Awards

• Los Angeles Times: part of the staff who was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in the local reporting category on the series of stories on the wave of illegal cannabis cultivation called ‘Legal Weed, Broken Promises.’   
• KNX 1070 News: Recipient with the newsroom of the 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in a large radio market.
• KNX 1070 News: Group award from L.A. Press Club Award for breaking news of the 2019 Saugus High School shooting.

Los Angeles Times: Multiplatform Editor

July 2021  – present. Los Angeles, California.

• Homepage curation by moving and posting stories daily on the LA Times homepage.
• Sending out push alerts and breakers for both breaking news, special projects, subscriber exclusives, and workshop compelling headlines and SEO decks to increase conversions on the homepage.
• Work with LAT Politics and California sections on long-term projects including:
  • Create, organize, and curate the recently successful 2022 November California primary voter election which brought in 20,345 subscriptions, 634 conversions, 59,229 visits, and 2022 November mayoral race guide, which brought in 10,785 subscriptions, 334 conversions, 58,824 visits 
  • Create, organize, and curate the recently successful 2022 June California voter election which brought in 115,430 visits and 1,082 conversions, and 2022 June mayoral race guide, which brought in 54,597 visits and 326 conversions.
  • Work with Politics on building out our Jan. 6 insurrection anniversary timeline: Pelosi and McCarthy’s words show how two different Americas see the Jan. 6 insurrection.
  • Work with the California section editors and reporters on building out investigations from our occasional series ‘Legal Weed, Broken Promises’ on cannabis convictions, which was a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the local reporting category.
  • Create and build out the whole investigation into the California Medical Board where doctors sexually abused their patients and the board gave them back their licenses including Full Coverage: California Medical Board and troubled doctors, and Finding your doctor’s disciplinary history. 
  • Research, create and publish our very first LA Times mass shooting infobox to add into mass shooting stories for context and clarity. The infobox was hailed and approved by our standards and practices team. 
• Overhaul, reorganize and update our News Desk Style Guide on the LAT Intranet with updated documentation for the homepage, News Desk duties, News Desk style guide and more.
• Build out Column One’s for the LA Times’ World and Nation and California sections.
• Collaborate with the Business section on a big Sushi story and how it came to Los Angeles including three stories, a story gallery and numerous daily CMS modules on our homepage. Links: How two friends sparked L.A.’s sushi obsession — and changed the way America eats
  This Little Tokyo restaurant is long gone. But it changed L.A.’s food scene forever
  The secret history of L.A.’s sushi revolution
  L.A.’s sushi revolution was fueled by this secret ingredient from the Central Valley 

KNX 1070 AM Radio:  Digital Media Producer

May 2018  – July 2021. Los Angeles, California.

• Top 25 originally written stories for the website, ranging from local to political, have brought in more than 825,000 users, more than 1 million page views, and more than 490,000 sessions.
• As the sole digital person working for KNX 1070 News from March 2020 to May 2020 in the COVID-19 pandemic, I brought in 1.24 million page views and 1.07 unique page views.
• Wrote original stories for the website that are of national and state-level interest and share them with the company for syndication.
• Homepage duties included updating stories and moving around stories on the website depending on newsworthiness.
• Grew the Twitter following by nearly 10,000 new followers since May 2018.
• Grew the Instagram following by more than 7,000 followers since May 2018.
• Strategized using photos and videos to raise engagement with our audience on social media platforms.
• Created original stories, ready for syndication, to complement the one-hour daily podcast show, KNX In-Depth.
• Created and send out close to 30 pushes daily for stories that are of local, national and state interest.

tronc/formerly Tribune Media:  Content Manager.

April 2017  – April 2018. Los Angeles, California.

• Worked among the nine markets as a liaison, specializing with the Sun Sentinel and Baltimore Sun papers on their social media and analytics.

University of Southern California:  Online Web/Content Producer and Journalist.

March 2015  – April 2017. Los Angeles, California.

• Update and maintain Communication and Journalism School academic program pages, in the form of: posting articles and videos, embedding photos and videos, rotating featured content, posting content from other parts site as appropriate/directed.
• Work with stakeholders from Communication and Journalism school to ensure academic program pages reflect school priorities and calendar milestones.
• Other academic program page web production and editorial updates as needed.

Reimagine Magazine: Associate Editor.

May 2014  – March 2015. Los Angeles, California.

• Copy edit and proof read articles for the online magazine website.
• Post articles, videos and blog posts to the reimagine magazine website using a CMS program.
• Determine what photos and artwork correspond with what articles and blog posts.
• Write and report stories related to health and wellness for the magazine.
• Work with one of the health columnists on blog ideas and videos.

The New York Times: Stringer.

April 2014 – March 2018. Los Angeles, California.

• December 2014: covered Los Angeles area reaction from theater-goers who attended the Christmas Day premiere of “The Interview” movie.

Freelance Reporter.

September 2013 – present. Los Angeles, California.

• Reported on the neighborhood of Atwater Village and Echo Park for the Los Feliz Ledger, and covered Larchmont for the Larchmont Ledger.
• Reported on health and wellness for Los Angeles-based Reimagine Magazine, a magazine that includes news and videos for people who have experienced cancer or face other life challenges.
• Covered social justice for TakePart.com, a social activism-oriented news site that covers global issues for millions of readers a month.

Santa Monica Daily Press: contract reporter.

July 2013 – Sept. 2013. Santa Monica, California.

• Reported for the Santa Monica Daily Press on development, health, transportation environment, education, business features, and city council.

Los Angeles Daily Journal: Law Firm Business Reporter.

June 2012 – May 2013.  Los Angeles, California.

• Reported on major law firm partner moves, breaking news, financial stories and features.

Merced Sun-Star: City Reporter.

Aug. 2010 – June 2012. Merced, California.

• Report on city politics, high unemployment rate, homelessness, city budget issues/layoffs, Merced County water issues, California high-speed rail and Merced College for the city of Merced.
• Co-produce weekly radio show “Off the 99” and interview officials and residents in Merced County.
• Reported and helped McClatchy D.C. bureau cover the political unrest in Libya by calling contacts in Tajura, Zawiya and Tripoli and asked them about their daily living conditions and the political situation.
• Wrote a profile on the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gadhafi that was carried in several of McClatchy’s newspapers across the U.S.

EDUCATION

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX    August 2008-May 2010

• Master’s degree from College of Communication School of Journalism.

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX    August 2003-May 2007

• Bachelor’s degree from College of Communication School of Journalism.

LANGUAGES

• Fluent in English and Urdu; fluent in Egyptian and Shaami Arabic, Punjabi and proficient in Spanish.

SKILLS

• Familiar with Graphene, Chartbeat, Crowdtangle, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Dream Weaver, Drupal, Final Cut Pro, intermediate HTML, WordPress, Blogspot, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Windows Microsoft Office, Pagespeed, Hermes, Merlin.

References available upon request.