Ashish K Mishra’s lecture at the Asian College of Journalism was a masterclass in long-form journalism. The editor-in-chief of The Morning Context talked about his love for writing long pieces on complicated issues, something that many of his peers stayed away from. That also gave him the motivation to co-found India’s first subscription-led digital publication, The Ken.

He used his own business feature stories to explain how he developed sources at under-reported companies and stayed objective while covering interpersonal conflict. He urged aspiring journalists to always talk to all the parties involved and try to get documents to make sure their stories were balanced.

Mishra, who has worked with Mint, Forbes and The Economic Times, highlighted the importance of original stories to win paid subscribers. He advised students to follow his example and research multiple ideas simultaneously.