Aasmah Mir
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Aasmah Mir (born 7 October 1971; pronounced like "azma mere") is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Mir was born to first-generation Pakistani immigrants[1] and brought up in a five-bedroom detached Victorian house in the suburb of Bearsden, near Glasgow, from the age of ten.[2][3] She graduated from the University of Bristol with an honours law degree in 1993.[4]
Journalism
In 1995 Mir had a brief stint as a reporter for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, then became a radio researcher. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the Sunday Herald.[4]
Broadcasting career
Television
Mir began her career in broadcasting in 1992 appearing on a BBC TV programme called The Insiders with Gordon Kennedy.[1] After graduation she joined Scottish Television aged 21 as a trainee and read the early morning news bulletins,[1] and presented the main news show.[1]
She presented a couple of editions of the documentary strand for BBC Two called East[4] in 1996 and some items on Desi DNA.[4] In 1998 she became a reporter for Central TV in Nottingham.
Mir has also presented Just Write on Channel 4 and Around Scotland on BBC Two.[4] In 2010 she became a newspaper reviewer on GMTV with Lorraine and Lorraine.[2]
Radio
In 1999 Mir moved to London as a producer for BBC Radio London and started doing freelance news-reading shifts for the national radio station BBC Radio 5 Live. She joined the station full-time in July 2001.
In April 2006 she covered the weekday morning phone in programme on BBC Asian Network for a fortnight when Sonia Deol left the programme, and before Anita Rani became presenter. She has presented items on the BBC Asian Network Report.[4]
Mir presented the Midday News on 5 Live, Monday to Friday, until 9 January 2009. She joined BBC Scotland in April 2009 as a presenter of the Friday edition of Good Morning Scotland.[1] Also in 2009 she presented a series of programmes for BBC Radio 4 on Scotland's Year of Homecoming,[1][5] as well as Colour Me White for Radio 4, and Gay Life After Saddam for Radio 5 Live. In 2010 she replaced Anita Anand as a presenter of Radio 5 Live's Drive programme. In March 2012, for one week, she sat in for Jeremy Vine on his BBC Radio 2 programme.
On 27 September 2012 Mir announced on Twitter that she planned to leave BBC 5 Live, after 11 years with the station. Mir presented her last 5 Live Drive on 9 November 2012. On 29 October 2012 Mir presented BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour. She has since presented the LBC 97.3 afternoon show as a substitute for Julia Hartley-Brewer.
She is a co-presenter of BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live (radio series).
Personal life
Mir is married to Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe.[6][7] Mir is an avid fan of Celtic.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Aasmah Mir: Scotland’s not my home any more Times Online, 22 November 2009
- ^ a b Barry, Maggie (31 October 2010). "Scots drivetime BBC radio host on fighting talk fuelling on-air duels". Sunday Mail. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ Williams, Tessa (7 January 2013). "At home with... Aasmah Mir". The Scotsman.
- ^ a b c d e f Aasmah Mir Biography Archived 30 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine BBC Press Office, May 2010
- ^ A Very Scottish Homecoming Radio Listings, November 2009
- ^ a b "Sectarian row chief married to Celtic fan". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
- ^ Powar condemns high profile remarks; British Eurosport
External sources
- Aasmah Mir Sunday Herald, 7 August 2005
- Asian Network Reports Special BBC Asian Network – Documentary presented by Mir on Asian Network Report