Meet The Founder: Dilpreet Kaur Taggar
Being a part of the first cohort of the Poplabs incubator program has been profound for journalist Dilpreet Kaur Taggar.
“This has genuinely been the single experience of my life in Australia where I have been treated as an equal from the get-go,” she confesses.
“As a migrant, my heart sinks every time I find something that excites me to then find it is not for me. Australian Citizens Only is probably the most heart-breaking sentence I’ve read continually in the last three years.
“Even as I was being interviewed for the incubator I thought they had made a mistake and overlooked my visa status!”
Dilpreet, who immigrated to Australia from India and now calls Melbourne home, launched South Asian Today when she couldn’t find any progressive media outlets for South Asian womxn and non-binary people.
“What was available was either male-dominated or stuck to a singular idea of India,” she said.
“I wanted to consume a wider range of South Asian content and for there to be a safe space for womxn and non-binary people to take charge of our narratives.
Image description: Headshot of Dilpreet on the left and text ‘Dilpreet Kaur Taggar, Founder, South Asian Today. Australia's first media organisation for South Asian women and non-binary peoples. Learn more at poplabs.com.au’ on the right on a white background.
South Asian Today had been running for five months when Dilpreet applied for the Poplabs incubator.
“South Asian Today needed a hand. It needed support, guidance and quite honestly, some love,” Dilpreet said.
“When I came across Poplabs I thought it would be wonderful to be a part of a collective where everyone was somehow in a similar boat, too.
“This has given me the push I needed and wanted and I’ve already been able to start working on more projects for South Asian Today that before Poplabs were just ideas.”
One of these projects is Australia’s first online store where South Asian women and non-binary artists occupy 100% of the space.
“We’re curating exclusive works by our designers which helps create a micro-economy for them and ensures there is somewhere South Asian artists can be acknowledged and celebrated.”
As for South Asian Today’s future, Dilpreet said she wants to grow the platform into a working newsroom.
“I want it to be an outlet where South Asian journalists, content creators, video producers, podcasters and writers can work on in-depth analysis of the issues that surround us - our politics, culture and social expectations.”
Visit South Asian Today to read more stories for South Asian womxn and non-binary peoples or help support their mission to open an online store that is a space for South Asian artists.
