Anushka Asthana

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Anushka Asthana
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England
Education Manchester High School for Girls
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge
Occupation(s) Journalist, television presenter
Known for ITV News

Co-presenter of Peston

Presenter of Today in Focus
TitleDeputy Political Editor, ITV News

Anushka Asthana (born 1980) is an English journalist and television presenter. She is the deputy political editor of ITV News.

Contents

Early life

Asthana was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, and raised in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. [1] Her parents, both doctors, moved to the United Kingdom from New Delhi, India in the 1970s. [2] Asthana attended the private school Manchester High School for Girls and read economics at St John's College, Cambridge. [3]

Career

Asthana joined The Observer as a general reporter in 2003 and spent several months at The Washington Post in 2006 on the Laurence Stern fellowship. [1] Later she was a political correspondent for The Times before beginning to work for Sky News in 2013 as a political correspondent. [4] [5]

In succession to Patrick Wintour, Asthana was appointed in December 2015 as the joint political editor of The Guardian , in a job share arrangement with Heather Stewart which began in early 2016. [6] [7]

From 23 April 2017, Asthana covered the maternity leave of Allegra Stratton as the co-presenter of Peston on Sunday . [8] Since September 2018, Asthana has co-presented ITV's Wednesday night flagship politics discussion programme Peston . That year she decided to leave her role as the joint political editor of The Guardian to present its new daily podcast Today in Focus, later being promoted to editor-at-large, replacing Gary Younge. [9] [10]

Asthana left The Guardian in 2021 to join ITV News as deputy political editor to Robert Peston. [11] [12] She was later linked to the vacant job of BBC political editor, although she ultimately remained with ITV. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 Asthana, Anushka (26 November 2006). "My heart belongs to Delhi". The Observer. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Asthana, Anushka (14 October 2013). "Uncertain Journey Towards New Life In Britain". Sky News. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Asthana, Anushka. "Anushka Asthana: Class of 1998". Manchester High School for Girls. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Times political reporter Anushka Asthana moves to Sky News". Press Gazette . 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Thorne, Anna (16 May 2014). "The highs and lows of the most exciting job you can do". The Oxford Student . Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (11 December 2015). "Guardian 'breaks the mould' by making Anushka Asthana and Heather Stewart political editor on job share". Press Gazette. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Jackson, Jasper (11 December 2015). "Anushka Asthana and Heather Stewart to share role of Guardian political editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Peston on Sunday (20 April 2017). "Anushka Asthana". Twitter . Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Guardian appoints new deputy editor and executive editorial team". The Guardian. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Asthana, Anushka (24 November 2018). "Today in Focus: our new podcast bringing you the world in 20 minutes". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Asthana, Anushka [@AnushkaAsthana] (23 March 2021). "Really excited to be joining ITV news as deputy political editor to @peston working with the brilliant @amberdebotton once more! Really looking forward to joining a great team..." (Tweet). Retrieved 31 March 2021– via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Amy (30 March 2021). "ITV News hires Anushka Asthana as deputy political editor". ResponseSource. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Anushka Asthana and Sophy Ridge head all-female shortlist for BBC Political Editor". inews.co.uk. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
Media offices
Preceded by Political Editor of The Guardian
2016–2018
With: Heather Stewart 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Editor-at-large of The Guardian
2019–2021		Incumbent
Preceded by Deputy Political Editor of ITV News
2021–present		Incumbent
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