USHA SANKAR
1600, Wheelwright Place, #120,
Cary, NC 25719
Tel: 919-454-6458
usha101@gmail.com
PROFILE
Master's in Economics with nearly 20 years of editing experience in
the fast-paced environment of a newsroom
Excellent language skills with a flair for writings
Meticulous and unfazed by deadline pressures
EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
China Daily – Beijing July 2005 – Oct, 2011
English Editor
Worked for China's leading English newspaper, the China Daily, on their Features, Opinion, and China Scene pages. This often called for extensive re-writing
Mentored Features reporters in planning and writing their stories.
Helped ensure the stories were well structured, and were an engaging read from beginning to end
Provided valuable input into how the stories were presented
Ensured all stories had well-crafted captions and headlines
Beijing Review - Beijing Dec 2004 - Aug 2006
Editorial Consultant
Worked for China's only English news weekly. Beijing Review
Edited (mostly re-wrote) articles written by Chinese reporters, to ensure proper English usage, factual accuracy, a consistent tone and logical structure
Mentored young reporters in the right way to conduct interviews, do background research and adhere to journalistic ethics
The Straits Times - Singapore Feb 2000 - May 2004
Sub-editor, Foreign Desk
Edited news stories - both agency copy and stories filed by correspondents
Wrote headlines for the full range of stories handled on the Desk
Wrote captions for both news pictures and caption stories
Worked as part of the editorial team to ensure deadlines were met
Freelance work, Singapore 2001- 2002
Copy-edited economic and business texts for McGraw Hill and Pearson Education
Freelance work, Kuala Lumpur Aug 1994 - July 1999
Helped write the initial drafts of an UNDP-sponsored project on its
role in Malaysia
Wrote for a government trade publication
The Straits Times - Singapore Jan 1994 - Aug 1994
Sub-editor, The Straits Times, Life! section
Handled a variety of stories on the Feature pages
Often re-wrote Feature stories, in consultation with the writers
Designed pages
The Straits Times - Singapore Jan 1993 - Jan 1994
Sub-editor, Foreign Desk
Edited news stories under ttight deadlines
Designed pages electronically, using customised software for newspaper design
The Indian Express - India April 1987 - Aug 1989
Sub-editor
Edited news stories as well as the Letters column
Wrote articles and reviews for the paper's Feature pages
EDUCATION
Master's in Economics from the University of Hyderabad, India
Bachelor’s (Honors) in Economics from Delhi University, India
Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Hyderabad
Certificate in Authorware, a Web-authoring tool
Exposure to Web page design, using FrontPage, HTML and JavaScript
LANGUAGES KNOWN
Very fluent in English and Hindi. Good knowledge of spoken Tamil and reasonable proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.
REFERENCES
Available upon request