Zeinab Badawi ( ar, زينب بدوي; born October 1959) is a Sudanese in the United Kingdom, Sudanese-British television and radio journalist. She was the first List of ITV journalists and newsreaders, presenter of the ''ITV Morning News'' (later known as ''ITV News at 5:30''), and co-presented ''Channel 4 News (Britain), Channel 4 News'' with Jon Snow (journalist), Jon Snow from 1989 to 1998), before joining BBC News. Badawi was the presenter of ''World News Today'' broadcast on both BBC Four and BBC World News, and ''Reporters (BBC News programme), Reporters'', a weekly showcase of reports from the BBC.

Early life

Badawi was born in October 1959 in Sudan and has lived in Britain since the age of two. Her great-grandfather, Babikr Bedri, Sheikh Babiker Badri, fought against Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Kitchener's British forces at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 and pioneered women's education in Sudan. Badawi's father was a newspaper editor in Sudan committed to social reform who, when the family moved to the UK, joined the BBC's Arabic Service."Honorary Fellows & Honorary Graduates , Zeinab Badawi"
SOAS, University of London. Badawi is bilingual and speaks both Sudanese Arabic, Arabic and British English, English fluently. Badawi was educated at Hornsey High School for Girls in North London, before studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at St Hilda's College, Oxford. At Oxford, Badawi was a member of the Oxford University Broadcasting Society. In 1988 she moved back to London to pursue a full-time one-year MA degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in Politics and Anthropology of the Middle East, graduating with distinction in 1989.

Journalism and awards

After graduating from Oxford University, Badawi was a researcherNational Portrait Gallery
Prime Minister's Office, 11 October 2004. and List of ITV journalists and newsreaders, broadcast journalist for Yorkshire TV from 1982 to 1986. After a period at BBC Manchester she joined ''Channel 4 News'' in 1988.Zeinab Badawi
Badawi co-presented ''Channel 4 News'' from 1989 until 1998 when she joined the BBC. At the BBC Badawi worked as presenter and reporter for Palace of Westminster, Westminster live political programmes for five years. She also worked on BBC radio as a regular presenter of ''The World Tonight'' on BBC Radio 4, Radio 4 and BBC World Service's ''Newshour''. In 2005, Badawi became the new presenter of ''The World'' on BBC Four, the UK's first daily news bulletin devoted principally to international news. In May 2007 the programme was rebranded as ''World News Today'' and is also shown on the BBC World News channel. She is a regular presenter of the BBC interview programme ''HARDtalk''. In an exclusive interview in May 2009, Badawi interviewed Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir, the first serving head of state to be charged with war crimes. In November 2009, Badawi was named International TV Personality of the Year in the Annual Media Awards, the international media excellence awards organised by the Association for International Broadcasting. Since 2010, in addition to her presenting role on BBC World News, Badawi has presented on the BBC News Channel and the BBC News at Five. Badawi was awarded an honorary doctorate by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in July 2011. In May 2014 she was based in Johannesburg, presenting coverage of the South African elections on BBC World News and BBC News Channel. For many years, Badawi has led an annual List of Nobel laureates, Nobel laureate discussion in connection with the Nobel Prize, Nobel festivities in Stockholm, Sweden. The programme is shown on Sveriges Television, Swedish television. In 2017, Badawi hosted a nine-part series, ''The History of Africa'', based on UNESCO's General History of Africa. The documentary series was broadcast in July and August 2017 on BBC World News. In August 2018, she was awarded the President's Medal (British Academy), President's Medal of the British Academy "for her contributions to international political journalism".

Personal life

Badawi is a mother of two sons and two daughters.

Public positions

Badawi has been an adviser to the Foreign Policy Centre and a Council Member of the Overseas Development Institute. She was Chair of the Royal African Society#History, Royal African Society (RAS) from 2014 to 2021. She is a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery (since 2004) and the British Council. In June 2011 her appointment to the advisory board of the New College of the Humanities was announced. Badawi is founder and chair of the Africa Medical Partnership Fund (AfriMed), a charity which aims to help local medical professionals in Africa. Badawi is on the Board of Trustees at the Royal Opera House. In October 2021 Badawi was appointed as the new President of SOAS University of London.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Badawi, Zeinab 1959 births Living people Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Alumni of SOAS University of London BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World News BBC World Service presenters British reporters and correspondents British television newsreaders and news presenters British television presenters British women television presenters Sudanese television presenters English people of Sudanese descent English television journalists English women journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists New College of the Humanities Sudanese emigrants to the United Kingdom Sudanese journalists Sudanese women journalists British women television journalists Recipients of the President's Medal (British Academy) Sudanese radio presenters Sudanese women radio presenters Sudanese women television presenters