Release: News Presenters

Al Jazeera English reveals line up of Doha News presenters ahead of global launch

8th November 2006 – Al Jazeera English, the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel announced today their talented team of news presenters based at their Doha headquarters ahead of their worldwide launch on 15th November 2006.

Al Jazeera English’s Director of News and Programmes, Steve Clark has assembled a team of experienced presenters from diverse backgrounds: Maryam Nemazee formerly of Russia Today, So Rahman from Granada TV, Kamahl Santamaria formerly of Sky News Australia and Sami Zeidan previously of CNBC.*

They join the following presenters who were previously announced to the press: Jane Dutton – who most recently worked as presenter/reporter on The Business of Development for CNBC Europe/US, David Foster who joined from Sky News, Shiulie Ghosh formerly of ITV News, Darren Jordon who was one of the main presenters at the BBC and Lauren Taylor former Economics Correspondent of ITV News.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

*Doha news presenters biographies
 
Jane Dutton is a presenter with extensive experience of international television news. Jane most recently worked as presenter/reporter on The Business of Development – a special series of 30-minute programmes that aired on CNBC Europe/US and as a freelance presenter for BBC World. Prior to these roles Jane worked for CNN as a presenter for their Morning International TV News, anchoring the network’s four half-hour morning shows, which attracted viewers from around the world. She also presented CNN’s travel show HotSpots from a different country every week with an estimated 250 million viewers reached per show. Jane also worked as a news correspondent for SABC, based in London, presenting news and drive-time shows for radio.

David Foster has over 34 years of experience as a journalist, covering stories in more than 50 countries. In the last year he has been in Finland, India, Mauritania, Western Sahara and most recently Afghanistan preparing reports for Al Jazeera English’s launch. He came to Al Jazeera English from Sky News, the UK-based satellite news channel, where for almost ten years he was a studio news presenter and business correspondent. In the 1980s (as senior correspondent for Britain’s first commercial TV breakfast news show – TV-am’s Good Morning Britain), he was in Beirut to report on the Lebanese civil war and was in Libya in 1986 when American warplanes bombed Tripoli. He moved to the US in 1988 to begin a 5 year stint as USA correspondent, based in Washington DC, for TV-am, before returning to the UK.

Shiulie Ghosh joined Al Jazeera English from ITV News where she was a correspondent and a presenter covering major events around the world. Her reporting from Thailand on the Asian tsunami was awarded the 2006 Alfred I. Dupont Columbia News Broadcasting Award and in 2001 Shiulie was named Best Television News Journalist at the British Telecom Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards. During the conflict in Kosovo, Shiulie was based in southern Italy, where she reported on the bombing missions flown by NATO crews. Post-conflict, she reported on the continuing tensions in the divided town of Mitrovica. Shiulie first joined ITV News as a general reporter in January 1998 and later spent three years as Home Affairs Editor of ITV News. Shiulie has covered a wide range of prominent domestic stories for ITV News including the 7/7 suicide attacks, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, and the death of the Queen Mother.

Darren Jordon joined Al Jazeera English from the BBC, where he regularly presented the One O’clock news and weekend news bulletins on BBC1. He often presented the flagship Ten O’clock news programme as well. Darren was one of the BBC’s most  experienced newsreaders, and also presented on Breakfast, BBC World and  News 24, the BBC’s 24-hour continuous news channel. Prior to his appointment to Breakfast news in 2001, he was the Special Reporter for the One O’Clock News. Darren’s career in journalism began as a sports broadcaster in South Africa in 1995. Darren joined BBC Sport as a broadcast journalist in 1998, as part of the BBC News 24 Sport team. In addition to news, Darren has presented and reported for many other BBC programmes, including the BBC’s D-Day anniversary coverage, the Lord Mayor’s Show and the current affairs programme 4×4. Darren has also presented location reports for the BBC’s Holiday programme, and has reported from Jamaica, Turkey, Cyprus, the USA and Dubai.

Maryam Nemazee has covered major stories in world news as a reporter and presenter. Previously she was a news anchor for the 24-hour, international English-language news channel, Russia Today, broadcasting across the world. As one of the channel’s main anchors Maryam covered high-profile stories such as the Iranian nuclear dispute, the War in Iraq, and the on-going Middle East conflict. In this role she developed a strong base of knowledge and understanding of world news, and particularly of key issues in the Middle East. Maryam has carried out live anchoring on world events such as the inauguration of Bolivia’s first indigenous President (the ascendancy of the left across Latin America), and the hospitalisation of former Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon.

So (Sohail) Rahman winner of a British Royal Television Society Award for his work in TV, brings to Al Jazeera English a wide range of expertise gained through 15 years of television reporting and presenting, including roles with Granada, ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and CNN. He was the first British Muslim man to host the ITV Granada regional news and also to present the ITV National News. For Granada Reports So made his mark as a location reporter in South Asia and the Middle East during the September 11th attacks in the United States, as the first ITV reporter to record the reaction inside Pakistan and throughout the region. In 2003 So won the Royal Television Society’s prestigious Best Television Presenter Award. He has also won the Best Presenter Award at the Asian Film Academy on three occasions for the BBC and twice for ITV Granada.

Kamahl Santamaria’s career encompasses roles in news, sports and business reporting across the Asia-Pacific region. For three years Kamahl was a business correspondent and presenter at Sky News Australia’s daily Sky Business Report. Prior to that, he spent three years in his native New Zealand, working on TV3’s flagship 6pm news bulletin 3 News – covering news and sport. Two of those years were as a reporter – specialising in sport, but also covering general news. Kamahl has covered major sporting events in New Zealand such as the America’s Cup 2000, and spent six months as a special project reporter working on the 2001 Atlantic Rowing Race, an international event dominated by New Zealanders in recent years.

Lauren Taylor has in-depth experience in television journalism with the UK’s ITV and ITN News. Lauren was formerly economics correspondent for ITV News, a role which saw her file major business stories, including the UK’s 2005 Budget, the launch in Toulouse of the new giant Airbus A380, and the future of the 35 hour week in France. Previously Lauren was a political correspondent for ITV News. Her assignments included reporting live on the US 2004 Presidential Election from the Bush headquarters. Lauren covered the UK Prime Minister’s controversial holidays in Italy and his visits to Washington. She also reported from the US on the aftermath of George W. Bush’s 2000 election victory. Before taking up her political brief, Lauren reported on a range of major stories including the death of Princess Diana, ETA violence in Spain, the IRA bombing of Manchester, the London Docklands bomb and BSE. Lauren joined ITN, who produce the news for ITV, as a graduate trainee in 1992.

Sami Zeidan is an award-winning journalist who, for more than a decade, has anchored, reported and executive produced with some of the biggest names in television. Prior to joining Al Jazeera English, Sami presented a number of shows broadcast on CNBC Arabia, CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia. He also presented and wrote news shows when with CNN International in the USA. Over the years Sami has reported from many a seat of power including the United Nations, the White House and The European Commission, as well as from conflict zones ranging from the Korean Peninsula to the different hotspots in the Middle East. As a news anchor and talk show host, Sami has interviewed a number of world leaders, from the legendary Nelson Mandela to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to Malaysian Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi among many other notable figures. Sami has also taught broadcast journalism courses at the prestigious University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, the first school of journalism in the world.

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About Al Jazeera English
 
Al Jazeera English is the world’s first English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East.
 
Broadcasting from within the Middle East, looking outwards, Al Jazeera English will set the news agenda and act as a bridge between cultures.
 
With unique access as the channel of reference for Middle East events, and broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, Al Jazeera English will balance the information flow from South to North, providing accurate, impartial and objective news for a global audience from a grass roots level, giving voice to different perspectives from under-reported regions around the world.
 
Al Jazeera English is building on the ground-breaking heritage of its sister Arab-language channel – Al Jazeera, which was responsible for changing the face of news within the Middle East, now extending that fresh perspective from regional to global. 

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