Resume


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NIRMAL MITRA

nmitra8@gmail.com nirmalmitra.com

EDITOR/ILLUSTRATOR

Web-based    Digital Design     Illustrations       Social Networking

 

PROFILE

A journalist with a strong track record on breaking news and making news judgments on deadline. Worked with several newspapers in the U.S. as well as magazines and dailies in India. Active in social networking. Reported from the United Nations for an Indian news agency, won a Dag Hammarskjold Scholarship at the U.N. and a Reuter/John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University for stories on Indian social and political issues. 

HONORS & AWARDS

  • “Rising Star” award for dynamic leadership and meticulous editing of stories on the anthrax attack at a South Jersey postal distribution center in the aftermath of 9/11.
  • Dag Hammarskjold Memorial Scholarship to cover the U.N. General Assembly.
  • One of “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” to attend conference in Japan, hosted by Osaka Junior Chamber Intl.
  • Panelist on environmental reporting at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Chicago.

EXPERIENCE

News editor, Opinion, Newsday, Melville, NY                                                                          July 2021-present

  • Help edit and produce the editorial section, including opeds, editorials and the daily newsletter, The Point, focusing on politics and local issues on Long Island. 

Assistant Editor, Newsday, Melville, NY                                                                          February 2014-July 2021

  • Organized and produced the real estate section, from brainstorming and conceiving ideas to copy-editing the stories and writing captions, headlines and laying out the pages, from October 2019 to July 2021. Worked on the Long Island desk and night copy desk, editing  news and wire stories for the newspaper and website, also functioning as replate editor handling corrections, updates and changes for the paper and e-edition. Worked on several special investigative projects, including one into the award of concessions by Nassau County and how judgeships are made on Long Island.

Freelance Copy Editor, New York Daily News, New York, NY                October 2013-February 2014

  • Edited news and wire stories for the newspaper’s website, writing SEO heads and packaging stories for the Web.

Freelance Page Editor, amNewYork, New York, NY                                    September 2013-October 2013

  • Edited news and wire stories for the city’s largest-circulated free newspaper.

Copy Editor, Newsday Westchester, New York, NY                                                     February 2012-July 2013

  • Played critical role in editing and improving stories, writing SEO headlines, editing photo galleries and databases for

Newsday’s new website serving Westchester, Rockland and four other counties in the Hudson Valley.

  • Doubled up as content editor and web producer on Saturday nights and wrote breaking news stories.
  • Praised for helping conceive and develop the interactive Hudson Valley parks guide.

Slot/Page One Editor, Asbury Park Press, Neptune, NJ                                            May 2009-February 2012

  • Played frontline role in editing front-page stories, heads, cut lines and quotes for four Gannett dailies – Asbury Park Press, Home News Tribune, Courier-News and Daily Record – on the Universal Desk, formed in 2009 as part of Gannett’s consolidation of its New Jersey papers.

Senior Editor, News India-Times, New York, NY                                          November 2008-May 2009

  • Vigorously covered the South Asian community for the second-largest paper serving South Asians in the U.S., and

Desi Talk, a free newspaper for South Asians in the tristate area.

  • Organized the local and wire sections, paginating them on QuarkXPress.

Breaking News Editor, Asbury Park Press, Neptune, NJ                                          May 2005-August 2008

  • Supervised a five-member team covering accidents, crime and courts, editing and posting breaking news updates and reports for the Web and newspaper. As Saturday metro editor, remained on top of weekend live coverage.
  • Led the news team as metro editor and business editor, from time to time, assigning stories, holding news meetings.
  • Commended for persistence and creativity in organizing monthly “How To” series helping readers navigate complexities of modern life.
  • Excelled in planning and executing enterprise packages, including coverage of Shore storms, back-to-school features,

Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Chinese New Year.

  • Outstanding work in organizing community roundtables to get feedback and brainstorm ideas.
  • Praised for initiative in conceiving and editing full-page graphic on road construction projects at the Jersey Shore.

Assistant Metro Editor, Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, NJ                                             June 2000-May 2005

  • Ran tight ship as nightly breaking news editor Tuesday through Saturday in the intensely competitive South Jersey- Philadelphia news market, posting stories on the Web.
  • Lead editor on a “1,000-year storm” package, which won a Gannett “Well-Done” award.
  • Praised for conceiving and editing Shore adventure sports series, which won a Gannett “Well-Done” award.

Topic Editor, Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY                                                Dec. 1998-June 2000

  • Smoothly ran the “Community, Health and Social Issues” team when the paper was trying out a configuration of topical rather than geographical beats, helping improve reporters’ productivity and morale.

Assistant News Editor, Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, NY                      Jan. 1997-Nov. 1998

  • Sharpened my crisis-handling skills as I helped manage a nine-member copy desk and worked as slot editor four days a week, with sole charge of the newsroom on Sundays. Edited copy, paginated on QuarkXPress.
  • Produced single-handed a readers guide to life in the Mid-Hudson region, commended as one of the paper’s best.
  • Gained immensely from a workshop on compelling storytelling at the American Press Institute, Reston, Va.

Senior Editor, India Abroad, New York, NY                                                            Sept. 1993-Jan. 1997

Covered Indian businesses and social and cultural activities, and India-related news in the United Nations for the weekly paper serving the growing Indian American diaspora, and for India Abroad News Service, which fed about 40 newspapers in India. I began my stint at India Abroad after 16 years of reporting and editing a wide range of stories for publications in India.

EDUCATION

  • B.A., political science (honors), St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University, India, with economics as minor.
  • Reuter/John S. Knight Fellow, Stanford University; audited courses in fiction writing, English literature, Asian American literature, drama, photography.

SKILLS/CERTIFICATIONS

  • Published artist and illustrator, work traditionally and digitally.
  • Certificate in digital design (Web design track) from Baruch College, City University of New York, in 2011. Completed courses in XHTML, CSS, Advanced Flash, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
  • HTML and Web design and marketing, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ (Sept. 2008-Nov. 2009). Proficient in Microsoft Excel and page design and graphics on QuarkXPress and Corel Painter.

STUDY COURSES/INTERESTS

  • Took a course in comic storytelling at 92nd Street Y in NYC in 2013; working on mini-comics, graphic novel projects.