Become a Newspaper Journalist.

YouTube Content Creators produce video content — tutorials, vlogs, opinion pieces, comedy sketches, finance education, tech reviews, gaming commentary, or short-form Shorts — and build an audience that generates revenue through AdSense, brand deals, Super Chat, merchandise, and digital products. India is YouTube's largest market globally (~470M monthly active users), yet the economics are brutally power-law: the vast majority of creators earn nothing or near-nothing; CarryMinati, Bhuvan Bam (BB Ki Vines), Gaurav Chaudhary (Technical Guruji), Prajakta Koli (Mostly Sane), Slayy Point, and Dhruv Rathee are the visible 0.01%, supported by years of consistent output before commercial success. Hindi and regional-language content (Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali) drives the bulk of Indian monetisation. The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) requires 1,000 subscribers + 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months (or 1,000 subscribers + 10M Shorts views) before AdSense turns on — and AdSense RPMs for Hindi content typically run ₹30–80 per 1,000 views versus ₹150–400 for English financial or tech content. Brand deals and affiliate commissions dwarf AdSense for creators above 100K subscribers; for most creators, AdSense alone never pays the rent.

Short-form vertical video creators make 15–90 second clips on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Moj, Josh, and ShareChat — the five platforms that absorbed India's creator energy after TikTok was banned in June 2020. The craft is brutally specific: hook the viewer in the first 1.5 seconds, build a retention loop that drives replays, caption every word for silent-mode watchers, and nail trending audio before it peaks. India's short-form landscape is distinct from the global one — Hindi and regional language content (Bhojpuri, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali) consistently outperforms English; the highest-reach niches are comedy, devotional, dance, and DIY; and the algorithm rewards completion rate, shares, and saves far more than likes. Top practitioners include Prajakta Koli (Mostly Sane, 7M+ on YouTube, 3M+ on Instagram), RJ Karishma, Anjali Anand, Maxtern (Sahil Kumar), Sahiba Bali, and Niharika NM — most of whom built their following primarily on short-form before expanding to long-form. The TikTok ban removed the platform but not the audience: 250–300 million Indians now watch Reels weekly, and Meta's infrastructure makes it the primary monetisation channel. Moj and Josh serve tier-2 and tier-3 audiences and run separate creator funds. Current Indian monetisation stack: Reels Play Bonus (selective invite, ended widely in 2023, now Meta Pro Bonus invite-only), brand deals (the primary income source), affiliate (Meesho, Flipkart, Amazon India), and YouTube Shorts monetisation via the YouTube Partner Programme once shorts cross 1000 subscribers + 10M public Shorts views in 90 days.

Film Actors perform scripted characters in feature films and OTT originals — interpreting a writer's words and a director's vision into a living performance that survives 40 takes, a dubbing studio, and a global streaming release. In India the profession spans Bollywood (Mumbai), Telugu (Tollywood, Hyderabad), Tamil (Kollywood, Chennai), Malayalam (Mollywood, Kochi), Kannada (Sandalwood, Bengaluru), Bengali, and Marathi cinema, plus the rapidly growing OTT slate at Netflix India, Prime Video India, and Disney+ Hotstar. Entry is ruthlessly non-linear — star kids with family connections, NSD/FTII drama-trained graduates, television actors, and Instagram influencers all compete for the same audition rooms at Mukesh Chhabra Casting Studio, Casting Bay, and Honey Trehan's table. Income is binary at entry (junior artist ₹2-15K/day, zero between shoots) and stratospheric at the top (A-listers ₹50-200Cr/film, plus ₹100-500Cr/year in brand endorsements).

Dubbing Artists replace the original voice performance in a film, series, or anime with a new language track while matching lip movements, emotional beats, and character personality. In India the industry runs on two giant streams: Hollywood localisation into Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, and South Indian cross-dubbing (Tamil films dubbed to Telugu, Telugu to Tamil, Malayalam to Hindi). Streaming has turbocharged demand — Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, Sun NXT, and Aha now require simultaneous multi-language dubs on every original and acquisition. Master practitioners define the field: Sanket Mhatre has been the Hindi voice of Spider-Man across Marvel films; Mona Ghosh Shetty voiced Rachel Green for the entire Friends run; Rajesh Khattar is Jack Sparrow in every Pirates of the Caribbean film. Mumbai's Andheri West and Andheri East studio belt — Sound & Vision India, VR Films & Studios, Mediahub Mumbai, Aditya Music — is the national dubbing capital, with Hyderabad and Chennai running parallel pipelines for South-Indian language work. Entry-level dubbing pays ₹500-3,000 per reel (one reel ≈ 10 minutes); serial episode rates run ₹3,000-15,000; a full A-list Hollywood feature dub can pay ₹50,000-3 lakh for a lead voice. The craft requires three skills no other voice job demands simultaneously: precise lip-sync to the original actor's mouth movements, character continuity across years and sequels, and emotional authenticity in a language the audience treats as the original.

Stage actors in India perform live theatre across repertory companies, commercial productions, festival circuits, and government-funded institutions. The primary hubs are Mumbai (Prithvi Theatre, Aadyam Theatre, QTP, Atul Kumar's The Company Theatre) and Delhi (NSD Repertory Company, Shri Ram Centre, Kamani Auditorium). Unlike film acting, stage work demands embodied technique — Stanislavski-based psychological realism, Meisner's emotional truth, or physical theatre traditions from Adishakti and Ninasam — applied live in front of an audience with no retakes. A single production runs 6-12 weeks of ensemble rehearsal before 8-30 shows; actors repeat the same performance dozens of times across tour dates, including Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) at NSD. Income is project-based and highly variable: most working stage actors supplement with film/OTT bit roles, teaching acting workshops, voice-over work, and corporate training. NSD graduates with strong Bollywood crossover (Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkummar Rao) represent the ceiling; the working majority earns ₹4-15L from a patchwork of theatre, workshops, and ancillary creative work.

Television actors in India are the engine of the world's most prolific daily-soap machine — Hindi GEC channels (Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony, Colors) each run 4-8 daily soaps producing 250+ episodes a year at 22-minute runtime, making Indian TV actors among the hardest-working performers globally. The work is split across three worlds: Hindi GEC daily soaps and primetime fiction (the highest-volume, highest-fee segment), regional language channels (Sun TV in Tamil, Star Maa in Telugu, Zee Tamil, Suvarna in Kannada — collectively larger in reach than Hindi GEC), and reality TV (Bigg Boss, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Indian Idol, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa — where actor-participants command ₹10-40L per week). A TV actor's market value is tracked weekly through BARC India ratings: a strong BARC week on a top-rated soap can push day fees 30-50% upward at renewal. ITA Awards (Indian Television Academy) and Star Parivaar Awards are the industry's primary recognition circuit.

Sports journalists in India write match reports, player profiles, and tactical analysis for outlets like Cricbuzz, ESPNcricinfo, Sportstar (The Hindu), and newspapers — then travel with the Indian cricket team on overseas tours, file copy from BCCI press boxes, and meet daily deadlines set by digital editors who track live-traffic spikes. The broadcast tier (Star Sports, JioCinema commentary panels, Sony LIV) is the highest-earning runway: Harsha Bhogle-level anchor-commentators command ₹50L-3Cr. The written-press route peaks at senior cricket writers like Sharda Ugra or Sidharth Monga — respected, well-travelled, but monetarily below broadcast. Most entrants start through apprenticeships at regional sports desks, student journalism at IIMC or ACJ, or by building a digital byline on Cricbuzz's freelance contributor network.

Senior: N/A

TV news anchors in India present live bulletins and prime-time shows across English channels (NDTV 24x7, CNN News18, Times Now), Hindi news channels (Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV), and regional networks (Sun News, ABP Asmita, ETV Andhra). The job combines real-time news scripting, on-camera delivery, guest management, and social-media amplification — all with BARC TRP ratings as the weekly scorecard. Entry is through journalism degrees (IIMC, ACJ, Jamia, MJMC colleges) plus voice and screen tests; most channels promote from beat reporters or junior anchors. The prime-time 9 PM slot is the industry's most competitive real estate, with anchor contracts and salaries tied directly to show TRP performance.

Senior: N/A

Broadcast Journalists in India are the field reporters, package producers, and OB-van operators who generate the content that fills the 24x7 news cycle on NDTV, CNN News18, India Today TV, Aaj Tak, Republic TV, Times Now, Zee News, and ABP News — plus the 100+ state and regional language channels carrying live breaking news round the clock. The job is split between field reporting (OB van deployment, live shots, byte collection from sources) and production (scripting packages, laying voice-over tracks, collaborating with editors on visual sequencing, pushing finished packages to the studio desk before the prime-time slot). Unlike a TV News Anchor who owns a studio chair, a broadcast journalist owns a beat — defence, politics, business, crime, health — and is evaluated on the exclusivity and speed of their stories, not their camera presence. IIMC Delhi, ACJ Chennai, and OP Jindal Global University's journalism school are the principal entry pipelines; Barkha Dutt's Mojo Story model shows the independent digital pivot available to journalists with deep source networks. Declining institutional trust in television news — BARC TRP manipulation controversies, prime-time advocacy replacing reportage — creates both a reputational headwind and a differentiation opportunity for journalists who maintain editorial rigour.

Senior: N/A

Tech journalists in India cover the startup and funding ecosystem (Inc42, YourStory, ET Tech, Entrackr, The Ken), deep-dive into emerging technology policy and product (Moneycontrol Tech, Bloomberg Tech India, Times Internet mastheads), and report on corporate tech strategy at listed companies. The beat demands fluency in startup funding mechanics — pre-money/post-money valuations, SAFE notes, term sheets — alongside RBI fintech regulation, DPDP Act compliance, and the vocabulary of Indian cap tables. Most practising journalists hold journalism or mass-communication degrees, but engineers who pivot via PluGGd.in-era digital-native roots, newsletters, or Substack followings increasingly break in without formal credentials. Earning power diverges sharply: a correspondent at Inc42 or YourStory earns ₹10-22L while a senior deputy editor with a Substack audience and podcast crossover can clear ₹60L-1.5Cr.

Senior: ₹50.0L

Anthropologists in India study human societies, cultures, and biological variation — with a distinct institutional spine built around the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), university departments (JNU, Delhi University, BHU, Hyderabad University, Pune), and scheduled-tribe policy bodies. Core work includes ethnographic fieldwork with Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), kinship and social structure research, physical/forensic anthropology for AIIMS and CBI labs, and applied work in corporate UX research (firms like Quicksand Design in Delhi bridge ethnography and human-centred design). The dominant entry route is M.A. Anthropology → UGC-NET/JRF → PhD, followed by AnSI scientist positions, academic lecturerships, or tribal welfare department advisory roles.

Senior: N/A