Shiksha Arora, better known as the “dancing news anchor,” is a KBC News anchor who has earned popularity among netizens with her unique style.
In this article, we explore her journey from being a microbiologist to a journalist and surviving a terror attack.
Shiksha believes in doing what she dreams of and always doing something out of the box. She is not your usual stereotype news anchor that people see, serious, smart, and rigid. Instead, she is a vibrant, bold person who loves performing and creating awareness.
Shiksha studied Microbiology for her undergraduate degree and wanted to be a researcher. Along the way, she got a job at Radio Africa and realized her true passion was storytelling and creating awareness. After completing her microbiology studies, she pursued her Masters in Broadcast Journalism, with TV being her focal point.
As a radio presenter, Shiksha learned how long a minute is because you have to talk a lot. Being on radio is harder than being on TV, she says. Shiksha’s career as a news anchor took off immediately when she joined K24. However, she lost her job due to COVID-19, and this was a very emotional period for her.
Shiksha’s numbers were growing on social media, thanks to her short dance videos that distracted her fans from the dire situation caused by the pandemic. She started being very intentional with the kind of content she produced and gained more followers.
Shiksha did not have a plan B, and she felt depressed, anxious, and disoriented when she lost her job. But she is grateful for her family, who helped her get through it.
Being a female news anchor is not easy, Shiksha says. In the beginning, when she was fresh out of her postgraduate school and had just landed her first job as a news anchor, she received a lot of backlash. Some people thought that because she was light-skinned and beautiful, that was why she got the job.
However, colourism is still a big problem in the media industry, and we need more inclusion.
Shiksha’s most challenging story was covering the Dusit terror attack. She had already been a victim of a terrorist attack, and covering the story for seven hours was very traumatic and difficult.
Talking about the people who had passed away, the injuries that had been sustained, and giving details about the terrorists and how they launched their attack was not easy.
