JOURNALISM OF IMPACT
For entrepreneur-journalist Niraj Sharma, journalism is different from activism, which essentially remains anti-establishment. Sharma believes in journalism of impact. In his words, journalists are known for breaking stories. At the same time, research-based journalism acts as the cherry on the cake.
A journalist must have a combination of both. Google journalism should be left to the television anchors.
Context is what makes the story relevant and objectivity adds authenticity to it. These were the basic beliefs of journalism that became the pillars of Sharma’s BMI Group of publications – BestMediaInfo, BuzzInContent, NewsDrum and NewsDrum Hindi. Beginning his career with Aaj Tak, he launched India's most credible and impactful b2b news platforms BestMediaInfo.com and BuzzInContent.com and heads those platforms as Editor-in-Chief.
A Sahityalankar degree holder in Hindi, Sharma started his journalism career with the Hindi daily Punjab Kesri in 2001 and then joined Aaj Tak in 2002. He launched BestMediaInfo.com in 2010 and the platform soon became the synonym for breaking news in the B2B media. The passion for the growth of the Indian media and entertainment sector made BMI do the journalism of impact to bring positive changes in the industry.
A big believer in a responsible news industry, Niraj Sharma, a former television journalist, has relentlessly written against deteriorating content quality on television news.
In 2020, when the Indian television news channels were hounding Rhea Chakraborty over the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, BestMediaInfo.com launched an editorial initiative where many advertisers came on record to say that they would not advertise on the channels with toxic content.
Following these beliefs, NewsDrum.in made its first impact within the first month of its launch when the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, following NewsDrum stories, issued an advisory to the news channels asking them to refrain from trivialising and hyperbol on Russia-Ukraine war.
In less than two years of its launch, NewsDrum’s experienced team of journalists have broken over three dozen stories in such a cluttered media space.
In 2022 alone, BestMediaInfo.com stories brought six policy-level changes, a feat that all mainline media put together could not achieve in a decade. Sharma also hosts a YouTube show “Commentary” on NewsDrum’s YouTube channel.