Imran Garda

Garda's media career{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/one-on-one-with-imran-garda/|title=One on One with Imran Garda |work=The Daily Vox|date=2014-07-01|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-26}} began as a sports presenter and reporter for SuperSport in South Africa in 2002. He covered mostly cricket and football. While at Supersport he was published as a freelance writer on politics—which included a series on Bosnia-Herzegovina ten years after the Yugoslav Wars ended. {{cn|date=November 2024}}

File:IndiaApril2009 047 - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg in 2009]]

Garda joined Al Jazeera English in 2006 initially as a sports presenter, but was moved to news during the piloting phase. He anchored the news and Inside Story from Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Washington DC. He also hosted the award-winning (RTS) The Stream until he left the network in 2012. He reported from the US, Sudan, Turkey, Egypt, Namibia, Bahrain, Lesotho, India, South Africa and the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Garda hosted a 13-part series on the aftermath of the War in Gaza - Focus on Gaza{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYFNP9qP9aA | title=Focus on Gaza - Faction Fighting - 20 Mar 09 - Part 1 | website=YouTube | date=20 March 2009 }} and presented the long-form documentaries The Father of the Turks,{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/general/2007/07/2008525183433170666.html|title=Father of the Turks|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-07-26}} A Voyage of Life and Death{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2010/06/20106157149923312.html|title=A voyage of life and death|last=Garda|first=Imran|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-07-26}} and India's Silent War.{{Cite web |title=India's Silent War |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/10/20111019124251679523.html |access-date=2016-07-26 |website=www.aljazeera.com}} He also contributed feature articles and blog posts to Aljazeera.com and The Huffington Post.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imran-garda/|title=Imran Garda|website=HuffPost|access-date=2016-07-26}} On 7 June 2012, Al Jazeera English announced that Garda would be returning to South Africa.{{cite web|url=http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/goodbye-imran-0022232 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619083422/http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/goodbye-imran-0022232 |archive-date=2012-06-19 |title=Goodbye Imran! |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=7 June 2012 |access-date=16 June 2012}}

In 2013, Garda returned{{cite web|url=http://dohanews.co/al-jazeera-launches-digital-channel-aj-bid-woo-younger-viewers/|title=Al Jazeera launches digital channel AJ+ in bid to woo younger viewers - Doha News|date=2014-09-15|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-26}} to the network for the network's digital channel AJ+ based in San Francisco, California where he specialized in short documentaries, including a special{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIq89ESp6rA | title=Ferguson: Duty to Fight, Duty to Win | website=YouTube | date=23 October 2014 }} on Black Lives Matter protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. Beginning in 2015, Garda also anchored the news at Al Jazeera America in New York City. On 16 April 2015 it was announced that Garda would host a show on Al Jazeera America called Third Rail, an hour-long, guest-driven debate program focused on under-reported stories and hot-button topics.{{Cite news|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/tools/pressreleases/al-jazeera-americalaunchesforeignpolicyprogramcompasswithsheilam0.html|title=Al Jazeera America Launches Foreign Policy Program "Compass With Sheila Macvicar", New Program Airs Sundays at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT|access-date=2018-10-19}}

In October 2015, Garda joined TRT World, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation's English-language channel{{cite web|url=https://monocle.com/magazine/issues/93/trt-world-tough-talks/|title=TRT World: Tough talks - Issue 93 - Magazine|website=Monocle|language=en|access-date=2016-07-26|archive-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917215800/https://monocle.com/magazine/issues/93/trt-world-tough-talks/|url-status=dead}} as host of The Newsmakers,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHKvpglwqIo&list=PLhGhrDMK9swuo-glO5lXB9GgJu0cjzU0M&index=24 | title=The Newsmakers | website=YouTube | date=21 January 2016 }} an interview and debate program with "in-depth reports and strong, unfiltered debates - examining the people and the stories that are shaping our lives."{{cite web|url=http://www.trtworld.com/tv-schedule|title=Tv Schedule {{!}} TRT World|website=www.trtworld.com|access-date=2016-07-26}}

In April 2016 Garda and his colleague Jerome Evans were given rare access to make a documentary in North Korea during the Pyongyang Marathon.{{Citation|last=TRT World|title=The Newsmakers in North Korea|date=2016-04-22|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8TOBzpqkKY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/R8TOBzpqkKY |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=2016-07-26}}{{cbignore}} Garda documented the challenges of doing journalism in the country.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imran-garda/the-minds-of-the-minders-_b_9823302.html|title=The Minds of the Minders: A North Korean Diary|last=World|first=Imran Garda Host of The Newsmakers on TRT|date=2016-05-03|website=HuffPost|access-date=2016-07-26}}

In their documentary The Invisible Empire: the KKK and Hate in America,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKZs2bZOHHM&t=110s | title=The Invisible Empire: The KKK and Hate in America | website=YouTube | date=3 September 2016 }} Garda and Evans got up close with the Ku Klux Klan in a show that highlighted the resurgence of white supremacism in the United States.

The Newsmakers also did a special show from London on the occasion of the historic Brexit referendum.{{Citation|last=TRT World|title=The Newsmakers: UK EU Referendum Special, Part 1|date=2016-06-25|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fucIAje8e4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/2fucIAje8e4 |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=2016-07-26}}{{cbignore}}

Imran's final episode on the program aired in July 2020. During his time hosting The Newsmakers he also hosted the documentary series "Crossing the Line{{Cite web |date=Sep 12, 2018 |title=Colombia's Rebels {{!}} Crossing The Line |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9Ld4OeGrs |archive-date= |website=YouTube}}," featuring guests such as Imran Khan, Yanis Varoufakis, Julius Malema and Juan Manuel Santos.

In 2022, Garda launched The InnerView,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUW304lJeu3UeNANR9pUHAne2JsRWmo48 | title=The InnerView | website=YouTube }} a one-on-one interview program for which he also serves as executive producer. The show features half-hour in-depth interviews with some of the world's most fascinating people, including prominent historians such as British historian Bettany Hughes, actors such as Adrian Grenier, politicians such as Ehud Olmert, John Bolton, Kersti Kaljulaid and Miguna Miguna, as well as figures from sport, music and the arts.

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In June 2014 Umuzi, an imprint of Penguin Random House published{{cite web|url=http://penguin.bookslive.co.za/blog/2014/06/23/imran-gardas-the-thunder-that-roars-launched-with-john-maytham-at-the-book-lounge/|title=Imran Garda's The Thunder That Roars Launched with John Maytham at The Book Lounge|website=Penguin SA @ Sunday Times Books LIVE|access-date=2016-07-26}} Garda's debut novel The Thunder That Roars.{{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Thunder-that-Roars-Imran-Garda-ebook/dp/B00KFFRSK0?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0#nav-subnav|title=The Thunder that Roars|last=Garda|first=Imran|date=2014-05-19|publisher=Umuzi|edition=1|language=en}} The book was awarded the 2015 Olive Schreiner Prize for prose and optioned for a feature film. A tale of a journalist who embarks on a journey to find a missing family friend and uncovers long-held family secrets and undergoes an inward journey of his own, the book was described by adjudicators as, "South African literature [that] soars above the tortuous apartheid history and redefines globalisation."{{cite web|url=http://penguin.bookslive.co.za/blog/2016/05/23/imran-gardas-novel-the-thunder-that-roars-wins-the-2015-olive-schreiner-prize-for-prose/|title=Imran Garda's novel The Thunder That Roars wins the 2015 Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose|website=Penguin SA @ Sunday Times Books LIVE|access-date=2016-07-26}} Reviewer Eric Garland called it, "[A] breathtakingly strong debut novel about the self-discovery and strained relationships of human beings in an era that defies understanding."{{cite web|url=http://www.ericgarland.co/2014/07/09/book-review-thunder-roars-imran-garda/|title=Book Review: "The Thunder That Roars" by Imran Garda|date=2014-07-09|website=Eric Garland|access-date=2016-07-26}} It was also long-listed for The Etisalat Prize for Literature.{{cite web|url=http://prize.etisalat.com.ng/press-release?id=35|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818093744/http://prize.etisalat.com.ng/press-release?id=35|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-08-18|title=Etisalat Prize For Literature|last=Literature|first=Etisalat Prize For|website=prize.etisalat.com.ng|access-date=2016-07-26}} Garda is represented by The Lennon-Ritchie Agency.{{Cite web |title=Imran Garda {{!}} The Lennon-Ritchie Agency |date=10 October 2023 |url=https://lennonliterary.com/authors/imran-garda-2/ }}

Garda has interviewed many influential people throughout his career. They include former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeWB5zvVY9k&t=3s | title=Jose Ramos-Horta on Gaza, Mandela, J.Lo and how to run a country after liberation | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=19 March 2024 }} former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arXp8LzokGk&t=735s | title=Ehud Olmert on Hamas, Gaza and why Netanyahu is a "disaster" | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=4 December 2023 }} former UK Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown,  former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, former President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHvbWwQd-8g&t=2s | title=Estonia's former President: Ukraine is fighting for all of us! | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=5 December 2022 }} South African politician and President of the Economic Freedom Fighters Julius Malema,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrQC_Llej_E&t=809s | title=Full interview with Julius Malema | Crossing the Line | website=YouTube | date=13 June 2018 }} former President of Georgia and Governor of Odesa Oblast Mikheil Saakashvili, ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4apuT0lOAk | title=Pakistan's Populist Imran Khan | Crossing the Line | website=YouTube | date=13 January 2018 }} British historians Bettany Hughes{{Cite web |date=Nov 13, 2023 |title=Bettany Hughes on Istanbul and why history matters {{!}} The InnerView |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od7EGSgdc1g&t=147s |website=YouTube}} and Antony Beevor, football star Frédéric Kanouté,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsVKbh2nig | title=Freddie Kanoute on football, faith and giving back | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=26 June 2023 }} Jordan's Prince El Hassan bin Talal,{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN2D1kkUtMA&t=176s | title=Jordan's Prince el Hassan bin Talal on choosing dialogue over hate | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=21 November 2022 }} British singer Yusuf / Cat Stevens, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Qrjzh9CAk | title=UNAIDS Head Winnie Byanyima: Inequality is driving HIV/AIDS | the InnerView | website=YouTube | date=27 February 2023 }} and former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Njn3V23ALc | title=One on One: Exclusive Interview with the Former Turkish Prime Minister Prof. Dr Ahmet Davutoglu | website=YouTube | date=9 February 2018 }}

Garda has also had the opportunity to interview non-state actors from the likes of Hamas, Somali rebel groups, Chechen rebels, Uganda's LRA, and other designated terror groups. He has chaired panels for the World Humanitarian Summit, United Nations Human Rights Council, UN Migration (IOM), TRT World Forum, Antalya Diplomacy Forum and Advertising Week.

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