Shahid Masood () is a Pakistani columnist and political analyst who hosts the talk show ''Live with Dr. Shahid Masood'' on GNN. He is known for his series ''End of Time'' on

ARY ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Net ...

''.'' Previously, he served as Group executive director of

Geo TV Jang Media Group (), also known as Geo Group, is a Pakistani media conglomerate and a subsidiary of Dubai-based company Independent Media Corporation. It has headquarters in Printing House, Karachi. It is the publisher of the Urdu language new ...

and senior Executive Director of

ARY Digital Network ARY Digital Network () is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service called ...

. In 2008, he was briefly appointed as the managing director and chairman of

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I ...

and also served as the special assistant to then-Prime Minister of Pakistan

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...

with the status of a minister of state in the

Gillani ministry The Gillani government began its operation into office on 31 March 2008 after Yusuf Raza Gillani was elected as Prime minister of Pakistan by the National Assembly on 25 March 2008. The swearing-in of the government’s cabinet was delayed for ...

Early life and education

Masood was born to a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

Kakazai The Kakazai (, Urdu, ),

family in Karachi. In a 2004 interview to ''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...

'', Masood said that his father was a civil engineer in Saudi Arabia who worked there for 15 years while, his mother is a teacher. According to him, he spent his childhood in

Taif Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 people in 2022, mak ...

and

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

. For seven years, he went to the Pakistan International School in Riyadh. According to Arab News, He is married and has two daughters and a son. Two of his younger brothers were born in Saudi Arabia so the country is close to him. He is a medical doctor by profession. He received an

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

degree from

Jinnah Sindh Medical University Jinnah Sindh Medical University (), formerly known as ''Sindh Medical College'', is a Medical school, medical university in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It gained university status in June 2012. It currently has 11 constituent institutes and 35 Affi ...

. Masood did his major in International Relations and Defence Studies from the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations. As of 2017, the student bo ...

. In February 2021, he joined Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in the capacity of a Senior Executive Fellow. He became the only public figure from South Asia selected for the program.

Journalistic and media career

ARY news executive and PTV Chairman (2001–08)

Masood became affiliated with the media in 2001. He initially served as the senior Executive Director of

, where he served as the chief of ARY One World (now known as

ARY News ''ARY News HD'' () is a Pakistani news channel launched on 26 September 2004 with the name "ARY One", the channel was later renamed to "ARY One World" until May 2009 when it was rebranded as "ARY News". A bilingual news channel in English and ...

), and hosted the show ''Views on News''. In 2005, Masood received a scholarship with

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 ...

. He also carried out coverage of the three wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. In 2007, Masood joined

as its Group Executive Director where he hosted the TV show ''Meray Mutabaq''. In June 2008, Masood was appointed as the Chairman of

(PTV) with the additional charge of Managing Director at PTV on a two-year contract. However, in November 2008 he resigned from his position as chairman and managing director of PTV. Following the resignation, he was appointed as special assistant to the then-Prime Minister of Pakistan

Yusuf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairma ...

with the status of a minister. According to ''

Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers: * ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria * ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan ''The Daily Times'' may refer to the following newspapers: * ...

'', Masood was asked to resign from PTV by the then-President of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

. According to ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', this came following mounting tensions between Masood and the then-Minister of Information

Sherry Rehman Shehrbano "Sherry" Rehman (; born 21 December 1960) is a Pakistani politician and journalist who has been the member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2015. She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from March to August 2018 ...

when the former refused to take back deputy managing director PTV Shahid Nadeem and cancelled his reinstatement orders. Masood also suspended PTV director administration and personnel, and issued him a show-cause notice for complying with the prime minister's orders and allowing Nadeem to rejoin the organization as deputy MD. Ministry of Information was also dissatisfied by the audit of PTV under Masood's chairmanship and his decision to increase salaries of PTV staff at the time of a financial crunch. Masood was reportedly drawing a monthly salary of and was appointed without a consultation with Minister of Information. Masood was supposed to pay six months' salary to PTV in case of resigning as per contract terms, which however was waived by the then-prime minister.

Geo News, ARY News, Express News, CNBC Pakistan, News One, Bol News, GNN (2008–present)

Masood again joined

Geo News Geo News () is a old technology foundation Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. It was launched in October 2002 as the news and current affairs program was under its flagship channel Geo TV, which later in 2004, Geo TV decided ...

and Meray Mutabiq in November 2008 before shifting to Views on News on

in 2010. Masood started hosting his current affairs show Shahid Nama on Express News in 2011. The show followed a similar pattern to his earlier current affairs and politics. Before General Election 2013, Masood joined

Royal News Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

for the election coverage. In December 2013, he joined

Jaag TV GNN News HD, commonly known as GNN, is a Pakistani 24-hour news and current affairs channel based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is owned and operated by Gourmet Foods. It was launched in 2005 as CNBC Pakistan under a license from CNBC Asia Pacific ...

(formerly CNBC Pakistan) where he hosted his show Live with Dr. Shahid Masood. In 2014, he joined News One (Pakistani TV channel) and started a show ''Live with Dr. Shahid Masood'', as a guest journalist. The show then shifted to

in February 2016 after he joined ARY Digital Network. Salman Iqbal, CEO and MD of the group felicitated Dr Masood on assuming new responsibilities. By the end of 2016, the popular show shifted to

Bol News BOL Network () is a Pakistani TV network based in Karachi. The company's head office is located in Karachi and called Bolistan, and it has regional headquarters in Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad. It was founded by Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh. In S ...

till February 2017. The show then returned to News One (Pakistani TV channel) on 14 February 2017. He had briefly detached himself from electronic media before making a comeback in 2017. Masood also had presented documentary on

Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...

entitled ''End of Time: The Hidden Truth'' in 2004 from

. He then refreshed and represented them as ''The Lost Chapters'' from News One (Pakistani TV channel) in 2015, ''Final Call'' from

in 2016 and ''The Moment'' from News One (Pakistani TV channel) in 2017. He garnered significant viewership through detailed explanation of various conspiracy theories floating on the internet. He also made an impact pertainig to technological and educational advancements, especially as the CEO of 1950.ai. In 2019 he left News One (Pakistani TV channel) and joined GNN News as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

where he hosts the show "''Live With Dr Shahid Masood''".

Other work

Role as CEO of 1950.ai

As CEO of 1950.ai, Shahid Masood leads the organization in pioneering Predictive Artificial Intelligence, focusing on big data and quantum computing to address global challenges. This initiative is guided by the visionary principles of

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

and aims to advance AI for improved decision-making and innovation.

Controversies and subsequent lawsuits

In 2010, ''

Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...

'' reported that a Karachi resident filed a petition against Masood and asked the court to take action against him for encouraging cultural hatred through his TV show. In 2013, ''

'' reported that an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan ordered Masood to telecast an apology for telecasting derogatory remarks on the judiciary after which Masood submitted written apologies before the court. In March 2016, Finance Minister of Pakistan

Ishaq Dar Muhammad Ishaq Dar (born 13 May 1950) is a Pakistani accountant and politician who currently serves as the 6th deputy prime minister and 38th foreign minister of Pakistan since 2024. A close aide of the Sharif family, Dar is affiliated with ...

sent a legal notice to Masood for allegedly leveling baseless allegations in his TV programme and demanded that Masood offer an apology and pay compensation. In August 2016,

PEMRA Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ( ) is an independent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for regulating and issuing channel licenses for establishment of the mass media culture, print and el ...

imposed a 45-day ban on Shahid Masood's show airing on the ARY News after Masood alleged in a programme that the chief justice of

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh () ( Sindhi: سنڌ ھائي ڪورٽ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest ...

took a bribe and later did not fulfil his promises. He was also banned from participating in any other TV show during this 45-day period. In January 2017, Ishaq Dar again sent a legal notice to Bol News, demanding an apology for false and defamatory statements, aired in Masood's show on 24 January. On 13 February, PEMRA decided to ban his show for 30 days, and fine was charged on the channel for making baseless allegations against the federal ministers for finance and defence. In March 2018, JIT declared that Masood's report about Zainab murder case was false and baseless, for which he was banned for 3 months from hosting his TV show by the Supreme Court. He resumed hosting the show on 21 June 2018 on News One.

Books

*''Views on News'', Lahore : Mavra, 2004, 238 p. Current political social issues, views of author expressed in a talk show telecast on

ARY Digital ''ARY Digital HD'' () is a Pakistani television network available in Pakistan. ARY Digital was founded by a Dubai-based holding company Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob and Salman Iqbal (ARY). The network is focused towards on Pak ...

channel. *''End of Time'', Lahore : Mavra, 2005, 136 p. Transcript by Khalid Sharif of a documentary series that deals with a variety of subjects ranging from minor, major signs of the end of the world, or end of times: Imam Mahdi, the return of Jesus,

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

Dajjal Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic esch ...

, and other topics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masood, Shahid Living people Pakistani documentary filmmakers Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistan Television Corporation executives Pakistani conspiracy theorists Journalists from Karachi Pakistani media executives BOL Network people Pakistani Muslims 1967 births 9/11 conspiracy theorists 20th-century Pakistani medical doctors Mass media people from Karachi Muhajir people