Shahina K. K.

Shahina K. K., alternatively KK Shahina or Shahina Nafeesa,^[1] is a veteran Indian journalist who has worked across print and broadcast media to shed light on issues such as gender, human rights, and marginalized communities, along with the injustices they face.^[2] She is a Senior Editor Outlook Magazine,^[3] and a contributor for The Washington Post.^[4] She is among the four winners of the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards this year from different continents all over the world. She is the fourth Indian to achieve this recognition.^[5] She was conferred with the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons in 2011.^[6] She is also a participant as an activist in the Kiss of Love movement against moral policing in India.^[7] Based in the state of Kerala, she is frequently cited by various mainstream media networks on issues related to gender equality and women's rights.^[8][9][10]

Shahina was associated with OPEN magazine between 2011 and 2020,^[11] was a former correspondent of Tehelka magazine,^[12] and began her career as an Asianet News reporter.^[13]

She was arrested through the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for reporting on police misconduct in an investigation in the state of Karnataka,^[14] been subjected to anonymous rape threats,^[15] and false reporting by the Bharatiya Janata Party affiliated newspaper Janmabhumi that she was an accused in a bomb blast case.^[3]

Shahina was born in Konathukunnu, a small town near Kodungallur in Thrissur District, Kerala. She hails from a middle-class Muslim family. She was born to Kayamkulam Kunjumarakkar, a school teacher, and Nafeesa, a housewife.^[2] She is the youngest among five brothers and three sisters in her family. She used to participate in student activist movements and protests in her early college days. Shahina completed her post-graduation from Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur. She holds a PG Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Kerala Press Academy, Kochi, and an LLB Degree from Government Law College Ernakulam. She also possesses a PG Diploma in Human Rights Law from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.^[16]   

She started her career in Asianet Television, the first satellite TV Channel in Malayalam in 1997.^[17] She has worked as News Presenter, Reporter and broadcast journalist for ten years. She gained popularity with her unique style of live television anchoring and field reporting.^[18] She played a leadership role in intervening in the problems of women in visual media in Kerala and building a community. In 2002, she won the state government award for the best TV reporter.^[19] However, Shahina rejected the award in protest of the atrocities committed by the then government against Asianet Wayanad correspondent Ramdas and Madhyamam correspondent PK Prakash.^[19] Shahina was the first woman reporter in print and TV to win the award within 20 years of its inception. She was the news editor in charge when she resigned from Asianet.

Shahina was always keen to work in print media. She joined Janayugom in 2007 as National Bureau Chief where she covered all the political developments in the national capital and wrote a weekly column on national politics. She resigned from Janayugom in 2008.^[16]

Shahina joined Tehelka in 2010 as Special Correspondent.^[20] She covered the rural areas of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with unique investigative stories.^[21] The story on Thalaikkoothal -a geronticide practice in rural Tamil Nadu- won Shahina the Chameli Devi Jain award for the best woman reporter of the country in 2010.^[22] The story is cited in several international academic journals.^[23][24] She joined Open Magazine in 2011 as Associate Editor.^[25] She did a spectrum of stories ranging from the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case^[26] to the menstrual apartheid practices among the tribal hamlets of Kerala as an out station correspondent of a national magazine.^[27] She joined the federal as Associate Editor in 2020. She is now working as a Senior Editor in Outlook Magazine.^[28]

Shahina is settled in Kakkanad, Ernakulam. Her husband, Rajeev Ramachandran is an author, veteran sports journalist and an audio-visual translator.^[29]