Main Media is a hyper-local news platform based in the Seemanchal region, an area located at the border of Bihar and West Bengal. Main Media was founded by Tanzil Asif, an alumnus of the
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is an Indian media centre of learning and civil service training institute for the Indian Information Service Cadre funded and promoted by the Government of India in New Delhi. The IIMC is an auto ...
, Delhi in 2018. With tagline - "Patna se door waala Bihar, Kolkata se door waala Bengal ( The Bihar far away from Patna, The Bengal far away from Kolkata), the organisation aims to bring focus of media to historically neglected Seemanchal region of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
and
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
. Main Media was formally launched on 18 February 2018.
History
Tanzil Asif resigned from his day job in ANI to report about rural India often ignored by mainstream media. After resigning from his post, he shifted to his home district, Kishanganj, one of the most backward districts of India. He wanted to report local issues untouched by mainstream media.
He started as a video journalist covering four districts of
Seemanchal viz.
Katihar
Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line.
History
Ka ...
,
Purnia
Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar.
Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is nex ...
,
Kishanganj
Kishanganj is a city and district headquarters of Kishanganj district in Purnia division of Bihar state.
History
Kishanganj, which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region.
Mithila first gained prominence after bei ...
and
Araria
Araria is a city and a municipality that is the headquarters of Araria district in the Indian state of Bihar. Araria is situated in the northern part of Bihar.
Etymology
During the British Raj the area was under the administration of a British ...
in 2018. He started solo with minimum resources. Main Media first covered the Araria Lok Sabha By-poll in 2018 vacated by the sudden demise of veteran leader
Taslimuddin. Since then Main Media has not looked back and progressed further by fighting challenges. Main Media has expanded its coverage to two districts of North West-Bengal viz.
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...
and
Uttar Dinajpur
Uttar Dinajpur () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur.
History
Undivided Dinajpur district w ...
districts.
Content
Main Media covers ground reports, elections, political interviews, success stories, daily news. Main Media's Seemanchal Bulletin is a daily news bulletin covering local news of Seemanchal.
Recognitions
Main Media's work has been appreciated by Al Jazeera, BBC, The Logical Indian, Firstpost, Exchange4Media and News18. Its story has been featured in Josh Talks
as well.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official Website
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News media in India