Shahid Masood ( ur, ) is a Pakistani columnist and political analyst who hosts the talk show ''Live with Dr. Shahid Masood'' on GNN. He is known for his series ''End of Time'' on ARY''.'' Previously, he served as Group executive director of

Geo TV Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October 2 ...

and senior Executive Director of

ARY Digital Network ARY Digital Network ( ur, ) is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service call ...

. In 2008, he was briefly appointed as the managing director and chairman of

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

and also served as the special assistant to then-Prime Minister of Pakistan

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

with the status of a minister of state in the

Gillani ministry The Gilani ministry began its operation into office on 31 March 2008 after Yousaf Raza Gillani was elected as Prime minister of Pakistan by the National Assembly on 25 March 2008. The swearing-in of the cabinet was delayed for a few days until M ...

Personal life and education

Masood was born to a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

Kakazai The Kakazai ( ps, کاکازي / ککےزي / ککازي, Urdu, fa, ), also known as Loi, Loe, or Loye Mamund ( ps, لوی ماموند; ur, لو ئے / لوئی مَاموند ), a division of the Mamund clan, are part of the larger Tarka ...

family in Karachi. In a 2004 interview to ''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businessmen, executives and diplomats. At least as of ...

'', Masood said that his father was a civil engineer in Saudi Arabia who worked there for 15 years while, his mother is a teacher. According to him, he spent his childhood in

Taif Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...

and

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

. For seven years, he went to the Pakistan International School in Riyadh. According to Arab News, He is married and has two daughters and a son. Two of his younger brothers were born in Saudi Arabia so the country is close to him. He is a medical doctor by profession. He received an

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

degree from

Jinnah Sindh Medical University Jinnah Sindh Medical University (), formerly known as ''Sindh Medical College'', is a medical university in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It gained university status in June 2012. History Jinnah Sindh Medical University, formerly known as Sindh Med ...

. Masood did his major in International Relations and Defence Studies from the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

Career in journalism

ARY news executive and PTV Chairman (2001–08)

Masood became affiliated with the media in 2001. He initially served as the senior Executive Director of

, where he served as the chief of ARY One World (now known as

ARY News ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Ne ...

), and hosted the show ''Views on News''. In 2005, Masood received a scholarship with

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. He also carried out coverage of the three wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. In 2007, Masood joined

as its Group Executive Director where he hosted the TV show ''Meray Mutabaq''. In June 2008, Masood was appointed as the Chairman of

(PTV) with the additional charge of Managing Director at PTV on a two-year contract. However, in November 2008 he resigned from his position as chairman and managing director of PTV. Following the resignation, he was appointed as special assistant to the then-Prime Minister of Pakistan

with the status of a minister. According to '' Daily Times'', Masood was asked to resign from PTV by the then-President of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...

. According to ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'', this came following mounting tensions between Masood and the then-Minister of Information

Sherry Rehman Sherry Rehman ( ur, ; born 21 December 1960) is a Pakistani politician, journalist and former diplomat who has been the member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2015. She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from March to ...

when the former refused to take back deputy managing director PTV Shahid Nadeem and cancelled his reinstatement orders. Masood also suspended PTV director administration and personnel, and issued him a show-cause notice for complying with the prime minister's orders and allowing Nadeem to rejoin the organization as deputy MD. Ministry of Information was also dissatisfied by the audit of PTV under Masood's chairmanship and his decision to increase salaries of PTV staff at the time of a financial crunch. Masood was reportedly drawing a monthly salary of and was appointed without a consultation with Minister of Information. Masood was supposed to pay six months' salary to PTV in case of resigning as per contract terms, which however was waived by the then-prime minister.

Geo News, ARY News, Express News, CNBC Pakistan, News One, Bol News, GNN (2008 since)

Masood again joined

Geo News Geo News is a Rank Number 1 Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. History The Geo Television Network started out with the launch of its flagship channel Geo TV in October 2002 but has since launched several other channels whic ...

and Meray Mutabiq in November 2008 before shifting to Views on News on

in 2010. Masood started hosting his current affairs show Shahid Nama on Express News in 2011. The show followed a similar pattern to his earlier current affairs and politics. Before General Election 2013, Masood joined Royal News for the election coverage. In December 2013, he joined Jaag TV (formerly CNBC Pakistan) where he hosted his show Live with Dr. Shahid Masood. In 2014, he joined News One (Pakistani TV channel) and started a show ''Live with Dr. Shahid Masood'', as a guest journalist. The show then shifted to

in February 2016, and then on Bol News from late 2016 till February 2017. The show then returned to News One (Pakistani TV channel) on 14 February 2017. Masood also had presented documentary on

Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology ( ar, علم آخر الزمان في الإسلام, ) is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times. It is primarily based on hypothesis and speculations based on sources from t ...

entitled ''End of Time: The Hidden Truth'' in 2004 from

. He then refreshed and represented them as ''The Lost Chapters'' from News One (Pakistani TV channel) in 2015, ''Final Call'' from

in 2016 and ''The Moment'' from News One (Pakistani TV channel) in 2017. In 2019 he left News One (Pakistani TV channel) and joined GNN News as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

where he hosts the show "''Live With Dr Shahid Masood''".

Controversies and subsequent lawsuits

In 2010, ''

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 ...

'' reported that a Karachi resident filed a petition against Masood and asked the court to take action against him for encouraging cultural hatred through his TV show. In 2013, ''

'' reported that an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan ordered Masood to telecast an apology for telecasting derogatory remarks on the judiciary after which Masood submitted written apologies before the court. In March 2016, Finance Minister of Pakistan

Ishaq Dar Muhammad Ishaq Dar ( ur, ; born ) is Pakistani accountant and member of the Senate serving as the 42nd Finance Minister of Pakistan since September 28, 2022. Dar was declared a Proclaimed Offender in 2017 and 2022, respectively. After his ...

sent a legal notice to Masood for allegedly leveling baseless allegations in his TV programme and demanded that Masood offer an apology and pay compensation. In August 2016,

PEMRA Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for regulating and issuing channel licenses for establishment of the mass media culture, print a ...

imposed a 45-day ban on Shahid Masood's show airing on the ARY News after Masood alleged in a programme that the chief justice of

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in ...

took a bribe and later did not fulfil his promises. He was also banned from participating in any other TV show during this 45-day period. In January 2017, Ishaq Dar again sent a legal notice to Bol News, demanding an apology for false and defamatory statements, aired in Masood's show on 24 January. On 13 February, PEMRA decided to ban his show for 30 days, and fine was charged on the channel for making baseless allegations against the federal ministers for finance and defence. In March 2018, JIT declared that Masood's report about Zainab murder case was false and baseless, for which he was banned for 3 months from hosting his TV show by the Supreme Court. He resumed hosting the show on 21 June 2018 on News One. In November 2018, he was arrested by FIA in the PTV corruption case.

Books

*''Views on news'', Lahore : Mavra, 2004, 238 p. Current political social issues, views of author expressed in a talk show telecast on

ARY Digital ''ARY Digital'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani pay television network available in Pakistan, the Middle East, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob ...

channel. *''End of time'', Lahore : Mavra, 2005, 136 p. Transcript by Khalid Sharif of a documentary series that deals with a variety of subjects ranging from minor, major signs of the end of the world, or end of times:

Imam Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad wh ...

, the

return of Jesus The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

Dajjal Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology similar to the Antichrist in Christianity, who will pretend to be the promised Messiah, appearing before the Day of Judgment accordin ...

, and other topics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masood, Shahid Living people Pakistani documentary filmmakers Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistan Television Corporation executives Pakistani conspiracy theorists Journalists from Karachi Pakistani media executives BOL Network people Pakistani Muslims 1967 births 9/11 conspiracy theorists Pashtun people 20th-century Pakistani physicians