Rizwan Khan
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Rizwan Khan, also known as Riz Khan (born April 1962 in Aden, South Yemen) is a British television news reporter and interviewer, who first rose to prominence while working for the BBC and CNN. He currently hosts his own television show on Al Jazeera English.
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[edit] Career
Khan was born in Aden under British rule to a Punjabi-British father[1] and Yemenese mother. His mother's roots go back to Kutch in the Indian state of Gujarat while father's roots hail from Kashmir. Khan moved with his family to London, England at the age of four. He attended Wood Green High School and joined the Air Training Corps, graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Medical Physiology from the University of Wales, and then completed a postgraduate course in Radio Journalism at the University of Portsmouth.
In 1987 he was selected for the BBC News Trainee scheme - a two year BBC training system, usually taking only 6 people per course. Khan progressed to jobs as a BBC Reporter, Producer, and Writer, working in both television and radio, and would later become one of the founding News Presenters on BBC World Service Television News. He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991. In 1993, he moved to CNN International, where he became a senior anchor for the network's global news shows. Events he covered included the 1996 and 1999 coverage of elections in India; the 1997 historic election in Britain; and in April 1998 the unprecedented live coverage from the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj.
In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show CNN: Q&A with Riz Khan, and he has conducted interviews with guests including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, and genomic scientist J. Craig Venter. Khan also secured the world exclusive with Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf following his coup in October 1999. Khan also hosted Q&A-Asia with Riz Khan. These interactive shows put world newsmakers and celebrities up for viewer questions live by phone, e-mail, video-mail and fax, along with questions and comments taken from the real-time chatroom that opens half-an-hour before each show.
Khan currently hosts the Riz Khan Show on Al Jazeera English. On his show, Khan interviews analysts and policy makers and allows viewers to interact with them via phone, email, SMS messages or fax.
Khan speaks Urdu and Hindi, the national languages of Pakistan and India, and understands other South Asian languages such as Punjabi and Kutchi. He has studied French, and can understand some other European languages, including Swedish.[citation needed] On 19 February 2001 in an interview with India Today Mr Khan stated, "I speak better Hindi than most Mumbaikars."[citation needed]
In 2005 he authored his first book, Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince, published by Harper Collins.
[edit] Controversy
When asked by CNN’s Frank Sesno “Is Hamas a terrorist organization?”, Khan replied “I’m not one to judge.” When then asked “Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization?”, he said, “Same thing, you know, I’m not going to judge.” Khan's statements led to strong criticism from American conservative media analyst L. Brent Bozell III.[2] Many of the world's major leading media organisations ask their staff to avoid the word 'terrorist' or 'terrorism,' viewing it to be a barrier to understanding. [3]
[edit] References
- http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB111862259989457599-Ihjg4Nllad4n5yqZ4KHcKiJm5.html "Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera," op-ed by Riz Khan, Wall Street Journal 13 June 2005, p. A1
- http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20010219/mscape2.shtml
