Kamal Siddiqi is an Australian journalist of
Pakistani and
Nigerian origin. He is currently the Director of
Center for Excellence in Journalism at
Institute of Business Administration in
Karachi. Previously, he was the editor of the ''
Express Tribune
''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Intern ...
'', the Pakistani affiliate of the ''
International Herald Tribune
The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
''. Before that, he was the Editor Reporting at ''
The News'' based in
Karachi. He has written for ''
The Age'' and ''
The Australian''. Topics he has written about include
religious minorities in Pakistan,
human rights,
democratic development
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
, and
rule of law
The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
.
Personal life
Siddiqi was born in
Kano,
Nigeria and raised in
Kano and
Karachi, Pakistan. He has lived in
London,
Islamabad,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Melbourne and
Karachi. He currently resides in Karachi, Pakistan, and has two children and a cat.
Career
Siddiqi was a business and financial journalist prior to turning to opinion writing and editing. In 1990, he started at ''The News'' as a copy editor on the city desk.
Siddiqi received a master's degree from Karachi University. In 1994, he was awarded the Britannia Scholarship and completed a master's of science degree in media studies from the
London School of Economics.
After obtaining his masters in 1995, he was appointed Pakistan Correspondent for the
Asia Times, a Bangkok-based daily. Siddiqi remained at Asia Times until 1998 when he moved to
Dow Jones News Wires. During this period, he was the country writer for the
Economist Intelligence Unit country forecast report (EIU) for Pakistan and joined
Dawn as a member of the editorial board and lead writer.
Siddiqi served as a lecturer at the
Karachi University's Department of Journalism, where he has continued to lecture after his family returned to Pakistan from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in the early 2000s.
In 2001, Siddiqi started work as a lecturer on journalism at the
Gippsland Campus of
Monash University in
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...
. Between 2002 and 2003, he authored the book ''The internet journalist'' and edited ''Journos on Journalism''.
Later in 2003, after living in Australia for Pakistan, Siddiqi rejoined the editorial board of ''Dawn''. In 2005, he joined ''The News'' as editor reporting, where he oversaw the city pages in Karachi and the national business pages. In 2007, Siddiqi re-launched the city pages at ''The News''.
In 2009, Siddiqi joined The Express Tribune as its launch editor. He oversees four print editions (Karachi,
Lahore,
Islamabad and
Peshawar) and the online edition.
In 2012, Siddiqi became a Draper Hills Summer Fellow, hosted by the
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
In 2016, he became Director of the Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi, after he resigned from The Express Tribune.
Political viewpoint
In a 2011 interview with ''Global Journalist'', Siddiqi explained that he seeks to report on Pakistan in a positive light. He stated, "I think most of the news about Pakistan is negative that you see – not just in America, but in other parts of the world. But I feel that more should be told about the good things that are happening in Pakistan." In the same interview, he took a pro-democracy stance, stating that the biggest problem in Pakistan is "Extremism, religious extremism." and that "the biggest solution is democracy."
Bibliography
* Kamal Siddiqi (Ed.): ''Journos on journalism'', Monash University, Melbourne, 2003,
* Kamal Siddiqi, Churchill, Victoria: ''The internet journalist'', CeLTS, Monash University, 2002,
References
External links
Columns on The Express Tribune WebsiteInterview by Global Journalist Staff April 22, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqi, Kamal
Pakistani male journalists
Living people
Muhajir people
Pakistani expatriates in Nigeria
University of Karachi alumni
Journalists from Karachi
Pakistani expatriates in Australia
Year of birth missing (living people)