Ash-har Quraishi
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Ash-har Quraishi (born January 5, 1975) is an American
broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and national consumer correspondent for
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
. He is a former reporter for
WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...
in Chicago. He was previously the chief Midwest correspondent for now-defunct
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...
at its Chicago Bureau. He has served as
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
's bureau chief in
Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
. He later worked for
WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...
-TV in Chicago and for the Chicago News Cooperative. He was born in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.


Early life and education

A
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
native of Indian descent, Quraishi graduated from Von Steuben High School in Chicago and from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


Career


CNN

Quraishi served as
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
's Islamabad Bureau Chief covering news from across
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, based there within days of the
9/11 attack The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...
s. In 2001 At the age of 26 he was CNN's youngest International Bureau Chief. While at the network he reported on political and military tensions between nuclear neighbors
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and Pakistan and the hunt for
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
on the volatile Pakistan/Afghanistan border. He covered the 2002 kidnapping and murder of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' reporter
Daniel Pearl Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped by Jihadism, jihadist militants while he was on his way to what he had expected wou ...
, providing live reports from the port city of
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
. He was live from the capital of Islamabad minutes after the bombing of a Protestant church within the diplomatic enclave. Quraishi also covered the 2002 Pakistani elections and was the first western journalist to report the capture of suspected 9/11 planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Following the capture, Quraishi conducted an exclusive one-on-one interview with Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...
. Quraishi was honored by the South Asian Journalists Association for his coverage of the 2002 parliamentary elections. In 2004 he was named one of the top 50 South Asian Global Achievers in Mass Media by Triangle Media Group.


NSA wiretapping

Quraishi was one of several journalists whose names were listed in a lawsuit filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
against the NSA for illegal
wiretap Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...
s. The
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...
accused the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
,
Central Security Service The Central Security Service (CSS) is a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense which was established in 1972 to integrate the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Service Cryptologic Components (SCC) of the United Sta ...
and Lt. General Keith B. Alexander, director of the NSA, of illegally
wiretapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...
conversations and monitoring e-mails between members of its organization and members of the media, including Quraishi. At the time Quraishi was reporting on a story about "special interest" detainees who had been detained and deported even though they had not been charged with any terrorist related activities.


KCTV

Quraishi next was Chief Investigative Reporter for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
affiliate
KCTV KCTV (channel 5) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV (channel 62). The two stations share studios on Shawnee Mission Parkway in ...
based in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
. His reports have resulted in changes in police complaint procedures and changes in recruitment policies for the Missouri
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
. His report on intimidation inside local police stations earned him a 2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting. His investigations have been honored by the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...
, The Kansas City Press Club, The South Asian Journalists Association and The
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...
. In 2010, he was awarded two National Headliner Awards for his reporting and was also an
Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...
(IRE) award finalist. He is a four-time Emmy winner and ten-time nominee for feature, specialty and investigative reporting. Since joining KCTV5, he has exposed sexual predators online, weak sentencing for child pornography convicts, serious security vulnerabilities in airport security and the ability of bad physicians to move from state to state, leaving behind serious malpractice histories. Quraishi was investigated by the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA) under the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
for a series of reports exposing vulnerabilities in aviation security. The TSA investigation was later dropped and the series earned Quraishi a 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award. He left KCTV in December 2009.


WTTW and the Chicago News Cooperative

On March 16, 2010, Chicago public television station
WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...
and the Chicago News Cooperative announced the hiring of Quraishi as a multimedia correspondent and content producer who will alternate working for WTTW and the CNC each week. His duties included reporting for WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" program and its website, writing for the Chicago News Cooperative's pages in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', writing for the cooperative's website and helping to train cooperative employees in using video. He left the CNC to become a full-time correspondent for Chicago Tonight in April 2011.


Al Jazeera America

On July 30, 2013 it was announced Quraishi was hired by the now-defunct
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...
to serve as its chief correspondent for its Chicago bureau. While covering the Ferguson protests in 2014, Ferguson police department shot rubber bullets and
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
at an AJAM news crew setting up for a live shot including correspondent Quraishi, causing them to abandon their recording equipment and run to safety. Other incidents including the arrests of two print journalists for
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
and
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
also occurred during the same time period. All the incidents were considered attacks on press freedom by the local and county police and led to the state police being put in charge as well as comments by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
denouncing the actions.


See also

*
KCTV KCTV (channel 5) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV (channel 62). The two stations share studios on Shawnee Mission Parkway in ...
*
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...
*
WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...


References


United States Department of State
*https://web.archive.org/web/20150110014657/http://www.saja.org/events/awardsarchive.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20080213054234/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/17/quraishi.otsc/index.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20071225190615/http://www.kctv5.com/bios/13440216/detail.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20080117185127/http://www.saja.org/quraishi.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20071009085300/http://trianglemediagroup.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=30 *http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0208/09/ltm.10.html *http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-4333476_ITM *http://www.aclu.org/images/nsaspying/asset_upload_file137_23491.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20081202185055/http://www.kctv5.com/investigations/16276120/detail.html *http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/14771893/split-ends-wttw-raises-part-time-reporter-to-full-time-corr {{DEFAULTSORT:Quraishi, Ash-Har CNN people Al Jazeera people American television journalists Living people 1975 births American male journalists American people of Indian descent Journalists from Chicago