About Us
A place for all Desis regardless of background, class or creed.
Central Desi is a community-run news platform that tells the stories of New Jersey’s South Asian community.
Before we launched Central Desi as a newsletter in 2022, New Jersey lacked nuanced reporting about this community.
The mainstream papers did not report deeply on the South Asian community, preferring instead to focus on pieces about Diwali festivals or new Indian restaurants. In fact, leaders in the community reported feeling “invisible” in a statewide study.
This, despite the fact that Asian Americans are the fastest growing demographic in New Jersey, and Desis make up a majority of them. One in 10 New Jerseyans is Asian American, and one in five is Indian. But New Jersey’s South Asians hail from many places, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives — and their stories are just as varied and diverse.
Rather than wait for mainstream news to begin covering this community, we at Central Desi launched a platform where we can tell our own stories with all the rich nuance that we know is part and parcel of being in a community.
Central Desi offers a way for us to share our complexity with the world, but also to connect with one another and deepen our sense of connection across the Desi diaspora.
In addition to a weekly newsletter where we cover topics ranging from mental health to politics, we connect on Instagram and gather in person at events to foster a sense of connection. We believe we are building a model for local journalism that can be applied nationally to connect Desis in America and foster greater understanding of our community.
Central Desi Journalism Fellowship
In 2023, we launched an annual journalism fellowship to give early to mid-career journalists the chance to enhance their skills as they report on New Jersey’s Desi community.
Our fellows share news about the community by engaging with locals to tell nuanced stories that reflects their lived experiences and shared challenges.
Here’s what some past fellows had to say about this opportunity:
“This fellowship has taught me not only how to be a better journalist, but also how to be a better community member. I’ve learned firsthand how important it is for communities like mine to access accurate local news that reflects their experiences.” -Astha Lakhankar
“I was able to write about different parts of South Asian culture I’m passionate about — like qawwali music, the South Asian nightlife scene, and more. The CD team not only gave me the platform to write about these things, but also thoughtful feedback that helped me turn these ideas into compelling news pieces.” - Zoya Wazir
During the fellowship, fellows produce feature stories and social content, working closely with experienced editors who have decades of experience in traditional newsrooms and as journalism educators. By the end, they will have:
reported and written monthly articles for publication on Central Desi and partner sites
leveraged social media to distribute journalism and news to a targeted audience
collaborated with an editorial team to brainstorm ideas and see them through
received training on community journalism and multimedia storytelling methods
For video reporting fellows:
produced ~2 compelling short-form videos each month about the South Asian community in New Jersey, either as original pieces or in collaboration with other reporting fellows to complement their written pieces. This includes reporting, writing scripts, filming, and editing content with the support of the Central Desi team.
honed skills in video journalism, including on-camera presence, interviewing, and visual composition
expanded coverage of NJ’s South Asian community in a new storytelling format
The fellowship runs December 1 - May 31 with an expected commitment of 5 hours/week. Fellows will receive a stipend.
They must be based in New Jersey to apply, but do not have to be South Asian to apply. Preference will be given to applicants with knowledge of the community. Students, recent grads, and existing or aspiring journalists are all welcome.
To be notified when the application opens,