Arshia Dhar

As the Consulting Culture Editor, I currently oversee the workings of the Culture and Community sections of theestablished.com, a digital publication headquartered in Mumbai. I liaise with a network of over 30 contributors and commission stories, write and edit for the sections, besides also strategising for their social media and website to increase the publication's reach.

Regular contributor to Indian and international publications, writing on art and culture, with a fortnightly column on food in cinema for Hindustan Times Media Labs.

As the Features Editor for this legacy magazine, I worked across its print and digital wings as an editor-writer who commissioned, wrote, edited, and strategised for the website and its social media to consolidate the publication's presence in India. I was responsible for several pages of the bi-monthly print magazine—right from ideating for them, commissioning them, editing and putting them together for final publication. Besides, I also wrote regularly for print—both front of the book news pieces and cover feature stories. I was responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the digital desk where I liaised with a network of over 40 contributors—writers, photographers and illustrators, and was specifically responsible for art, culture, public architecture, design stories that dealt with the politics of art, architecture and design. I also authored the daily newsletters.

Wrote and edited original pieces (reportage and opinion) for Network 18's flagship news and culture website, Firstpost.com. I focused on politics, arts, culture, and human interest stories. I ideated for and executed projects, commissioned, copy edited and carried out daily news delegation to a team of three reporters/junior sub-editors. I also copy edited and coordinated for stories by our network of freelance contributors on a daily basis. For the platform, I developed a podcast titled 'Cinematters', which explored cinema specifically from the North-East of India—a region that has traditionally been treated as a political and cultural blindspot in the country.

Wrote and copy edited features on politics, arts, culture and society for the magazine and website as the chief features correspondent for Outlook Magazine. Headed the project of ‘C/O ArtHouse', a property I built for the publication's website, which aims to tell stories of lesser-known artists from different corners of the country in a bid to initiate social change through art. I researched for, shot, scripted, edited and recorded videos for the series every month.

Reported on events (politics, business, social, crime, environment, sports) from across Maharashtra and Goa for NDTV 24x7, the company's flagship English news channel, while working from their Mumbai bureau and Delhi headquarters. I took editorial calls for ndtv.com by overseeing the filing of agency news reports by a team of four junior writers, fine-tuned them to make them more reader friendly; copy-edited and fact checked copies of fellow reporters to make them more SEO friendly; led ndtv.com's award-winning ‘highlights' section for news stories during breaking news hours; took editorial calls regarding content placement on the website.