In December 2022, INMA and Google News Initiative (GNI) awarded their third annual Elevate Scholarship to 50 news media professionals from 31 countries. This series features these impressive media professionals who are shaping our industry.

Coming from an underrepresented group, Siddharth Maheshwari, growth product manager for The Hindu in India, faced discrimination and socio-economic challenges. But he didn’t let that interfere with his career goals:

“I decided to expand my horizon with an international MBA. As a first-generation graduate, I realised the importance of higher education in professional development,” Maheshwari said.

After graduation, he started his news media career looking after digital subscriptions for The Hindu e-Paper and BusinessLine e-Paper.

At The Hindu, he crafted several customer-facing campaigns, experimented with subscription-based content models, and took ownership of churn initiatives and customer insights.

“I also orchestrated the Freedom Sale campaign for India’s 74th Independence Day to encourage Indians to choose real and reliable journalism with The Hindu,” Maheshwari said.

His work paid off. The Hindu saw a 516% increase in revenue from a non-sale day average revenue, and the campaign won the Best Reader Revenue Initiative category in the South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021.

Maheshwari aims to be in a leadership position that will be critical in the growth and expansion of the news organisation going forward: “I want to be in a position where I have the ability to develop strategies in these complex environments and turn those strategies into actions. I wish to create a news company that is more agile and adaptive in today’s rocky landscape,” Maheshwari said.

He wants to use his time in the Elevate Scholarship programme to develop data literacy and storytelling skills. “I want to build a holistic understanding of the global digital media space and use those learnings to grow in my work environment. Under the mentorship of INMA, I want to overcome the societal barriers placed in front of me and succeed in the news media space. INMA Master Classes are taught by the organisation’s leaders and are extremely useful for someone early in a career like me.”

As a first-generation graduate and part of an under-represented group, he understands the unique challenges that others like him face in the news media industry: “I pride myself on incorporating my background into the work and helping others better understand inclusiveness. I’ll ensure everyone has a place and voice on projects, and I’ll be transparent in representing my team’s hard work.”

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