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When The Probe began in 2021, we made a choice that set us apart from the relentless news cycle that defines most Indian media today. We chose depth over breaking news. We chose credibility over speed. We chose slow journalism — and that decision has defined everything we’ve built since.
Not faster. Deeper. We spoke to many voices about the state of Indian media as we were founding The Probe, and one conversation stayed with us: Justice N Santosh Hegde, former Supreme Court judge, articulated what we already believed but hadn’t yet fully named.
He called it simply. “There’s a disease prevailing in the media,” he said. “Paid news is real. When I open the news in the evening, I know which channel is propagating which political party. Diametrically opposed views will be seen in different channels.” His diagnosis was clear. Building independent media in India meant rejecting the systems that corrupt journalism — the corporate backing, the political patronage, the speed-at-all-costs mentality.
Also Read: We Will Fight You Tooth and Nail | by Chitra Subramaniam
But Justice Hegde went deeper than diagnosis. He articulated the purpose. “There should be a media which projects the right thing and brings it to the knowledge of the people, so that they will ultimately decide which way the development of the country should go.” That statement became our north star. Independent media in India isn’t about being contrarian or different for its own sake. It’s about serving the public’s ability to make informed decisions.
Our stories, the moment they publish — straight to your chat. No algorithm deciding what you see.
He spoke about something else that shaped us: the relationship between truth and distortion. “Truth has only one color,” he said. “But it gets distorted when your personal ambitions are involved in it.” That’s the core tension. Building independent media in India means protecting journalism from personal ambition — whether that ambition is financial, political, or institutional.
Five years on, we’ve learned that building such an independent journalism platform comes with a real cost. It meant choosing depth over breaking news. It meant investing months in stories that other outlets would chase in days. It meant walking away from corporate backing that could have scaled us faster.
But it gave us something money can’t buy: credibility. Families trust us with their stories. Courts take our investigations seriously. The system knows we’re not fighting for an agenda — we’re fighting for accountability.
That’s why we built The Probe this way. No godfathers. No corporate owners. Just journalism.
Reporting like this takes days of work — sometimes weeks. At The Probe, it is funded by readers who believe this kind of journalism should exist and thrive.
Your membership keeps the newsroom running. When you fund a Truth Brigade project, it helps us create real impact and transform lives on the ground.
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