Meet some of the Asian journalists doing inspiring things in local journalism
Asian journalists inspiring others in local news
By Shuiab Khan & Lynda Moyo
This week we want to celebrate the contributions of Asian journalists and columnists in your newsrooms.
We asked you to forward your nominations of journalists, reporters and writers in your teams. Regardless of what level they were employed in — we wanted to highlight their work.
We are delighted that so many of you responded and wanted to shine a light on those who are helping to blaze a trail within all our communities. This is not a definitive list in any way and I am sure there are many more who deserve an equal amount of praise.
Much of regional journalism relies heavily on local knowledge and by encouraging a more diverse newsroom helps us to engage with communities from all backgrounds. This is important for how we report and what we report.
Thank you to everyone you sent in a nomination of their team member and also congratulations to everyone listed here.
Please do feel to get in touch if you would want us to add to this list.
Arif Ansari, currently Head of News at BBC Asian Network
Arif has blazed a trail through journalism for years at the BBC, including a stint at Westminster as political reporter and editor — one of the parts of journalism which has the most change to make.
Arun Arora, Columnist, The Northern Echo
Arun, a vicar in the city of Durham, writes a weekly column with a religious slant in which he is prepared to tackle the news of the day, as well. For example, he recently wrote about the muted response of some politicians to the Black Lives Matter agenda. He is a columnist who is not afraid to say it how he sees it.
Jasbir Authi, Reporter, BirminghamLive/Birmingham Mail
Jasbir is a live reporter par excellence, with a contacts book that gets her insights and reaction others can only dream about. She loves the hustle and bustle of breaking news, and loves covering all areas of Birmingham, but especially the district she grew up in.
Arash Bahrami, Football Multimedia Producer, Manchester Evening News
Arash is behind the Manchester is Red and Talking City podcasts at the Manchester Evening News, as well as lots of video which helps bring the MEN’s sports coverage to different audiences. Arash is a creative force who discovers new audiences for the MEN’s sports work.
Sanjeeta Bains, What’s On Writer, BirminghamLive
Sanjeeta lives and breathes Birmingham’s vibrant dining and nightlife culture. She’s completely invested in helping the sector thrive, and has kept its flame burning even through lockdown, making sure readers know about all the innovative ways restaurants and bars have kept their businesses going.
Rahila Bano, North West Asian Affairs Specialist, BBC Multimedia Reporter
Rahila has been covering news from across the North West for more than 25 years. Her focus is on original journalism for TV, radio, online and digital output. Rahila has excellent contacts within diverse communities and covers stories that would otherwise be overlooked. She is also really helpful to anyone new coming into the industry.
Amardeep Bassey, Freelance Investigative Journalist
Amardeep’s engaging style has benefited Reach staff undergoing race editorial training. Always accessible and friendly, he uses his vast experience to develop others — a brilliant asset in an editorial leader.
Saiqa Chaudhari, Education Correspondent, Bolton News
Saiqa’s coverage of Bolton during the pandemic has been second to none. Having covered Bolton for more than a decade now her contacts can’t be matched and she has been the first to break numerous stories on coronavirus — from the very first case in the town to confirming the outbreak of the Indian variant in Bolton. In the last six months that she has stepped up to take on more responsibility on newsdesk but insisted on being able to keep reporting too — it’s just what she does and what she loves. She is a credit to The Bolton News and the town and the newspaper is lucky to have her.
Aasma Day, newly-appointed Northern correspondent for the i newspaper
Aasma has inspired everyone who has worked with her. She started on the Preston Reporter and moved on to a number of roles at the Lancashire Evening Post before being asked to set up the Johnston Press investigations unit, which was pioneering at the time. She always puts people at the heart of her stories, and makes complex issues relevant and readable for readers.
Naomi de Souza, Community News Reporter, CoventryLive
Naomi is a reporter who brings her passion for her patch into every story she writes. As a Coventry native she constantly shows how embedded she is in the life of the city in her human interest, nostalgia and community stories.
Aran Dhillon, Local Democracy Reporter, Warrington Guardian
As a BBC Local Democracy Reporter based with the Warrington Guardian Aran is one of the most dedicated, hard-working and professional journalists in his field. Well respected in Warrington not only by colleagues but also residents and politicians, his local democracy work has been invaluable in providing a trusted and valued source of news and information throughout the Covid pandemic.
As well as being instrumental in helping to drive the Guardian’s Back Our Businesses campaign to support firms most affected by lockdown, Aran dedicates his own time to voluntarily assisting charitable organisations within his Sikh community. Aran also makes regular television appearances on the Sikh Channel in addition to his local democracy work.
Minreet Kaur, Reporter, local news and radio
Minreet has brought diverse stories to the media, getting into the heart of the community and highlighted those human stories that we don’t hear from. She has won report of the year for her dad, ‘Skipping Sikh’.
Shirish Kulkarni, Community Organiser
Shirish is continuously pushing boundaries for our industry. He led on the Bureau’s Decolonising the News project and regularly supports local community reporters in meaningful ways.
Waseem Mirza, Presenter/Reporter
Waseem described by a member of the public: “I remember how he came with a cameraman to report on stabbings in my neighbourhood. He was so professional even though my assigned carer was trying to stop him speaking to me, but I wanted to talk, and he gave me my voice. I’ll never forget that.”
Ismail Mulla, Business Reporter, Yorkshire Post
Ismail is very creative in what can be quite a traditional space — business reporting. He always pushes new ideas in areas like video and social media and inspires aspiring journalists through his work and lectures.
Alima Nadeem, Reporter, Lancashire Telegraph
Alima has been wonderful in picking up some really fantastic stories throughout the past year. It has been difficult for everyone working from home but Alima has always looked at new ways with how the Lancashire Telegraph can engage with audiences. She has been hosting her own Zoom meetings with community groups to celebrate events. She has always kept the team updated and entertained with what is going across the showbiz world.
Gurjeet Nanrah, Life Writer, NottinghamshireLive
Gurjeet is just a brilliant human being. Passionate and hard working, this young journalist gives everything to his work and to telling people’s stories. We need as many more Gurjeet Nanrah’s as we can possibly get. Gurjeet is a popular member of the newsroom who is really making a great name for himself.
Asha Patel, Community Reporter, LeicestershireLive
Asha has found and reported on some amazing stories that have helped bring a new Asian audience to the Leicester Mercury and LeicestershireLive. She deserves to be commended for her dedicated and hard work over the past year. She is approachable, understanding and empathetic and it shows in her work along with her attention to detail. She loves to get a story out that is at the heart of Leicestershire — the stories people want to read about.
Adnan Rashid, Community Reporter, Burton Mail
Adnan has made great inroads into diverse communities in Burton and around Staffordshire.He has really grown as a reporter and is a valued member of the newsroom, giving a voice to people who are sometimes overlooked in media coverage. Since the first lockdown he has interviewed taxi drivers and independent shopkeepers to find out how they have been affected. There have been positive stories too, reporting on the communities who have rallied together to raise money, cook meals, or make donations to key workers. He is working hard to develop trust in the community.
Priyanka Raval, Journalist, BCfm Radio (The Bristol Agenda) and The Bristol Cable
Priyanka covered the toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol. She threw herself into the thick of the activity interviewing protesters alone even though she suffered verbal abuse from several of them. A very brave, intelligent and thoughtful journalist.
Amit Roy, Correspondent, Telegraph
Amit Roy has worked for mainstream media such as the Times and The Telegraph as well as Asian ones such as Asian Age and Garvi Gujarat publications. At present, Amit covers mainstream arts and news for the Kolkata-based Telegraph daily.
Fahad Tariq, Reporter, Stoke-on-TrentLive
Fahad is a highly capable reporter who has an excellent telephone manner with people, really engages his subjects and gets the best interviews out of them.
Gurdip Thandi, Local Democracy Reporter
He’s a fearless and conscientious journalist who has a wealth of experience at regional and local level. He was recognised as BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service Journalist of the Year last year and rightly so. It’s clear that he is trusted by his contacts, has a great news sense and is an accomplished reporter able to cover a huge range of stories. He is also modest and a lovely supportive colleague.
