Innovators Series: Using Mobile Phones to Empower Rural India


Co-Produced with Spencer Millsap as part of the National Geographic Innovators Series

In rural India, where Internet penetration can be less than one percent (leading to a “dark” media zone), journalist Shubhranshu Choudhary started a mobile phone network to help people voice local issues and concerns. Since CGNet Swara launched in 2010, citizens have called in more than 300,000 reports, and 4,700 fact-checked stories have been aired and shared on the CGNet Swara website and beyond.