Jay Bahadur (born 1984) is a Canadian journalist and author. He became known for his reporting on

piracy in Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding areas and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...

, writing for ''The New York Times'', ''The Financial Post'', ''The Globe and Mail'', and ''The Times'' of London. Bahadur has also worked as a freelance correspondent for CBS News and he has advised the U.S. State Department on piracy. His first book, '' The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World'' (2011), is his account of living with the pirates for several months in

Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...

, a semi-autonomous region in the northeast of Somalia. Bahadur lives in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

, Kenya.

Early life and education

Bahadur was born in 1984 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Ontario, Canada. Educated at the

University of Toronto Schools University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by competitive exa ...

, he attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

, graduating in 2007 with a B.A. in Political Science and Economics. In 2008, he was working for a market research firm in Chicago. Interested in working as a journalist, Bahadur was told by real journalists to avoid going to school to study journalism and to obtain experience working as a freelancer in "crazy places" instead.Glor, 2011

Career

Bahadur is a Canadian journalist. He has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' was an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the publication was folded into the new ''National Post'',"Black says Post to merge with new paper". '' The Globe and Mail'', July 23, ...

'', '' The Globe and Mail'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' of London, and he has worked for CBS News as a freelance correspondent. Initially, Bahadur wanted to visit Somalia to write about the election in the northwestern part of the country, but the news coverage of the hijacking and capture of the MV ''Faina'' by Somali pirates in September 2008 made him switch gears. Deciding to cover the piracy angle, Bahadur contacted journalists in Somalia and made arrangements with Radio Garowe. He quit his job and purchased a ticket to Somalia. Several months before Bahadur arrived, Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped in Somalia and held hostage by gunmen far away from the relatively safe areas of Somaliland and

where Bahadur was working on his interviews. In January 2009, Bahadur traveled for almost two days to reach the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia. Once there, he met with the pirates and learned about the history of the industry. During his journey, Bahadur discovered information that challenged basic assumptions about the pirates: there were not as many pirates as he was led to believe, they were not controlled by international crime syndicates and they were not working with

jihadists Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

. He visited Africa several times, spending three months in areas that most journalists never visit. Bahadur returned from his first trip in March 2009, just before the

Maersk Alabama hijacking The ''Maersk Alabama'' hijacking began on 9 April 2009, when four pirates in the Indian Ocean seized the U.S. cargo ship at a distance of southeast of Eyl, Somalia. The siege ended after a rescue effort by the United States Navy on 12 Apri ...

in April. This timing led to heightened interest in his book and he subsequently sold it to a publisher. Bahadur planned on finishing his first book before 2010, but it took much longer than he expected. His book, ''The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World'' was released in the U.S. on July 19, 2011. On August 9, 2011, Bahadur appeared as a guest on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fr ...

''.Random House Audio, 2011; Scribe Publications, 2011; HarperCollins, 2011; Stewart, 2011 A film based on his story, '' The Pirates of Somalia'', directed by Bryan Buckley, was released in 2017. Bahadur was portrayed by

Evan Peters Evan Thomas Peters (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor. He is known for his multiple roles on the FX anthology series ''American Horror Story''; as Detective Colin Zabel in the HBO crime drama limited series '' Mare of Easttown'', wh ...

Publications

*''The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World.'' HarperCollins, 2011. .

Notes

References

*Arellano, Veronica (July 29, 2011)
Xpress Reviews: Nonfiction
'' Library Journal''. Archived fro
the original
on October 15, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-15. * * Batchelor, J. (July 23, 2011).
The John Batchelor Show
'. WABC. Even occurs from 18:21-35:21. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *

Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is he ...

. (July 29, 2011)
Bahadur Says Somali Pirates Backed by Local Investors
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *

Centre for International Governance Innovation The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI, pronounced "see-jee") is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral ...

. (October 18, 2010)
Signature Lecture: Piracy and Terrorism at Sea
* Conan, Neal. (July 19, 2011)
A Peek Into The Secret World of Somali Pirates
''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial is ...

''.

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

Transcript
*Glor, J. (2011)

'' CBS News''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

Jay Bahadur
Retrieved 2011-08-15. *Hammer, J. (August 7, 2011).

. ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read ...

''
Archived URL
Retrieved 2011-08-14. *Houreld, K. (July 18, 2011)
Secrets of Somali pirates revealed in new book

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

. ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *Hume, J. (July 24, 2011)
Can I get a little piracy?
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *Ilo, M. (2011)
Toronto man who lived with Somali pirates reveals his adventures in new book

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pr ...

. ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *Kelley, K. (August 14, 2011)
Somali's pirate money funding of property boom disputed
''

The East African ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes Th ...

''
Archive URL
Retrieved 2011-08-14. * May, C. D. (July 27, 2011)
Do Somali pirates have legit gripe?
''

Daily Republic The ''Daily Republic'' is a daily newspaper in the town of Fairfield, California. It is owned by McNaughton Newspapers. History The ''Daily Republic'' started out as two newspapers – the ''Solano County Herald'' and the ''Solano Press''. The Cou ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distributed in the UK by ...

. (2011)
Jay Bahadur
*Random House Audio. (2011)
Jay Bahadur
*Sekulich, D. (July 22, 2011)
Low conduct on the high seas
'' The Globe and Mail''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. *

Scribe Publications Scribe Publications (or simply Scribe) is an independent publishing house founded by Henry Rosenbloom in Melbourne, Australia in 1976. It established a sister company, Scribe UK, in London in May 2013. Scribe publishes nonfiction and fiction ...

. (2011)
Jay Bahadur
Retrieved 2011-08-15. *Shribman, D. M. (July 17, 2011)
Debunking myths of pirates
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. *Smith, D. (July 29, 2011)
Arrivals: Barnes, Swift, Barclay
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

''. Retrieved 2011-08-15. * Stewart, J. (August 9, 2011)
Jay Bahadur
''

''.

External links