August 14 has always been special for me; 24 hours before Independence Day, we founded EastMojo.com. Today, we are not celebrating – we are packing up to move to a smaller, more affordable office.
Why? Because 5 years after starting EastMojo, I can only say with a heavy heart that we are at a point of no return. Why? Because over the next few weeks or months, we could either rise again or simply shut down. And some people I know will only say, “I told you so.”
We started EastMojo to be close to home and do something for my home, the northeast. We started EastMojo to be the voice that the region has always yearned for, to truly represent the Northeast the way it should always have been. When I left my job at CNN News 18 in Delhi, I hope you remember my goodbye video that went viral. Many friends supported my decision.
But it was not just my decision. You see, it was more of a response: for years, every time I would come to the Northeast, I would be asked why the Northeast is an afterthought for the mainstream media. Starting EastMojo was, and will always be, an attempt to answer that question. I could not do it earlier, but in 2017, I could, so I did.
There were also many who questioned my decision. What am I going to do? How am I going to sustain the company? Why start from scratch when I have already achieved so much? Even in this hour of crisis, I thank them because they motivated me. I thought, let’s find out the answer because that’s what I have been doing all my life: from newspapers to TV, from TV to digital. So, I packed my bags and said goodbye to my life in New Delhi and moved to the northeast with my family.
EastMojo is five years old, and the journey so far has been nothing less than being on a roller coaster – it’s been spectacular. We are, and remain, a handful of people trying to make a difference, asking the right questions, bridging the gap between the northeast and the rest of the country, and creating meaningful impact. And we have been able to accomplish a lot. We have brought the most authentic insights from the remotest areas of the northeast.
Whether it’s reporting on the Assam-Mizoram border tension, extensively covering the Oting Massacre, or reporting on the status of Myanmar refugees in Mizoram, when violence broke out in Manipur, we were the first on the ground. Last year, when a landslide killed scores in Noney, we were there. Like the mainstream media, we were not ‘visiting’ Manipur because we never left Manipur, just as we do not ‘visit’ other parts of the Northeast. We are always there.
We don’t just arrive and leave the northeast; we are here with you. Through our stories, we are not just reporting the issues but also making sure we revisit the stories if nothing has been done about them. But the tough part is that all this comes with a cost. I thought we would be able to sustain with the kind of content we produce, but we all know how the market is still struggling after COVID-19; ad revenue is minimal; YouTube won’t let us monetize most of our videos because of the nature of the stories, and investors don’t find our region ‘profitable’ and safe enough to work with. The question that my friends once asked me before starting EastMojo has come back to haunt me. How am I going to sustain EastMojo?
So, now I ask for your help. This is our attempt to bring the entire northeast and all of you who have supported us throughout our journey together. I believe EastMojo is a community built by you, our readers, and us journalists together. We take pride in our independence. I am asking you, our readers, to support us to stay the way we have always been: independent, unbiased, and on the ground.
Dear Reader,
Every day, our team at EastMojo travels through rain, rough roads, and remote hills to bring you stories that matter – stories from your town, your people, your Northeast.
We do this because we believe in truthful, independent journalism. No big corporate backing, no government pressure – just honest reporting by local journalists who live and breathe the same air you do.
But to keep doing this work, we need you. Your small contribution helps us pay our reporters fairly, reach places others ignore, and keep asking the tough questions.
If you believe the Northeast deserves its own fearless voice, stand with us.
Support independent journalism. Be a Member.
Thank you,
Karma Paljor
Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
A community that understands, feels, and knows the Northeast. So, I request your help. If you are willing to pay for the stories at EastMojo, in return, we will keep bringing the stories from the most remote areas of the region and share them with the world. Even if you cannot help us financially by subscribing, please spread the word, tell your friends about us, and share our content. EastMojo is here to stay, but we cannot do this without your support.
We may succeed or fail, but we will not go down without a fight. So, help us win this battle, for you and me, for northeast India. Subscribe by clicking on this link.
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