Stuck between the devil and the deep sea

CV

Click here for Multimedia CV

SALMAN SIDDIQUI

Website: http ://salmansid .com /

Twitter: @salmansid

WORK EXPERIENCE:

TURKEY

Anadolu Agency/ Basmuhabir (Senior Journalist)/ Oct 2014 - Sept 2018

Main responsibilities included copy editing stories and handling pitches from Turkey, Europe, Africa and Asia regions for the English service of semi-official Turkish state news wire. On average, I met the challenge of editing around 30 stories per 8-hour shift.

QATAR

Gulf Times/ Staff Reporter/ February 2013- September 2014

I was one of the main reporters on the national news desk, covering a wide range of beats for the daily, including diplomacy, culture, arts and business. I wrote several front-page stories, including on migrant workers and world leaders.

U.S. McClatchy Media/ Special Correspondent/ June 2014 – September 2014

My reports for the U.S. media group from Qatar appeared in 29 regional newspapers in 15 American states.

PAKISTAN

The Express Tribune/ Investigative Reporter/ March 2010 till Nov 2012

As the main investigative reporter for the media group based in Karachi, I produced over 300 in-depth reports covering crime and terrorism, political, social and health-related issues.

Agence France-Presse/ Stringer/ May 2012 till Jan 2013

My job included giving quick news updates on major incidents in the mega city and the Sindh province region. Whether it was a major terrorist act or a drive-by shooting incident involving a UN official, I met the challenge of breaking the news first for AFP.

Dawn daily/Dawn.com/Senior Reporter/ January 2008 till March 2010

Main responsibilities included producing investigative pieces and routine stories; I also worked as a ‘shift in-charge’ responsible for managing the online news desk. I produced a wide range of multimedia content, including audio/visual slideshows.

Dawn daily/Senior Subeditor and Reporter/ December 2006 till January 2008

I was responsible for editing the front, back and national pages. I also wrote in-depth features and stories for the metropolitan and weekly magazine sections of the newspaper.

Dawn.com/ Content Coordinator cum Subeditor-March 2005 till November 2006

Work scope involved editing news; drawing up poll questions; managing daily and weekly e-newsletters; brainstorming/planning/writing reports for the new version of the site and managing the epaper (epaper.dawn.com).

SPIDER/Reporter-June2003 till November 2004

Spider was the first Internet and Telecom industry-focused monthly magazine of Pakistan. Major accomplishments included writing more than 40 features, cover page stories and interviewing various diversified personalities during this period.

Freelance writer

I have also written features for monthly investigative news magazines in Pakistan such as Herald, Newsline and popular online sites such as Chowk.com. I have also contributed to the Tolonews portal in Afghanistan.

TV EXPERIENCE:

In June 2014, I appeared on the U.K.’s Channel 4 and the the U.S. news network NBC from Doha as an analyst in news packages about the release of five Taliban leaders in Qatar in exchange for the American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl. In Pakistan too, I frequently spoke as an expert and also gave ‘audio beepers’ during live transmissions at key events in Karachi to local channels. Earlier, my stories were also featured on Dawn News flagship programme News Eye during the days when the channel did broadcasts in English. Also, I gave live updates to the U.K.’s Sky News network when the Mehran naval base in Karachi came under attack in 2011.

EDUCATION:

UNITED KINGDOM

I am currently enrolled in the MA Global Creative and Cultural Industries program at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Courses:

Theoretical Approaches to International Journalism

Media Production Skills

Topics in Global Digital Cultures

Analytical Approaches to Global Creative and Cultural Industries

Politics of Culture in Contemporary South Asia

Islam and the West: Artistic and Cultural Contacts

GERMANY

Multimedia and Online Journalism certificate/Berlin

I did a two-month long journalism course at the International Institute for Journalism.

KUWAIT

Carmel School Kuwait

I did my primary education at an Indian convent school in Kuwait.

Career Milestones:

As a desk editor, I have closely observed and copy edited stories about key events in Turkey's recent history, including the 2014 Kobani violence; the 2015 general election, the deadly 2016 coup bid, counter insurgency operations, the sliding down of the Turkish lira etc. among several hundreds of stories; I was also part of the news desk that covered the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, the Iran nuclear deal with Western powers etc.; and continue to edit stories about the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.
Some prominent personalities I have interviewed or covered events about them for Gulf Times in Qatar included: music composer Yanni, US Commander Naval Forces Central Command (NavCent) Vice Admiral John Miller, British artist Damien Hirst, U.K.’s Foreign Secretary (then Defence Secretary) Philip Hammond, Master Chef Gordon Ramsay, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mishal, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty, French climate change expert Nicolas Hulot, U.K.’s Prince Charles, (now ex) Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, WWE superstar wrestler R-Truth, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, President of the Swiss Council of States (Senate) Filippo Lombardi, the late fashion icon L’Wren Scott, Qatar Airways CEO Al-Baker, ex-Afghan president Hamid Karzai, ex-Tunisian president Dr. Moncef and Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon among many others.
I was in Doha at a key moment in its history, where I witnessed (and reported on) Shiekh Hamad handing over his rein to his son Shiekh Tamim, who is the current Emir of Qatar. This power transition took place after an 18-year gap in Qatar.
I travelled all the way to Colombo, Sri Lanka in December 2013 to investigate abuses in the recruitment of migrant workers for Qatari companies.
Between 2007 and 2012, I reported on almost all suicide bomb blast and terrorism related cases that took place in Karachi, Pakistan. My reporting has not been limited to witnessing the horrific scenes at the site of the attack, but also I’ve written dozens of follow up stories about progress into investigations of those cases. Also, I covered numerous high-profile political events in Pakistan during the same time period.
I was the first Pakistani journalist to produce a multimedia slideshow series called Urban Journeys at the news portal Dawn.com in Pakistan. This series was a runners up at the UN’s World Summit Youth Award.

COMPUTER SKILLS:

Microsoft Office
Adobe Photoshop
Final Cut Pro
Adobe Audition
Audacity
Web Content Management in IBM’s Websphere portal
Wordpress
QuarkExpress

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Excellent/Native-like proficiency in written and spoken English
Native proficiency in written and spoken Urdu
Mid-level proficiency in spoken Hindi
Mid-level proficiency in reading Arabic/ Beginner-level proficiency in spoken Arabic
Elementary-level working proficiency in Turkish

OTHERS: