Journalist Chitra Wadhwani Named Editorial Director of ‘Washington Post Live’
- The Indian American veteran broadcast producer will be working on the platform’s ‘Race in America’ series.
Veteran broadcast producer Chitra Wadhwani has been named the editorial director of Washington Post Live, the newsroom’s live journalism platform. A company press release says in her new post, Wadhwani will “oversee and drive the strategy” for the “Race in America” series, and collaborate closely with the reporters and editors working on it.
Announcing her appointment, Wadhwani tweeted: “Some personal news! I start a new role today @postlive. I am thrilled to join an incredible team @washingtonpost and work on an important series of conversations.”
According to the Post, “Race in America” examines “the movement to end systemic racism and police brutality, and more broadly how race and identity affect the lives of people in a myriad of ways.”
In addition, Wadhwani will support executive producer Katherine O’Hearn in guiding the overall editorial direction of Live programming. “Throughout her career, Chitra has given voice to the individuals and ideas shaping the future, creating powerful conversations that richly inform,” O’Hearn said in a company press release.
“In my work across television and digital news platforms, I have sought to give voice to the individuals and ideas shaping our times with a determination to hear from varied perspectives along the way,” Wadhwani says on her LinkedIn profile. “I have experience covering business and technology, domestic and foreign policy, racial inequality and social justice, science and medicine, culture and food, and what’s next.”
Prior to joining the Post, Wadhwani worked at CBS This Morning, the network’s flagship national morning news program. As supervising producer, she developed guests and feature stories across topic areas, managed partnerships and led several special projects. She led the planning for the two-hour live show from the National Museum of African American History and Culture ahead of its opening.
More recently, Wadhwani also oversaw CBS This Morning’s social media and podcast teams which produced original digital content on lives lost to COVID-19, what it means to be Asian American today, Hispanic Heritage month, Black pioneers on their trailblazers, and mental health awareness.
Wadhwani began her career at PBS’s Charlie Rose, where she was the supervising producer for domestic, foreign, business, media, and technology coverage, and broader operational planning. She guided coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign and other major political events. Internationally, she developed shows originating from India, Iran, and the U.K.
Born and brought up in Hong Kong, Wadhwani holds an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in sociology. At Wesleyan, she received the Wesleyan Freeman Asian Scholarship Program, “which provided full expenses for a four-year course of study toward a bachelor’s degree for exceptionally able Asian students annually from Asia,” according to her LinkedIn page. She currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
(Top photo: File photo, from left, Chitra Wadhwani, Charlie Rose and producer Yvette Vega. Photo courtesy, Wikimedia Commons.)
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