Ms. Sukriti Singh has been a part of the legal journalism industry for eight years. Starting off with one of the premier legal news websites in India, Sukriti has also worked with a hospitality startup and a media house also that covered unconventional professions. Here’s her conversation with Editor Priya Chaudhary-
Q1 Your journey from starting off as an Associate Editor at Live Law to being promoted to its Chief Administrative Officer had been splendid. We would like to know about this career span in your words.
A1 LiveLaw has been a wonderful learning experience where we evolved every day. From being a blog to becoming India’s leading news portal we all have lived that journey. I actually started as an intern and then gradually learned and gained experience in different domains of legal journalism, I have travelled this journey from being an intern to a social media coordinator to assistant editor and then Chief Administrative Officer of Livelaw. If I could summarise my journey in three words it would be a “ beautiful learning experience”.
Q2 You decided to delve into this career when this was comparatively new. Were there any apprehensions in your mind if something could go wrong?
A2 It’s a saying that “You Are Never Wrong To Do The Right Thing”. The same went with Live Law. Frankly speaking, I never thought that’ll pursue legal journalism as a full-time career as unlike every Indian family we have been told that taking up a government job is the most suitable career choice and initially I too was inclined toward civil services. But as I started working in LiveLaw I started enjoying and loving my job as it was a place where I was learning something new every day. But since legal journalism was a new concept at that time I too had apprehensions about it but it was somewhat the mission of independent journalism that we believed in which help us in moving forward.
Q3 Tell us something about the hospitality startup you’ve worked with.
A3 There is a startup named Hospibuz which was started by my LiveLaw colleague’s sister Komal Hora. It was a different experience where I first learnt the insights of B2B business and came across hospitality journalism.
Q4 Were you planning for a career in litigation or judiciary during your law school years or you’ve always wanted to explore something unconventional?
A4 I had always been fascinated about Journalism but litigation equally tempted me as a profession since it’s a mindset in small towns that teaching or government job is suitable for females as it ensures their safety and helps them in getting a good groom. I have been told the same to crack judiciary services or civil services to get a stable career. But then I came into legal journalism and realized that it’s my perfect calling where I enjoy and learn simultaneously.
Q5 How were the legal journalism and the legal media industry at the time when you decided to carve a career in these fields?
A5 Legal journalism was at an evolving phase when I started my career as there were only a few players in the market in which Bar&Bench was a well-known name and then LiveLaw came. After all these years as the popularity of legal news has increased, people have started reading legal news. The scenario is completely different now. Earlier our target was very niche and we focused on that but as our readership broke that niche and became a popular name amongst the people, we modified our content accordingly and there were moments wherein some stories of ours went viral and drew more traction than many mainstream media channels.
Q6 Being a professional with around eight years of experience in legal journalism, what do you believe is the most exciting part of this niche or rather what keeps you moving?
A6 The vision of independent journalism kept me going all through these years. The best part of legal journalism its more of a responsible and cooperative vertical of journalism as we don’t intend to serve gossip or sleazy stories but we deal with authentic reports and official sources so there isn’t scope for misinformation and I always believed that’s it’s very important for everyone to know about their basic rights and obligations because we cannot eradicate evils from the society until we are aware by ourselves about it. So Livelaw was the medium where I played a small role in spreading legal awareness amongst the people.
Q7 What word of advice do you have for law students who are interested in building a career in the field of legal journalism?
A7 Those who aspire for making their career in legal journalism must have one most vital thing which will help them throughout their journey-“patience”. This profession demands immense patience as it’s not a glamorous job as normally people see journalism as. Legal journalism is a responsible job where one must have clarity in their concepts and the determination to make a difference. Every case you report is your contribution to society as you bring out the correct and accurate facts from the judicial institution which is not in reach of an ordinary layman. So being a legal correspondent, editor or in any role in legal journalism one must have passion, patience and determination in themselves.
Q8 Were there any challenges you faced while starting Verdictum independently?
A8 The biggest challenge was to first take out of LiveLaw from me as all these 8.5 years I lived every day with LiveLaw. My daily routine used to start by scheduling the newsletter for our subscribers and end by checking emails.
So when I stepped out from Livelaw and as I am evolving into this new project, I have to return back to 2013 when LiveLaw had started and have to work at the same pace as I did at that time. Starting anything from the scratch is a tough journey but I will try my best to contribute as much as I can to this new organization.
Q9 Do you believe the awareness and knowledge regarding legal journalism as a career and in general, has increased?
A9 Oh yes, of course. The past decade has witnessed the popularity of legal journalism amongst the masses and the awareness about fundamental rights and basic rights amongst the people has increased. Now legal news portals are not confined to their niche audience of lawyers but now everyone looks forward to leading legal news and stories. Even mainstream media has started reporting legal news on priority which widened the opportunities for the people who are looking to make their career in legal journalism.
Q10 What qualifies as the one most significant learning experience in your entire career trajectory so far that proves to be helpful in most situations?
A10 Wherever you go and whatever you do, consistency is the key because litigation or any other profession is not for a day or two its something that will redefine your future so one must have faith in themselves and their abilities and must consistently move towards their goal. In my entire career so far I might have slowed down on situations but I never stopped I kept trying every day, in the initial years of Live Law when I was a law student we worked for a minimum of 8 hours along with my studies as the team was small and we have to do multiple tasks. So find your perfect calling and move towards it consistently. There is no perfect day or “one fine day I will….” In life, the correct moment to begin your success journey is “NOW”.