Sunetra Sen Narayan has varied work experience ranging from journalism and documentary film production to financial planning and teaching. She has worked as a print journalist for an international media group as their India correspondent for a number of years. She has also been associated with a non governmental organisation, producing public service documentary films which regularly aired on the national television channel, Doordarshan. Many of these films won critical acclaim at film festivals both in India and abroad.

Her research interests include international communications, development and telecommunications. She has presented academic papers at international conferences such as those organised by the International Communications Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Her research publications have appeared in journals such as Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly.

Sunetra Sen Narayan was awarded the Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Economics from Delhi University. She returned to academics in order to pursue the Master of Arts program in Telecommunications Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. She earned her doctorate in Mass Communications from the Pennsylvania State University, USA in 2002.

She is currently Associate Professor, New Media at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi. Her primary responsibilities include teaching and the establishment of the Centre for New Media and Policy at the IIMC. She is also working on a manuscript on the globalisation of television in India in the last decade.