Five years in high-paced newsrooms. Went through a lot of changes, but some things never changed: my love for writing, honing my skill, owning my work, and positioning it amongst the right audience. Delhi based. Read globally.
Delhi · IST
I'm Syed Talib Haider. You can literally call me any one of those 3 names. Ever since I started graduation in 2020, I have done internships and projects in web writing. Then, I got my big break in 2021, and that started my journey of 5 years in high-paced newsrooms. I remember when I wrote my first article, I still couldn't believe seeing it published on the frontend. But since then, there's been no looking back. Climbed into the editor's chair, then took on content management. Multiple hats over the years. But one thing stayed key the whole time: the writing, and understanding the audience psychology so that I adapt my art according to the space it's going to live in.
Audience psychology is the thing people overlook. But writing is only worth it if you know the channels that you can sell it in. Just like a piece of art. See, Banksy, he knows where to place his art and how to do that. He has an art piece for every location. That's a good artist. Similarly, a good writer knows how to write different pieces for different audiences. It's important to double down on what's working and bin what isn't via tracking traffic and trends. My time as an Affiliate Content Producer at The Sporting News added a brand layer to that. Content has to rank AND convert revenue, and the audience psychology underneath is the same one that fuels good brand strategy.
Then comes AI integration. I'll be honest, many traditionalists are still skeptical for good reason. Growth-first newsrooms learned to use the tools. I sit firmly in the second camp. Built a Strategic AI Stack around Gemini and Claude for the heavy lifting: trend extraction, competitor scans, fact-check. The machine handles the heavy lifting, while I fry my brain wholly and solely on narration. AI can't replace the storyteller, but it will kill the average writer scrambling to position his work.
Outside the desk: cinephile. Preminger, Hitchcock, Wilder, Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg. I've rinsed the canon and I keep going back. Liverpool on weekends. Reading when the slump lifts. A self-published poetry collection, Almost, Always, sitting on Pothi and Lulu.
The foundation stays the same: writing, and a command of the language. Writing is an art form. The artist's job: keep honing the craft, own the work, stay ready to adapt.
Authored the founding proposal of The Scribblers' Nest, JIMS (GGSIPU) Vasant Kunj's literary society, addressed to our director Dr. Ravi K. Dhar. The plan ran across book discussions, slam poetry, an inter-college Lit Fest, short story contests, a quarterly journal, and author webinars in English, Hindi, and Urdu. Founded the society and served as its first President. Still active on Instagram and LinkedIn five years on.
Generated 2M+ Google Discover clicks via a Kirk Cousins career-move feature on the ES NFL desk. Built the headline and angle around audience intent and algorithm signals at the time of publish.
Drove 1.75M combined Apple News views during the April 2026 Google update by shifting PFSN's focus toward high-intent audience segments. Apple News held the line while Discover wavered industry-wide.
Lead ideation and headline planning across peak NFL cycles: Super Bowl LX, NFL Combine, and the Draft. Helped drive 1.75M Apple News views during the April 2026 Google update by shifting toward high-intent audience segments. Built AI-assisted editorial systems and audited YouTube audio scripts. Edited 5,000+ articles to date.
Promoted from Writer to Senior Writer in three months, then to Editor inside a year. Only NFL journalist selected for the Journalist Excellence Program. Generated 2M+ Discover clicks via the Kirk Cousins feature, contributed to 3M views in 24 hours during Super Bowl LIX, and held #1 on Google for three weeks with the Gronkowski exclusive. Ran the newsletter editorial role and mentored junior writers.
500+ articles for affiliate partners across five markets. Adapted coverage styles for different audiences and engagement patterns. Built sports content that balanced traffic performance, readability, and conversion goals.
Scaled the football category from 50k to 100k+ average monthly views inside 60 days through lifestyle-focused and cross-sport content. Led a team of five writers from trend spotting to publish. Edited and published 1,500+ articles across Tennis, NFL, F1, and Football.
Fast-turn Premier League transfer coverage built around search rankings, publishing speed, and audience engagement.
Generative AI workflows for content strategy, prompt engineering, and automated competitor analysis.
View certificate ↗Founded and led the university's Literary Society, The Scribblers' Nest.
Scribblers' Nest on Instagram ↗Almost, Always. A self-published poetry collection carried by readers who've been around since the early writing days. Print distribution through Pothi for India and Lulu for the global circuit.
Editorial operations, AI workflow consulting, contributor roles, or a coffee on Delhi time. Drop a line.
syedtalibhaider02@gmail.com