Prema Sridevi

Founder | Editor in Chief

With an outstanding track record, Prema Sridevi was part of some of the biggest news breaks of the country in a career spanning 20 years. She was a member of the core team of two of India’s leading television news brands.

Over the years, as an investigative journalist, she has reported on several subjects related to accountability, transparency, corruption, misuse of public office, terrorism, internal security to name a few. Many of her stories were taken cognisance by India’s investigative agencies and government bodies.

Her independent digital news media venture The Probe was launched in April 2021. In August 2021, within four months of The Probe’s launch, she was selected by YouTube as part of its worldwide partner program for independent journalists. Two months later, in November 2021, her digital media venture The Probe was selected by Google News Initiative Startups Lab to be part of their first ever cohort of news startups in India. In the same month, the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF) also extended support to fund The Probe’s public interest journalism.

During her career spanning two decades, Prema has reported on some of the biggest news breaks of the country like the 2g scam, Coalgate, CWG, Commonwealth Games scam etc. She came into limelight after she covered a series on the Ishrat Jahan encounter during her stint with Times Now, which resulted in the story being debated in the Indian parliament.

Prema Sridevi started off her journalism career by publishing a weekly neighbourhood newspaper in Bangalore in early 2000. She was associated with The Times Group for 12 years until 2016, becoming News Editor of its English news channel Times Now. She joined Republic TV in 2017 as an Editor and Special Investigation Team head. Disillusioned by the one-sided coverage of news by mainstream television channels, she took a principled stand and quit television journalism just days before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She floated her company Fourth Estate Newscorp Private Limited in 2019 and in 2021 she finally launched her independent digital news media company The Probe.

Her story on Rajya Sabha seats being sold in India was taken note by the Election Commission of India. She is also known for covering a series on the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Indian former diplomat and politician Shashi Tharoor.

Prema is also noted for her investigative story on the men allegedly belonging to the ISIS India network. Her video report and interviews of the ISIS operatives in May 2017, was taken note by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Following the news report, the NIA requested her to share the videotapes of the story and a year later, the agency arrested one of the ISIS operatives interviewed by her.

Prema’s follow-up investigations into the Bofors scandal led to a revealing interview with Michael Hershman, the President of the Fairfax Group. Her interview was quoted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its affidavit before the Supreme Court as evidence to re-open the Bofors Case.

Her digital news media venture The Probe is one of the very few news initiatives in the country that is based on the concept of Slow Journalism. Through The Probe, she is currently leading teams to produce stories related to public interest, uncover untold stories, and present deep longform narratives that go beyond conventional news reporting. Her focus is on creating impactful journalism that drives social change, emphasises solutions, and advocates for transparency and accountability. She is dedicated to nurturing a culture of journalism that prioritises depth over speed, encouraging her teams to delve into the 'whys' and 'hows' behind each story.