Samira Ahmed

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This article is about the British journalist. For the American author, see Samira Ahmed (author).

Samira Ahmed
documentarian and news presenter
Websitewww.samiraahmed.blog Edit this at Wikidata

Samira Ahmed (born 15 June 1968) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster at the

Proms for BBC Four.[4]

Ahmed's writing has appeared in several British publications including

Sunday Morning Live, a topical discussion programme on BBC One
from 2012 to 2013.

Early life

Ahmed was born in Wandsworth, south London,[6] to Athar[7] and Lalita (née Chatterjee, born 1939, Lucknow)[8] Ahmed. Her mother is a TV presenter, actress, chef and writer on Indian cookery[9] who previously worked for the Hindi service of the BBC World Service in Bush House as well as All India Radio in India.[10] Samira attended Wimbledon High School, an independent day school for girls, and edited the school magazine.[11][12][13]

Ahmed read English at

John Craven's Newsround, was an inspirational figure for her, as was broadcaster Shyama Perera,[17] who was working in Fleet Street at around the same time.[19]

Journalism career

Ahmed talks with
Conway Hall
.

Ahmed became a BBC news trainee in 1990. After two years on attachments, she began to work as a network radio reporter in 1992 on such programmes as

O. J. Simpson civil trial.[4][22]

Ahmed briefly worked for

BBC News 24 before taking maternity leave.[21]

Ahmed joined Channel 4 News in April 2000, and became a presenter in July 2002. In June 2011, she left Channel 4, and went freelance.[23]

In 2009, Ahmed won the "Broadcaster of the Year" category at the annual

Space 1999 costume.[25][26]

From 2011 to 2013, she was a regular newspaper reviewer on

Newswatch on the BBC News Channel.[27]

She has been a Visiting Professor of Journalism at Kingston University and a regular contributor to The Big Issue.[28]

In September 2019, she interviewed Margaret Atwood about the novelist's new book The Testaments at the National Theatre, which was simulcast to more than 1,000 cinemas around the world as part of National Theatre Live.[29]

In June 2020, BBC Four aired Art of Persia, a three-part study presented by Ahmed of the history and culture of Iran.[30] A long‑time admirer of the Supermarionation works of Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson, Ahmed voiced a character in the similarly produced Nebula-75. The character, Juliette Destiny, was also modelled to resemble the journalist.[31] She reprised the role for a second episode in 2021.[32]

In November 2021, Ahmed interviewed Paul McCartney and poet Paul Muldoon about their book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present at the Royal Festival Hall. On 3 April 2023, Ahmed revealed her discovery of the earliest complete concert recording of the Beatles performing live in the UK on a special edition of Front Row on Radio 4.[33] The tape was made by 15-year-old student John Bloomfield at Stowe Boarding School on 4 April 1963.[34][35] She subsequently broadcast extracts on Front Row from a second Stowe tape made the same night over dinner by the tuck shop master, after his daughters contacted her about their recording.[36]

Ahmed has championed the cultural re-assessment of morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse in 2022 after studying 30 years of her campaign diaries,[37][38] and the comedy series The Goodies in 2024.[39]

Ahmed has been awarded honorary doctorates by City, University of London,[40] the University of East Anglia,[41] Kingston University,[42] and the University of Winchester.[43]

She is a trustee of the Centre for Women’s Justice,[44] a member of the blue plaques panel for Historic England,[45] and sits on the advisory board for the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.[46]

Equal pay tribunal

Ahmed filed legal proceedings against the BBC under the Equality Act 2010 in October 2019.[47] The London Central Employment Tribunal unanimously found in her favour on 10 January 2020.[48][49] On 24 February 2020, it was announced that a settlement had been reached with the BBC, but no figure for this was made public.[50] In a 2020 interview with The Observer she revealed that a 1975 episode of The Goodies about newsroom sexism inspired her during the tribunal process.[51]

Personal life

Ahmed lives in London and has a son and a daughter.[52]

References

  1. ^ Cubbin, Sophie (22 January 2019). "Journalist Samira Ahmed awarded honorary doctorate". City, University of London.
  2. ^ http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/2020/03/samira-ahmed-accepts-her-award-as-audio-presenter-of-the-year/
  3. ^ Ahmed, Samira. "Archive on Four:Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse". BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Samira Ahmed". BBC Newswatch. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  5. OCLC 633451253
    . Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Birth record"
  7. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4
    . Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Lalita Ahmed". IMDb.
  9. ^ "Celebrity Masterchef: Its part in my downfall". Samira Ahmed: Journalist, Writer, Broadcaster. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Samira Ahmed: My Life in Media". The Independent. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009.
  11. Condé Nast Publications
    . 21 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Doing the groundwork". Verve – the Annual Magazine for the GDST Alumnae Network (16/17): 10–11. 7 February 2017.
  13. ^ https://issuu.com/wimbledonhighschool/docs/gdst-life-alumnae-magazine-2022-23
  14. ^ "Five Honorary Fellows Sworn in at St Edmund Hall". St Edmund Hall, Oxford. 16 October 2019.
  15. ^ a b About Samira Ahmed.
  16. ^ Past Lecturers Archived 4 August 2012 at archive.today Philip Geddes Memorial Fund.
  17. ^ a b Rabiah Malik, Samira Ahmed Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Chick and Quill, City University alumni website, 23 February 2011.
  18. ^ Samira Ahmed, "Newsround, racism and me", The Guardian, 29 September 2011.
  19. ^ Shyama Perera, "How I have come to love the flag", The Independent, 4 June 2006.
  20. ^ Ahmed, Samira (3 December 2003). "My Greatest Mistake: Samira Ahmed, presenter, Channel 4 News". The Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  21. ^ a b Harris, Rob; Ahmed, Samira (14 March 2005). "How to be... Samira Ahmed". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Samira Ahmed Biography". Manchester Evening News. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  23. ^ Sweney, Mark (6 June 2011). "Samira Ahmed to leave Channel 4". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  24. ^ "2009 winners". Stonewall. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009.
  25. ^ a b Samira Ahmed (30 December 2010). "Celebrity Mastermind: memories of the black leather chair". Channel 4.
  26. ^ Ahmed, Samira (26 November 2010). "Spirit of the frontier". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  27. ^ "Samira Ahmed takes over from Ray Snoddy as Newswatch presenter". Press Gazette. 3 October 2012.
  28. ^ "Presenters". Sunday. BBC Radio 4.
  29. ^ Fraser, Garnet (7 March 2019). "Margaret Atwood interview to air live in cinemas to promote Handmaid's Tale sequel". The Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  30. ^ "Samira Ahmed - The Art of Persia". BBC Four. 29 June 2020.
  31. ^ Sci-Fi Bulletin: Samira Ahmed Interview
  32. ^ "For the Ashes of His Fathers", Nebula-75, IMDB
  33. ^ Ahmed, Samira (3 April 2023). "Front Row". BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds.
  34. ^ Ahmed, Samira (3 April 2023). "The Beatles: How a schoolboy made the band's earliest known UK concert recording". BBC News.
  35. ^ Ahmed, Samira (9 April 2023). "It was 60 years ago today… schoolboy's tape of the Beatles transports us to an era of optimism". The Guardian.
  36. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, The Beatles at Stowe, Nick Drake, Maggi Hambling". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  37. ^ "Was moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse ahead of her time?". BBC News. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  38. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  39. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  40. ^ "A time for celebration at City's winter graduations | City, University of London". www.city.ac.uk. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  41. ^ "Ahmed, Samira – Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law (2022) - About". www.uea.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  42. ^ "Broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed awarded honorary degree from Kingston University for contribution to journalism and gender equality". www.kingston.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  43. ^ "First group of Winchester university students enjoy graduation ceremony". Hampshire Chronicle. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  44. ^ "Our People". Centre for Women's Justice. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  45. ^ "Meet the Blue Plaques Panel | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  46. ^ "About us | National Science and Media Museum, Bradford". www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  47. ^ "Samira Ahmed takes BBC to court over equal pay". BBC News Online. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  48. ^ "Samira second episode in the series reveals how the country has proudly held onto its Persian identity, art and literature to this dayAhmed wins BBC equal pay tribunal". BBC News Online. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  49. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
    . 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  50. ^ "Samira Ahmed reaches settlement with BBC". BBC News Online. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  51. ISSN 0029-7712
    . Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  52. ^ Mulley, Laura (18 October 2015). "News presenter Samira Ahmed: As a woman, you'll always be judged on what you wear". The Daily Express. Retrieved 2 August 2019.

External links

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