Shamim Ara Chowdhury ( bn, শামীম আরা চৌধুরী) is an English television and print journalist.
Early life and education
Chowdhury was born into a
Bengali Muslim
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the se ...
Chowdhury
Chowdhury is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminent people, while during British rule, the term was associate ...
family in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Her parents migrated from
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climat ...
,
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
(now
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
) to the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.
Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani
Muhammad Ataul Goni Osmani ( bn, মুহাম্মদ আতাউল গণি ওসমানী; 1 September 1918 – 16 February 1984), also known as ''Bangabir'' (the Hero of Bengal), was a Bengali military leader. Osmani's career ...
, the commander-in-chief of the
Bengali liberation forces, is her great uncle and grew up in the same household as her paternal grandfather, Azadur Rahman Chowdhury, who himself was the postmaster general of the
Sylhet district
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division.
History
Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...
.
Chowdhury has a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
from
Queen Mary University
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
, a
MSc from
Birkbeck College
, mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck.
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £4.3 m (2014)
, budget = £109 ...
, and a
post-graduate diploma
A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...
in newspaper journalism from
City University London
City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...
.
Career
Chowdhury started out in print journalism
and has written for a number of British national newspapers, including ''
The Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'', ''
The Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper and online newspaper, news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman ...
'', ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', and ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'', where she wrote a number of op-eds on a range of socio-political issues. She also used to have her own column in the English-language Bangladeshi newspaper, ''
Bangla Mirror
''The Bangla Mirror'' ( bn, বাংলা দর্পন) is a British English-language weekly newspaper marketed to British Bangladeshis. It is owned by the Bangla Mirror Group.
Content
The ''Bangla Mirror'' was launched in October 2002. I ...
''.
In 2007, Chowdhury started working for
Al Jazeera English as a deputy news editor. Her later roles included news editor, reporter and producer. She was based mainly in London, but also worked occasionally in the main news centre in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...
, Qatar.
She was involved in a wide range of stories for the channel, including the 2013 Ukraine crisis, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building complex in Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi elections. She was regarded as the channel's Bangladesh expert.
Since 2015, she has been working as a foreign correspondent for the Turkish television news channel,
TRT World
TRT World is a Turkish public broadcaster international news channel which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day, operated by the TRT and based in Taksim Square, Istıklal Avenue, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affairs ...
.
During this time she has reported from inside Syria, Iraq, South Korea, Jerusalem, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and many European countries. She also produced and reported an exclusive series of reports on Bangladesh's burgeoning economy, including a half-hour documentary of the subject.
Her interviews include former
Prime Minister of Turkey
The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Turkish Parliament and presided over the cab ...
Binali Yıldırım
Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Devel ...
;
Gowher Rizvi
Gowher Rizvi is a Bangladeshi historian, scholar and academic.
Currently he is the International Affairs adviser to the prime minister of Bangladesh. Prior to that he was MacArthur Fellow in International Relations at Nuffield College, Oxford Un ...
, the International Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh; and
Kamal Hossain
Kamal Hossain (born 20 April 1937) is a founding leader, lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "father of the Bangladeshi constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Hossain current ...
, a founding leader of Bangladesh.
She has also written extensively for ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' on a wide range of socio-political issues.
Her previous television experience includes work at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
,
ITN
Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...
, and
Sky News.
Chowdhury has taken part in current affairs and politics debates at The
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
and on live television discussion programmes.
Since October 2013, Chowdhury has been a judging panel member at the Asian Media Awards.
Personal life
Chowdhury is a
Muslim and lives in
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
.
She has visited more than 65 countries including parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. On one occasion, she worked with a leading charity to help build a community centre in a remote part of
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
.
See also
*
British Bangladeshi
British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term ...
*
List of British Bangladeshis
This is a list of notable British Bangladeshis ( bn, উল্লেখযোগ্য বিলাতী বাংলাদেশীদের তালিকা). This includes Bangladeshi immigrants settled or residing in the United Kingdom a ...
References
External links
*
Shamim Chowdhuryon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job s ...
Shamim Chowdhuryon ''
Al Jazeera English''
Shamim Chowdhuryon ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
Shamim Chowdhuryon My Action Aid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Shamim
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
English Muslims
English people of Bangladeshi descent
English women journalists
English television journalists
English newspaper editors
English columnists
British women columnists
Women newspaper editors
Muslim writers
British Asian writers
21st-century English women writers
Al Jazeera people
Daily Mail journalists
Daily Express people
The Daily Telegraph people
The Independent people
Bangla Mirror people
BBC newsreaders and journalists
Sky News newsreaders and journalists
ITN newsreaders and journalists
Journalists from London
Alumni of Queen Mary University of London
Alumni of City, University of London
British women television journalists
British women radio presenters