The Mooknayak

{{Distinguish|text = Mooknayak, the newspaper founded by B. R. Ambedkar in 1920}}

{{Short description|Online news channel}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Use Indian English|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox website

| name = The Mooknayak

| language = English, Hindi

| language_count = 2

| founded = {{start date and age|df=y|2021}}

| country_of_origin = India

| founder = Meena Kotwal

| url = {{URL|www.themooknayak.com}}

}}

The Mooknayak is an online news website founded in 2021 that focuses on social justice for Dalits and marginalized communities.{{cite web | title=Dalit journalist takes aim at changing history with stories of India's marginalized | website=Arab News | date=15 Mar 2023 | url=https://arab.news/var85 | access-date=7 Apr 2023}}{{cite web | last=Singh | first=Stuti Paul | title=FII Interviews: Journalist Meena Kotwal On Minority Politics, Journalism Today And The Caste Divide | website=Feminism in India | date=23 Feb 2023 | url=https://feminisminindia.com/2023/02/24/fii-interviews-journalist-meena-kotwal/ | access-date=7 Apr 2023}}{{Cite web |last=Team |first=N. L. |title=UN rights experts write to govt about inaction over threats to Mooknayak founder |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/04/08/un-rights-experts-write-to-govt-about-inaction-over-threats-to-mooknayak-founder |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=Newslaundry}} Its name, which means 'the leader of the voiceless' honours the Mooknayak newspaper founded by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar in 1920 and reflects the work of its founder, Dalit journalist Meena Kotwal.{{Cite news |last=Kotwal |first=Meena |date=27 May 2022 |title=Keeping Ambedkar's Legacy Alive, One Story At A Time |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/national/keeping-ambedkar-s-legacy-alive-one-story-at-a-time-magazine-186359 |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=Outlook |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Karan Deep |title=With Stories of Her Oppressed Community, a Journalist Takes Aim at the Walls of Caste |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/06/world/asia/india-caste-discrimination-dalit-journalist-mooknayak.html |access-date=25 April 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=6 March 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Sharma |first1=Saurabh |title='Leading the voiceless' - how low-caste Indian journalists are crowdfunding their own newsrooms |url=https://institute.aljazeera.net/en/ajr/article/2091 |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=Al Jazeera Journalism Review |date=13 February 2023}}

The Mooknayak covers stories related to Dalits and other marginalized groups in India.{{cite news |last1=Lal |first1=Neeta |title=In India, calls for a caste census grow as more seek to benefit from affirmative action policies |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3149670/india-calls-caste-census-grow-more-seek-benefit-affirmative |access-date=29 July 2022 |work=South China Morning Post |date=22 September 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Pasricha |first1=Anjana |title=In India, News Outlet Gives Voice to Low Castes |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/in-india-news-outlet-gives-voice-to-low-castes/7386565.html |access-date=6 February 2024 |work=Voice of America |date=6 December 2023 |language=en}} Kotwal has described it as "a Dalit-centred newsroom."

Kotwal founded the online version of The Mooknayak in 2021, and by 2023, the organization employed 15 journalists, including 9 full-time.{{cite news |last1=Sharma |first1=Saurabh |title='Leading the voiceless' - how low-caste Indian journalists are crowdfunding their own newsrooms |url=https://institute.aljazeera.net/en/ajr/article/2091 |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=Al Jazeera Journalism Review |date=13 February 2023}} News articles are written in English and Hindi, and journalists produce videos for the associated YouTube channel.{{cite news |last1=Bhat |first1=Adil |title=India: Dalit journalists give a voice to the marginalized – DW – 06/29/2023 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/india-dalit-journalists-give-a-voice-to-the-marginalized/a-66067288 |access-date=6 February 2024 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=29 June 2023 |language=en}} By March 2023, the YouTube channel had 50,000 subscribers.

The Mooknayak online news outlet is crowdfunded and has received approximately $12,000 from the Google News Initiative and around $6,000 from a YouTube training program.