The world as we know it may never be the same owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While the epidemic has brought the world to a place of great uncertainty, it has also pushed people to think out of the box and break established conventions. Even as traditional means of journalism are finding it more and more difficult to sustain themselves, the digital platforms are offering new opportunities to those willing to take the lead. Indian-born Ishita Chakraborty recently has been appointed as the Chief Editor of Asia for ‘Transcontinental Times’, based on her exceptional performance in 2020.

Since the commencement six months ago, Transcontinental Times has been fully committed to human interest stories from all across the globe. “We are the voices of people from different continents who are here to make a change. Our entire team is committed to working for the welfare of this world.” asserts Chakraborty. Offering a very different brand of journalism with a humanistic touch, Transcontinental Times has managed to carve a niche with top-notch coverage and commentary on politics, art, and culture, business, education, sports, technology, etc.

In a career spanning over a year, Chakraborty has worked on various programs organized by the United Nations (UN) as a youth volunteer for empowering education and women across the world through various initiatives programs. Chakraborty regularly conducts workshops on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as she is leading an international GirlUp club ( GirlUp International: Women Online). This club is a part of the United Nation’s GirlUp campaign. Interestingly, along with social works and journalism, she has a great inclination towards sports. Chakraborty has represented Vidarbha Cricket Association in U-19 state-level cricket matches. She is a computer engineer graduate who regularly works towards social reforms through the UN and various NGO’s and simultaneously pursuing a master’s in Journalism.

With her ongoing stint at Transcontinental Times, Chakraborty has been actively putting the spotlight on covering a variety of stories and breaking news around Asia and helping staff journalists and contributors to align with ‘protocols of journalism’ and won the ‘Editor of the Month December 2020’ award. “The best part about working at Transcontinental Times is the high levels of energy that one experiences working round the clock with a team that’s youth-oriented, highly focused, and goal-driven. The management offers great flexibility to writers and editors and the level of coordination amongst the team members working in different parts of the world is so high that one never really feels the burden despite often dealing with highly challenging deadlines and unforeseeable odds,” sums up Chakraborty.

Archita Chakraborty, Ishita’s mother mentioned, “She was very focused since her childhood, only concern for me was who would identify and utilize her talent. Now, she is at the right place at the right time.”

Spanish writer-filmmaker of Indian origin, Roshan Bhondekar, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer along with his wife, Sahra Ardah, who is the Co-founder and CFO, took the bull by the horns to create a unique case study for the academic and scholars to analyze and for the entrepreneurs to take inspiration from. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020, the couple launched ‘Transcontinental Times’ with the vision to usher in a new era of journalism driven by industry’s best practices to support freelance journalists and mass communication interns to overcome the crisis.

As we speak Bhondekar said, “We are fighting for creating the potential opportunities for writers and journalists in international independent journalism space. We have given a platform to passionate learners, and we have seen the positive result, and based on that we have promoted ‘top performers’ among our team to the next level to handle bigger responsibilities.”

Sahra Ardah was asked about the ‘Editorial’ focus. She said, “our team is more clear on ‘what to do’ and ‘how to reach the target’, as we are planning for the betterment of journalism as youth are the future. We believe in youth.”

Under the banner of Transcontinental Times, “Top performer team members have carved a niche in Journalism standard. Now with the new setup, we will soar higher in the media world. New standards will definitely take us to a novel brand, whereas Ishita Chakraborty will be our leader for the Asian region” says Niloy Chattaraj, who is an advisory board member and Director of Asia at Transcontinental Times.