Paroma Soni

I am a Data and Graphics Reporter at POLITICO, where I primarily cover trade and agriculture for our premium audiences. Prior to this, I was an Associate Visual Journalist with FiveThirtyEight, where I worked on data-driven stories about politics, abortion, and public policy. I was also a Delacorte Fellow at Columbia Journalism Review, where I reported on press freedom and issues facing the global media landscape. As an alumnus of Columbia Journalism School, I have also worked as an instructor and teaching assistant for the
School’s Lede program.

In many ways, IRE was instrumental in my transition to a successful data journalism career in the United States. Originally from Mumbai, I worked as a Video Producer for BuzzFeed India and freelanced on several video reporting projects in South Asia. Once I joined IRE, conferences like NICAR and a series of online investigative toolkit trainings were an immense help in expanding my skill set, introducing me to new tools and creative ways of analysis that fundamentally improved my reporting process.

More importantly, the collaborative approach at the heart of IRE helped me cultivate strong professional relationships that continue to inspire and inform my work today. I had the opportunity to contribute to The Markup’s story on internet speed disparities, “Still Loading”, which won the IRE Philip Meyer Award and several others earlier this year. I met remarkable journalists who are now my colleagues, editors, and mentors. In the spirit of giving back, I volunteered as a mentor and pitched a number of sessions for NICAR.

This past NICAR, I spoke on four panels, including one on weathering the volatility of the journalism industry – a huge challenge impacting news media nationally and one faced by many within the IRE community. As journalism degrees get progressively more unaffordable, visa restrictions get tighter and the number of jobs continues to decline, breaking into this field is getting tougher by the day for younger reporters, particularly those from communities of color, non-citizens, and other vulnerable groups.

As an international journalist who has been laid off once myself, I’ve had to navigate the complexities of establishing myself in the American journalism industry, and am acutely aware of its unique challenges. The relationships and resources I availed from IRE were a great help to me, and, if elected, I would focus on strengthening IRE’s commitment to establishing guardrails for all journalists to not only withstand these challenges but also to set them up to thrive. I’d like to work on further developing the innovative and accessible
skill-building programs IRE offers, along with more inclusive career support and deeper networking opportunities.

In a world increasingly marked by economic interdependence and conflict, I strongly believe that diversity and equity initiatives that truly address the needs of younger reporters and international journalists are necessary to enrich news media, both for reporters and audiences in the U.S. and beyond.