Career resume
In summary
Hailing from India, Kanti Kumar began his journalism career early in life, when he was an English literature student in college. In the initial years, he worked in various print publications, gaining experience in copyediting, reporting, news photography and design & layout.
After spending a decade in print publications, Kanti moved to electronic media when private TV channels came to India in 1994. He was part of the team that launched TVI News, India’s first private news channel. He worked in two TV news channels, reporting, producing news bulletins and managing video news libraries.
Six years of TV later, it was time for Kanti to move on to newer field. Anticipating the important role the Internet was going to play in the coming years, he decided to try it out, joining the online edition of The Times of India in 2000.
Since then, Kanti has developed expertise in web content management and publishing, working with different content management systems (CMSs) and building and managing a number of niche non-profit websites. He currently offers to non-profit organizations his web management services, which include information architecture development, content development and quality control planning.
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At present
Since December 2006, Kanti has been working as Web Editor-in-Chief in the World Health Organization (WHO). In this role, he is responsible for the corporate content on the WHO website and is involved in its redesign and restructure proejct.
Immediate previous assignment
Prior to his current assignment, between January 2004 and December 2006, Kanti worked as Web Editor for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. He managed two of UNV’s websites: the World Volunteer Web, a global clearinghouse for information about volunteerism for development, and the corporate website. The World Volunteer Web, produced by UNV with help from stakeholders in the sector, supports the volunteer community by providing a global one-stop shop for information, resources, and organizations linked to volunteerism. He edited the website from the UNV headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and led its revamp. The new site, launched in November 2005, won the UNV web team the Web4Dev award for excellence in web design and management. Kanti was also involved in building three UNV country office websites.
Other experience
Earlier, Kanti worked as Editor of Digital Opportunity Channel, a website focusing on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable development, from June 2001 to December 2003. Digital Opportunity Channel is a joint initiative of UK-based OneWorld, a global network of over 1,500 civil society organizations, and the US-based Digital Divide Network. He edited the portal from OneWorld South Asia based in Delhi, in coordination with two co-editors in Washington, D.C., and The Hague.
Kanti was involved in the development of the website since its inception in mid-2001 and was responsible for its overall design, content and development. His responsibilities included day-to-day editorial coordination and bringing on board various stakeholders in the development sector in strategic and editorial collaboration.
Prior to that, Kanti worked as Chief Copy Editor for The Times of India Online, the Internet edition of India’s number one national daily, from March 2000 to June 2001. His primary job was to update the online edition and the news channel of its sister Indiatimes portal every few minutes. He selected and sorted news stories, edited them and prepared them for the different news sections of the Internet edition.
In the past, Kanti has worked in various kinds of media – print, television and the Internet, for 15 years. He has worked for both mainstream and development media in India, including The Times of India and Down To Earth. He began his career as a part-time trainee sub-editor in a small English daily in his home state of Orissa in eastern India, at a time when the dailies were published using cold metal and hand composing technology.
From there he moved to a number of daily, weekly and monthly publications at both state and national levels, working mainly in various editorial roles, and getting hands-on experience in new and newer technologies. In all Kanti’s assignments, he also continued writing regularly on subjects close to his heart: education, health, social development issues and human interest topics.
In 1994, when satellite television arrived in India, Kanti joined India’s first private satellite television news channel as a producer. After six years of TV news production and reporting experience, it was time for him to move on to the latest new media: Internet. In 2000 he joined the online edition of The Times of India, where he learned the basic skills of Web designing and publishing.
For a listing of all organizations where Kanti has worked, see his Footprints.
