“Writing With Fire” captures Khabar Lahariya (Hindi for “news waves”) at a specific point in his now two-decade career: an early scene shows a meeting in 2016 about the organization’s transition from print to digital newspaper. But the focus is more on the method than the medium.
The film follows Khabar Lahariya’s journalists over four years as they cover a range of issues in their home state of Uttar Pradesh. Chief reporter Meera investigates the government’s claim that every household has access to a toilet. Suneeta, a former child miner, reports on the damage caused by illegal mining. Shyamkali, a domestic violence survivor, asks police for information about a rape case.
At every turn, the women navigate not only challenges familiar to many journalists—evasive authority figures, media skepticism, weak camera batteries—but also the added barriers that come with being women in a patriarchal society ruled by “upper “ Caste is dominated. Her handling of precarious situations is evidence of journalistic skill. They hold their own among heckling men and convince them to go to the slab. They interview sexual assault survivors with sensitivity and show empathy for religious extremists without letting their positions go unchallenged.
CNN spoke to Thomas and Ghosh about the making of Writing With Fire and the lessons they learned from the journalists of Khabar Lahariya. At a time when freedom of the press and democracy are under threat around the world, Ghosh said the film was testament to the impact a “wild, hard-line independent news institution” can have.
Since that conversation, however, Khabar Lahariya released a statement calling “Writing With Fire” an incomplete account of his work, adding that “partial stories sometimes tend to distort the whole.” The organization emphasized that its reporting interrogated more than “just one particular political party” and that much of the work was unspectacular. Khabar Lahariya did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for further comment.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you decide to focus on Khabar Lahariya?
Thomas: A photographer had done a photo story about Khabar Lahariya and that was the first time we heard about her work. At that time, it had already existed as a print newspaper for 14 years.
When we met her [in 2016] and found out about their work, they told us that they are doing this meeting where they will discuss this shift to digitization. That scene you saw in the movie where Meera makes the pitch is really the first time we’ve met her. We were lucky to have our cameras with us. To see an organization run entirely by women – women from marginalized communities who are mostly invisible in the media landscape – telling their own stories with their own agency really spoke to us.
How did you get employees to open up to you?
Thomas: They were curious as to why we wanted to tell their story. They’ve been in a few other documentaries before, so they knew how the process works. It helped that they understood for themselves what it means to be in front of and behind the camera.
We didn’t know what the story would be, but we knew we didn’t want this to be the story of women who are victims. We also didn’t want this to be a story about superheroes saving the day. These were very ordinary women with an extraordinary spirit. We really wanted to understand: where did you get this spirit from? When they build something together, what does it look like?
How did Khabar Lahariya’s journalists cope with the sticky situations they often found themselves in?
gosh: We came into this story when they were fourteen, so they already had work and also a deep understanding of how to move through spaces of deep trauma and spaces that are clearly hostile. While we were filming there were many occasions when they were harassed, pulled down or beaten up [to]but they found extraordinary ways to negotiate out of it.
Thomas: There’s also a lot of trust for them – what I would call street cred. They are journalists from the communities they cover – it is not a journalist who comes from a city, writes a story and leaves. They understand the dynamics of space very well, and when they show up, people generally tend to talk to them. It was nice to see in an environment where the media is increasingly distrusted.
What were some of the barriers faced by the women of Khabar Lahariya?
Thomas: In the region where they work, women, especially Dalit women, have never been considered journalists. This used to be the strength of dominant caste men.
In the film you see a lot of men staring in public spaces because it’s quite unusual to have intelligent, articulate women asking relevant questions. So it starts with this: the disbelief that men or people in positions of power have towards a woman who came to ask the question. Yet over the years we’ve seen that rejection evolve into a muted respect. That speaks to the power of the work that Khabar Lahariya has done.
For example, if there is an accident on a road, many media would report it as breaking news. Khabar Lahariya is interested in why accidents keep happening on this road. Let’s examine the budget allocated for this road this fiscal year. Once we figure that out, we wonder how much was spent, what wasn’t spent, and what happened in the middle. This will not only make you a better journalist, but also a better consumer.
gosh: It addresses that broader question of what happens when you diversify the newsroom: who controls the news and who ends up telling whose stories? Most newsrooms have traditionally been controlled by middle-aged men, and India was no different. [Khabar Lahariya’s approach to journalism] flips the whole narrative and you see the effects of that: roads are built, health care, education, the last mile of fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution are made available to every citizen.
Did this film force you to even confront your own caste privilege?
Thomas: I recognize in advance that there is a difference in class and caste. What this means for us in the filmmaking process is that we don’t become the voice of the people we portray. We want to create a story in which they themselves tell their story.
At its core, what they stood for and what we stand for merged and we started from that point. Her idea of a just society and our idea of a world led by women merged. You’re trying not to become her voice, and that’s the difference.
Was there a moment when these differences became particularly clear?
Thomas: The scene in the film where Suneeta encounters a very aggressive crowd as she tells a story on a broken road was quite impressive to me personally. When she showed up there, it quickly became something different and aggressive. She stays and keeps filming and really turns up the temperature [down] in this situation with so much flair and professionalism.
Then I asked her, “What was that? It got so aggressive.” And she said, “It’s new for you, but for us, it’s every day.” I’ve been in quite difficult situations, but it still doesn’t fit being a rural journalist in these areas where you have to do it over and over again every day. At the same time, I was amazed at the compassion she had [for the people she was reporting on].
What lessons have you learned from the journalists of Khabar Lahariya?
Thomas: The art of agreeing, disagreeing. This is difficult to practice on a daily basis, but we’ve seen them do it at home, at work with their male colleagues, and in interviews with those in positions of power. Doing this in a way that isn’t aggressive or confrontational but gets the job done takes a certain amount of courage.
Courage itself has many contours. Sometimes it’s about standing up for what you believe in. And sometimes it’s about sitting back and letting the storm pass and coming up with a new strategy.
What do you hope viewers will get out of the film?
gosh: They must actively work to create a more just society. We live in a world where we’re hammered with problems that make you feel microscopic. But it’s about returning to who you are as an individual, to your place in the world, and to what you do to become an active agent of change.
That’s what “Writing With Fire” is essentially about: hope comes from where you least expect it. And if it can come from there, what’s stopping us with all our privileges?
Thomas: That cool women need to be in positions of power. This film is a testament to what happens when women are in leadership positions. In Khabar Lahariya they exalt each other. It’s strict. There is much responsibility, but there is also gentleness. We don’t see that often in our culture. If we can look at the rooms we’re in and say, “Where are the women? And who’s my boss?” I think the world would be a different place.