Afshin Rattansi

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Afshin Rattansi
Afshin Rattansi.png
Rattansi in 2008
Born1968 (age 5556)
Cambridge, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Broadcaster, journalist
Years active1988[ citation needed ]–present
Employer(s) The Guardian , Channel 4, Dubai Business Channel, Today (BBC Radio 4), Al Jazeera Arabic, Press TV, RT
Notable workThe Dream of the Decade: The London Novels
TelevisionRattansi & Ridley
Double Standards
Going Underground
RelativesShihab Rattansi (brother)
Website afshinrattansi.com

Afshin Rattansi (born 1968) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author [1] who presents Going Underground broadcast around the world except in the UK and EU, on television stations including the RT network, formerly known as Russia Today. He has also worked for the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, CNN International, Press TV and Bloomberg. He was the launch Business Editor of the Dubai Business Channel. [2] [3] He was also the first English-language producer at Qatar's Al Jazeera Television Network [4] He writes occasional articles for CounterPunch [5] and has contributed to scholarly journal, Critical Quarterly [6] [7] His work appeared in the Penguin Books anthology, Brought to Book [8] and his quartet "The Dream of the Decade" [9] came out in 2005. He now co-hosts a new show 'Forecast News', bringing viewers the news and events for the week ahead. [10]

Contents

Early life

Rattansi was born in Cambridge, England, in 1968, the son of immigrant parents, Prof. Pyarally Mohamedally Rattansi and Zarin Miraly Charania, who had married in London two years before. His father – late emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at University College London – was born in Kenya, one of the ten children of a tea planter, and the Rattansi family had originally come there from Chavand, a village in Kathiawar, India. [11] [12] He has a younger brother, Shihab.

Career

Rattansi began his career as a columnist for The Guardian [3] before working on Britain's Channel 4 primetime documentary series executive produced by Tariq Ali and Darcus Howe, commissioned by Farukh Dhondy and Waldemar Januszczak.

Rattansi was a guest panelist in a 2018 edition of the BBC's Question Time in which the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal was discussed. [13] Referring to Keir Starmer, Rattansi asked: "Why is it that neo-con, neo-liberal Labour Party members continue to try and use WMDs to push us into war?" [14]

In 2022, Afshin Rattansi founded the production company Ghaf TV Productions in the United Arab Emirates where quarter of a century before he was the founding Business Editor of the Dubai Business Channel.

Filmography

Television

Today programme (BBC Radio 4) [2] 2002–2003
Press TV News2007–2008
Rattansi & Ridley2008–2010
Alternate Reality2011
Double Standards[ citation needed ]2011–2013
Going Underground 2013–

Documentaries

YearDocumentary
2012Eritrea: A Nation In Isolation [15]

Books

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References

  1. "Afshin Rattansi". Russia Today . Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Covering_Iran_The_Role_of_Conventional_and_Non-conventional_Media.pdf" (PDF). SOAS. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 Drake, Matt (16 March 2018). "BBC Question Time sparks OUTRAGE at guest panellist from 'Putin's mouthpiece' RT". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  4. Miles, Hugh (2005). Al-Jazeera : how Arab TV news challenged the world. London: Abacus. ISBN   0-349-11807-8. OCLC   56639838.
  5. "Afshin Rattansi, Author at CounterPunch.org". CounterPunch.org. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. DUFFY, CAROL ANN (September 1989). "Père Lachaise". Critical Quarterly. 31 (3): 43. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8705.1989.tb00355.x. ISSN   0011-1562.
  7. "Critical Quarterly 58.3". Critical Quarterly. 58 (3): E1–E4. October 2016. doi:10.1111/criq.12300. ISSN   0011-1562.
  8. Hammond, Paul; Ian Breakwell (1994). Brought to book. London: Penguin. ISBN   0-14-017080-4. OCLC   31410037.
  9. Rattansi, Afshin (2005). The dream of the decade. North Charleston, S.C.: BookSurge. ISBN   1-4196-1686-2. OCLC   65171207.
  10. https://www.youtube.com/@ForecastNewsTV
  11. Maniben Rattansi, David K. Some, Fulfilling a dream (Mohamedally and Maniben Rattansi Educational Trust, 2008)
  12. “Pyarally M Rattansi” in England & Wales Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 4 September 2022
  13. Dysch, Marcus (15 March 2018). "Appearance by RT presenter Afshin Rattansi on BBC's Question Time sparks outrage on social media". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  14. Drake, Matt (16 March 2018). "'Why does Labour use WMDs to take us to WAR?' BBCQT panelist SLAMS Keir Starmer". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  15. Eritrea: A Nation in Isolation on YouTube [ dead link ]