The Centre for Initiatives in Journalism is a Charitable Trust that was formally set up on November 12, 2020, to promote, strengthen and broad base digital journalism in India through research, training, documentation, publication, and other related initiatives. The Trust is registered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The founding trustees of CIJ India are Subhash Rai (Managing Trustee), A. Narayana (Secretary) and N.A. Mahamed Ismail (Treasurer).
A. Narayana was a journalist for more than a decade before he did his PhD in Development Studies at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. He specialises in governance and public policy and teaches at the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru.
N.A. Mahamed Ismail is a digital journalist currently working with a Kannada television channel. He was the Digital Editor of Prajavani Online (https://www.prajavani.net/), Deccan Herald Group, for over a decade and brings CIJ a wealth of experience in working with Indian languages online.
Mr. Subhash Rai, Managing Trustee, CIJ: A senior journalist who has held leadership positions in some of India’s leading newsrooms such as Economic and Political Weekly, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, and Hindustan Times. He has taught new media tools and techniques to post graduate students at some of the leading journalism schools in India and has a deep understanding of all aspects of the digital news business, including different kinds of digital journalism, such as for newspaper websites, online only news sites, academic publications and multinational news organisations, and this 360-degree view informs his understanding of digital news.