rajendran Named in Fortune’s 40 Under 40. 23 March 2018. The Quint. en. 14 March 2020. 2 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230402235057/https://www.thequint.com/news/india/the-news-minute-editor-dhanya-rajendran-fortune-list. live.
  3. Web site: Growing by the minute. www.fortuneindia.com. en. 14 March 2020. 7 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200607074615/https://www.fortuneindia.com/people/growing-by-the-minute/101754. live.
  4. Web site: Sandip Sen. 2019-09-02. Interview – Dhanya Rajendran, The News Minute. 2020-06-11. Indian Printer & Publisher. en-US. 11 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200611073711/https://indianprinterpublisher.com/blog/2019/09/02/interview-dhanya-rajendran-the-news-minute/. live.
  5. Web site: Byteing Back: Dhanya Rajendran Counters Online Abuse. 2020-06-11. SAMSN. 11 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200611073713/https://samsn.ifj.org/byteing-back-dhanya-rajendran-counters-online-abuse/. live.
  6. Web site: The News Minute editor harassed online for comparing Tamil film to Jab Harry Met Sejal. www.dailyo.in. 14 March 2020. 22 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200922150819/https://www.dailyo.in/variety/dhanya-rajendran-twitter-trolls-sura-vijay-tamil-cinema-sexism/story/1/18827.html. live.
  7. Web site: Is this kind of trolling unorganised? Definitely, not. Tweet was sent before 6 pm asking me to wait. And they started the hashtag at 6 pmpic.twitter.com/lwpYYQmyRM. Rajendran. Dhanya. 6 August 2017. @dhanyarajendran. en. 14 March 2020. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207021509/https://twitter.com/dhanyarajendran/status/894450195601145856?lang=en. live.
  8. Web site: Journalist Dhanya Rajendran Trolled For Comment On Actor Vijay, Over 63,000 Tweets. NDTV.com. 14 March 2020. 1 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200901153325/https://www.ndtv.com/bangalore-news/journalist-dhanya-rajendran-trolled-for-comment-on-actor-vijay-over-63-000-tweets-1735398. live.
  9. Web site: FIR on self-proclaimed Vijay fans for issuing sexual threats to TNM Editor Dhanya Rajendran. www.thenewsminute.com. 14 March 2020. 18 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200918100041/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/fir-self-proclaimed-vijay-fans-issuing-sexual-threats-tnm-editor-dhanya-rajendran-66520. live.
  10. Web site: Journo Dhanya Rajendran Bullied On Social Media For Comment On Actor. Gupta. Poorvi. 9 August 2017. SheThePeople TV. en-US. 14 March 2020. 2 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230402235103/https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/journalist-dhanya-rajendran-bullied-social-media-comment-actor-vijay/. live.
  11. Web site: Virulent trolling of Indian editor after Tweet. 8 August 2017. SAMSN Digital Hub – International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). 14 March 2020. 11 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200611073754/https://samsn.ifj.org/indian-editor-trolled-abused-tweet-movie/. live.
  12. Web site: Tamil actor Vijay asks fans not to abuse Bengaluru journalist for criticising his film. Scroll Staff. Scroll.in. en-US. 14 March 2020. 10 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170810045405/https://scroll.in/latest/846706/tamil-actor-vijay-asks-fans-not-to-abuse-bengaluru-journalist-for-criticising-his-film. live.
  13. Web site: Ramkumar says they were told I am an Ajith fan and so they started the abuse. He explains how he ran for days, afraid he would be arrested. Rajendran. Dhanya. 22 August 2017. @dhanyarajendran. en. 14 March 2020. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207021544/https://twitter.com/dhanyarajendran/status/899989079864913920?lang=en. live.
  14. Web site: Vijay fan investigated for trolling journalist Dhanya Rajendran posts apology video. 23 August 2017. Hindustan Times. en. 14 March 2020. 8 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200808103118/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/vijay-fan-investigated-for-trolling-journalist-dhanya-rajendran-posts-apology-video/story-pI81d0nFOKk5p3mmGUqTvL.html. live.
  15. News: The Hindu Net Desk. Man posts video apology for trolling 'The News Minute' editor. 23 August 2017. The Hindu. 14 March 2020. en-IN. 0971-751X. 11 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111234740/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/man-posts-apology-video-for-trolling-dhanya-rajendran/article19544590.ece. live.
  16. Web site: Dhanya Rajendran. www.facebook.com. en. 14 March 2020.
  17. Web site: A Response to NewsMinute and Dhanya Rajendran – What Presstitutes Look Like. Sharabheshwaran. Sri Nithya. a. nithyanandatruth.org. en-US. 14 March 2020. 28 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191228233754/http://nithyanandatruth.org/2017/09/08/a-response-to-newsminute-and-dhanya-rajendran-what-presstitutes-look-like/. live.
  18. Web site: The iron lady with a soft heart: When Jayalalithaa showed me that she cared. www.thenewsminute.com. 14 March 2020. 22 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200922091413/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/iron-lady-soft-heart-when-jayalalithaa-showed-me-she-cared-53958. live.
  19. Web site: Trivandrum Press Club Secretary Arrested for Sexually Harassing Journalist. The Wire. 14 March 2020. 7 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191207151337/https://thewire.in/women/trivandrum-arrest-sexual-harassment. live.
  20. Web site: Ramnath Goenka Awards: Celebrating excellence in the field of journalism. 7 January 2019. The Indian Express. en-US. 14 March 2020. 16 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191116062005/https://indianexpress.com/photos/india-news/ramnath-goenka-awards-celebrating-excellence-in-the-field-of-journalism-5523898/. live.
  21. Web site: Let's not be vultures: The News Minute's Dhanya Rajendran pens a powerful post. 2020-06-11. www.dailyo.in. 11 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200611074804/https://www.dailyo.in/voices/journalism-rape-media-ethics-dhanya-rajendran/story/1/15763.html. live.
  22. Web site: 2018-03-23. TNM’s Editor Dhanya Rajendran Named in Fortune’s 40 Under 40. 2020-06-11. The Quint. en. 2 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230402235057/https://www.thequint.com/news/india/the-news-minute-editor-dhanya-rajendran-fortune-list. live.
  23. Web site: Awardees. NAMMA BENGALURU AWARDS. en-US. 14 March 2020. 25 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200225161116/http://www.nammabengaluruawards.org/awardees/. live.
  24. Web site: Growing by the minute. www.fortuneindia.com. en. 2020-03-14. 7 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200607074615/https://www.fortuneindia.com/people/growing-by-the-minute/101754. live.

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