Beyond Headlines: A Conversation with Naitri Kale on Journalism, Cities, and the Stories That Shape Society
Some journalists chase breaking news. Others chase the deeper questions that often go unnoticed.
Some journalists chase breaking news. Others chase the deeper questions that often go unnoticed.
Naitri Kale belongs to the latter.
A journalist and multimedia writer, Naitri's work spans civic issues, public policy, fashion, and culture—fields often viewed as distinct, yet deeply interconnected. Through her reporting, she explores how cities evolve, how institutions influence everyday life, and how stories preserve not just information, but memory and identity.
In this conversation, she reflects on responsible storytelling, the importance of intellectual honesty, balancing empathy with objectivity, and why journalism should help people understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. She also discusses the role of culture in understanding society, the challenges of reporting within familiar communities, and the qualities future journalists will need to maintain public trust in an increasingly fast-paced media landscape.
Q1. Your writing spans civic issues, public policy, fashion, and culture, subjects that many people view separately. What connects them for you, and what does that reveal about the kind of journalist you aspire to become?
Naitri Kale:
My projects have taken me from civic reporting and public policy to fashion and culture, but I have never seen them as separate worlds. I’ve never been comfortable putting stories into neat categories. Whether I am writing about a riverfront project, sustainable fashion, or a cultural tradition, I am interested in the systems, histories, and everyday choices that shape people’s lives.
Whether it is a public policy, fashion, or culture, they’re reflections of society. They influence one another in ways we often overlook, and every story becomes more meaningful when we look beyond its obvious subject.
Journalism has taught me that no story exists in isolation. Every issue is connected to a larger social, political, environmental, or cultural context. That’s the kind of journalist I aspire to be—someone who can connect those dots and help readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters.
Q2. Journalism often asks writers to balance objectivity with empathy. How do you ensure that telling someone's story responsibly never comes at the cost of reducing them to just another headline?
Naitri Kale:
I’ve realised that people are never just sources—they’re experts in their experiences. Before I write, I try to understand the context of their lives rather than look for the quote that best fits my story.
While reporting, especially on civic and environmental issues, I’ve learnt that policies and statistics only tell part of the story. The people who live through those decisions add nuances that data alone never can. At the same time, empathy doesn’t mean losing objectivity. It means listening carefully, verifying every claim and every quote, and representing someone’s experience with honesty and dignity. If a person feels heard rather than used for clickbait or a headline, I'd think that I’ve done my job well.
Q3. Many important public policy issues struggle to capture people's attention, while entertainment and lifestyle stories spread effortlessly. Do you think journalism should adapt to audience preferences, or should it challenge readers to engage with uncomfortable realities?
Naitri Kale:
I don’t think journalism has to choose one over the other. It should meet people where they are, but also encourage them to think beyond what they’re already interested in.
Not every important story will naturally attract attention, and that is where storytelling matters. The real challenge is to make complex public policy or civic issues accessible without oversimplifying them. At the same time, entertainment and lifestyle stories can also explore larger conversations about identity, culture, sustainability, or society.
For me, good journalism isn’t about telling people what to read or what they should care about. It's about giving them enough context and perspective that they begin to care on their own.
Q4. Fashion and culture are sometimes dismissed as "soft" journalism. In your experience, what do these subjects reveal about society that political or economic reporting often cannot?
Naitri Kale:
I’ve never considered fashion or culture to be "soft" journalism, even if they are categorised as such. They often reflect changes in society long before they’re reflected in policy or economics.
While writing about sustainable fashion, I realised it wasn’t about clothing. It was about consumer behaviour, labour, and identity. I also came away thinking about textile waste, affordability, and the environmental cost of what we wear.
Similarly, cultural stories preserve memory, document traditions, and show how communities evolve over time. Whether it was reporting on Nashik’s—my hometown’s—heritage along the Godavari riverfront project, which was something I worked on extensively, these stories preserve memories and identity in ways that numbers and policy documents cannot.
Political and economic reporting helps us understand how society functions. Fashion and culture help us understand how people live within those systems. I don’t think one is more important than the other—we need both to understand the society we live in as a whole.
Q5. As someone interested in civic issues, have you ever found yourself changing your own opinion after researching a story? What did that experience teach you about intellectual honesty?
Naitri Kale:
Absolutely. One experience that stands out was while researching a story on Mumbai’s BEST bus system. I began with a fairly straightforward assumption that the issue was simply about declining services. But as I spoke to commuters, looked at fleet statistics, financial constraints, and the role BEST plays in keeping the city connected, I realised the story was far more complex than I imagined.
That experience reminded me of something my professors taught us—that journalism isn't about proving your opinions right. It’s about being willing to change your mind when the evidence asks you to. Intellectual honesty means approaching every story with curiosity rather than certainty, listening more than assuming, and accepting that the truth is often more layered than the narrative you started with.
Q6. Student journalists often report within communities they are personally part of. Does that proximity make reporting more meaningful because you understand the context, or more difficult because complete detachment is impossible?
Naitri Kale:
I think it does both. Being part of a community gives you context that an outsider may take much longer to understand, but it also means that you have to be more conscious of your own biases.
Some of my most meaningful work has come from reporting on communities I was already familiar with, whether it was documenting everyday life through my Breakfasts of Bombay photo essay, covering student life and hostel experiences, or reporting on civic issues in Nashik. That familiarity helped me ask better questions and notice details I might have otherwise missed or details that would’ve been lost in translation.
At the same time, I’ve learnt that being close to a story doesn’t mean speaking for a community. It just means listening carefully, verifying facts, and allowing people to tell their own stories. For me, proximity isn’t a limitation—it’s an additional responsibility.
Q7. With social media rewarding speed and strong opinions, where do you think journalism risks losing its purpose? What qualities do you believe future journalists will need most to maintain public trust?
Naitri Kale:
I don’t believe social media is the problem. It has made journalism more accessible and has brought many important stories to audiences who may never have picked up a newspaper. The risk, I think, is when we start confusing engagement with impact.
A story isn’t necessarily important because it’s trending, and it isn’t unimportant because it reaches fewer people. If journalism is to maintain and regain public trust, future journalists will need curiosity, patience, and the confidence to prioritize accuracy over clickbait and headline chasing. In a world full of instant opinions, credibility, accuracy, and integrity will set journalism apart.
Q8. Imagine you're looking back on your career twenty years from now. What kind of story would make you feel you've fulfilled your responsibility as a journalist—not because it went viral, but because it genuinely made a difference?
Naitri Kale:
Twenty years from now, I don’t know what journalism will look like. But I do hope that someone will come and tell me, "I never thought about this until I read your story."
I’d love to look back and know that I documented a place before it disappeared, or helped people see the value of preserving it. Because development isn’t just about new infrastructure; it’s also about memory, ecology, and the communities that exist alongside these spaces.
If, twenty years from now, one of my stories has influenced how a city thinks about its rivers, heritage, or public spaces, I’d consider that a meaningful contribution—not because it carried my byline, but because the story became part of a larger conversation that led to better decisions.
About Conversations by Brains in You
Conversations by Brains in You is a curated interview series featuring students, professionals, entrepreneurs, creators, researchers, and changemakers whose journeys offer meaningful lessons beyond conventional achievements.
Rather than focusing solely on titles or milestones, each conversation explores the decisions, experiences, challenges, and perspectives that shaped the individual behind the profile. The aim is to create a growing repository of practical insights that help students and young professionals navigate their own careers with greater clarity, productivity, integrity, and purpose.
Every featured conversation is thoughtfully selected with the belief that authentic experiences can inspire informed decisions, lifelong learning, and better human development.
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