A three-day Residential Workshop on Storytelling, Media Practice and Ethical Narrative Building
- Date: 01st April to 03rd April 2026
- Venue: USO House, USO Marg, 6, Special Institutional Area, New Delhi
In a world of shrinking attention spans and rapidly expanding content ecosystems, how stories are told, and whose stories are amplified, matters more than ever.
Telltale Stories: A Multimedia Workshop on Ethical Narrative Building, supported by The Wire and co-organised by Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and Holistic Approach for People’s Empowerment (HOPE), is a three-day residential workshop to be held in New Delhi.
The workshop brings together media professionals from civil society organisations, people’s movements, community initiatives, and independent journalists to strengthen skills in documenting, narrating, and amplifying ground realities through ethical and multimedia storytelling practices.
What the Workshop Covers
Across three days, participants will engage with journalists, activists, and media practitioners to explore:
- Understanding today’s Indian media landscape
- Crafting ethical and people-centred narratives
- Mobile video storytelling and podcast production
- Responsible and effective use of AI in storytelling
- Communicating with media houses and newsrooms
- Data-driven storytelling approaches
- Social media strategies for public engagement
- Digital safety, privacy, and surveillance awareness
- Using media to speak back to power
The workshop combines interactive sessions, practical exercises, and conversations with experienced journalists and movement practitioners. Sessions will be led by prominent media professionals including Siddharth Varadarajan, Seema Chishti and Jahnavi Sen from The Wire, along with Vaishnavi Suresh, Anirban Bhattacharya, Haripriya Harshan from CFA and other journalists, activists, and communication practitioners working across media and people’s movements.
Who Should Apply
- Media and communication professionals from NGOs and CSOs
- Members of people’s movements and grassroots organisations
- Community media practitioners
- Independent and freelance journalists
- Researchers and campaigners documenting field realities
What Participants Will Gain
Participants will:
- Develop practical multimedia storytelling skills
- Learn ethical frameworks for documenting communities
- Gain exposure to contemporary media tools and platforms
- Strengthen engagement with journalists and newsrooms
- Build strategies to safely navigate today’s media environment
A Certificate of Completion will be provided to all participants who successfully attend the workshop.
Accommodation & Fees
Participants will be charged a nominal fee of ₹2500, which partially covers food and accommodation during the workshop.
✅ Accommodation and meals will be provided for selected participants.
❌ Travel costs will need to be borne by participants.
Shortlisted applicants will receive payment details via email.
Workshop Details
Format: Residential Workshop
Duration: 3 Days
Location: New Delhi
Primary Language: English
Concept Note Workshop Schedule
Resource Persons:
SEEMA CHISHTI: Seema Chishti is a writer and journalist based in Delhi. She was formerly the Delhi editor for BBC India and a deputy editor at the Indian Express. She is the co-author of Note by Note, The India Story (1947-2017) and the author of Anees and Sumitra, Tales & Recipes from a Khichdi Family.
SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN: Siddharth Varadarajan is a Founding Editor of The Wire. He was earlier the Editor of The Hindu and is a recipient of the Shorenstein Journalism Award and the Ramnath Goenka Award for Journalist of the Year. He taught Economics at New York University and Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, besides working at the Times of India.
JAHNAVI SEN: Jahnavi Sen is Deputy Editor and Executive News Producer at The Wire. She has a BA in Philosophy from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and an MA in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies, Geneva.
YASH MARWAH: Yash Marwah is a Mumbai based writer who dabbles in advertising, public relations and digital marketing. His passion for social justice and the environment gave birth to initiatives like Let India Breathe, that focuses on advocacy, communications, network and coalition building to bridge the gap between the public and functionaries.
JOE ATHIALY: Joe Athialy has been part of the media and communication work of the Narmada Bachao Andolan in the past. He has also been the Campaigns and Communication Coordinator of Amnesty International India. Currently he is the Executive Director of Centre for Financial Accountability.
HARIPRIYA HARSHAN: Haripriya Harshan is the Media and Communication Associate at the Centre for Financial Accountability. She has over five years of experience working in the media and communications space, focusing on public finance and accountability. She holds a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia Central University.
ANIRBAN BHATTACHARYA: Anirban Bhattacharya is a researcher and activist engaged with issues of development, inequality, finance, and accountability. He is associated with the Centre for Financial Accountability.
VAISHNAVI SURESH: Vaishnavi Suresh is a media associate at the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and a multimedia journalist. Her work largely lies at the intersection of environment, livelihoods and infrastructure. Her work has been previously published in Pulitzer Centre, Fiftytwo.in, Adani Watch, The Wire and Mongabay India, among others.
Apply Now:
Register Here
Co-organised by: CFA & HOPE | Supported by The Wire
