Events

Journalist P. Sainath in Conversation with SIPA Professor Anya Schiffrin

P. Sainath works as the Rural Affairs Editor for The Hindu, and the website India Together, and is considered one of Asia's best-known and most influential journalists. Often referred to as "a development journalist," he prefers the term 'rural reporter.' His work focuses on social problems, pressures on the rural poor, and the consequences of globalization in India. P. Sainath's book Everyone Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts is widely considered among the most important books on the subject of poverty and modern society and features his articles documenting the lives of the rural poor as he traveled through India's poorest regions.

P. Sainath has pioneered news coverage in rural areas and remains committed to documenting the lives of India's economically marginalized. He has said of the droughts in the Indian provinces of Orissa and Kalahandi, "Beyond the sensationalism of news headlines and the reports of distress and starvation, is the tragedy of a population that has been consistently deprived of its rights and entitlements." He has helped transform rural journalism and fundamentally reformed the way newspapers cover rural areas, as well as shed light on the need for rural relief programs. P. Sainath has been recognized internationally for his work and received major journalism awards from across the globe.