Origin country/town: I come from Coimbatore, a prominent textile and industrial hub in Tamil Nadu, India.
Other places where you have lived: Not outside India.
Where are you living at the moment? Near Korsvagen, Gothenburg
Languages: Tamil is my native language, I have had my education and professional experience in English; I can talk in Malayalam and Telugu and I can understand a bit of Kannada and Hindi.
Academic background: I hold a bachelors in computer science engineering and a post-graduate diploma in broadcast journalism.
Work background: I was a software engineer at Accenture before I moved to journalism. 2019–2023: Independent journalist and research consultant for a few media and research organisations. 2019: Special correspondent, The Federal. 2015-2019: Tamil Nadu state correspondent, Mint-HT Media
Journalistic experience: Worked as a political news correspondent for Mint- a financial daily in India and I have written for a few Indian and international organisations.
Writing skills (English): I have professional working skills in the language as I’ve been writing for English news outlets. But I won’t rate myself as excellent in English.
I have used Excel (spreadsheets): YES/NO Yes. But not an expert!
I have worked with Python: YES/NO No
I use other programming languages: YES/NO Yes
If YES – which ones? Some basics of R and HTML
I have used WordPress YES/NO Yes
Graphic/illustration skills? No
Digital publishing/social media?Yes, the basics in terms of using social media as a research tool for journalism
Audio/radio/pod? No
Photography? Yes. I click photos for most of my stories using a Nikon D3500. Not a pro!
Video/tv/filming? Yes, I did my broadcast journalism and shot documentaries in my J-school. But nothing in the last few years.
Other editing or publishing skills? I can do copyediting and some basic video editing.
Knowledge of the European Parliament (relevant to the CJC project). Just beginning to read!
Special interests/knowledge relevant to research/investigative journalism: I am interested in exploring the inequalities when it comes to digital rights, learning data journalism and OSINT, and I’m sure this year I’ll learn a lot!
Other skills/hobbies: I can spend hours watching cricket matches even if they are old ones!! I love swimming.
I think I will be able to support my fellow students with: Research, copy editing and turning ideas into stories.
Is there something you want to add? There’s not much for now!
If you want to share a website or other personal links (Linkedin for example), please write the url:s here:dharanit.wordpress.com
