Ramita Navai

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Ramita Navai
RN-Uni of Bham.jpg
Ramita Navai at the University of Birmingham, 2012
Born (1973-07-21) July 21, 1973 (age 50)
Tehran, Iran
Education Putney High School, GDST City University London
Occupation(s)Journalist, author
Television Unreported World
Website http://www.ramitanavai.com/

Ramita Navai (born July 21, 1973) [1] is an Emmy [2] and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning [3] British-Iranian journalist, documentary producer and author. She has reported from over forty countries and has a reputation for investigations and work in hostile environments. [4]

Contents

Early life

Ramita Navai was born in Tehran, Iran. She moved to London after the Iranian Revolution. [5] Ms. Navai is an alumna of Putney High School, GDST in South-West London. In 2023 she was voted Alumna of the Year of the Girls' Day School Trust for her work with "women’s and girls’ issues in some of the most war-torn and conflicted regions in the world" [6] .

Career

After a postgraduate degree in journalism at City University, London, where she won the Broadcast Journalism Training Council Young Journalist of the Year award, [7] Navai worked as the Tehran correspondent for The Times from 2003–06, where she covered events including the Bam earthquake, [8] and parliamentary and presidential elections. [9] [10] [11] She has reported from more than forty countries, including reporting for the UN in Iran, [12] Pakistan [13] and Iraqi Kurdistan. [14] She has made twenty documentaries for Channel 4's current affairs series Unreported World . [15] For ITN / Channel 4 News she has made various features, including investigating child trafficking in India, [16] and police gang killings in Brazil. [17] Her report Macedonia: Tracking Down the Refugee Kidnap Gangs [18] won the London Foreign Press Association for News Story of the Year: TV award, [19] the Royal Television Society for The Independent Award. [20]

More recently she has reported on ISIS in Iraq (2017), [21] and the UN Peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2018). [22] She has written for many publications including The Times , [23] [24] The Sunday Times , [25] The Guardian , [26] [27] The Independent , [28] [29] the New Statesman , [30] [31] The Irish Times . [32]

In 2012 she won an Emmy award [33] [34] for her undercover report from Syria for PBS's Frontline . [35] In September 2014 she appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . [36]

In 2017 she reported and produced the Frontline PBS documentary Iraq Uncovered, [37] which was also broadcast on Channel 4 with the title ISIS and the Battle for Iraq. [38] Iraq Uncovered/ISIS and the Battle for Iraq won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (International Television), the British Journalism Award for Foreign Affairs Journalism, [39] and the Frontline Club award for Broadcast Journalism. [40] It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards (Outstanding Investigation and Outstanding Research). [41]

In 2017-2018 she produced and reported the Frontline PBS, Channel 4 and ARTE documentary the UN Sex Abuse Scandal [42] which was broadcast in 2018.

City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran

City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran was published in the UK by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in May 2014 and in the US by PublicAffairs in September 2014. Based on extensive interviews and research City of Lies is an intimate portrait of modern Iran. It chronicles the lives of eight protagonists drawn from across the spectrum of Iranian society. It has been translated into five languages. [43] City of Lies won Debut Political Book of the Year Award at the Political Book Awards [44] as well as the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Award. [45] It was a Book of the Year in both the Evening Standard (2014) [46] and The Spectator. [47]

Reviews

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show :

The stories are beautiful, and they’re so well-detailed and nuanced. [48]

Anthony Loyd:

One of the world’s most exciting cities, as revealed by one of journalism’s most exciting women. Navai slips effortlessly into the boots of earthy, urban writer to tour Tehran’s ripped backsides in this intimate, grand guignol debut. She transports us through the Iranian capital’s multiple personas with deft and knowing navigation: never short of love for even the lowliest of her fellow Tehranis. An intimate and devoted portrait, lifting a beautiful truth from a city masked in lies. [49]

Eliza Griswold, The Sunday Telegraph:

A talented writer, she quickly sucks us in with her first character ... Navai has a reporter’s eye for the telling detail… this is a timely and beautifully written insight into the lives of Tehranis. [50]

Documentaries

YearTitleNotes
2022Afghanistan Undercover Frontline PBS;
2018The UN Sex Abuse Scandal Frontline PBS; Dispatches, Channel 4; ARTE

Awards: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, Television - International [51]

2017ISIS and the Battle for Iraq Dispatches, Channel 4

Awards: British Journalism Awards: Foreign Affairs Journalism, and The Frontline Club: Broadcast Journalism Award

Nominations: Rory Peck Trust: Sony Impact Award for Current Affairs, [52] and One World Media: Television Documentary Award [53]

2017Iraq: Uncovered Frontline , PBS

Awards: The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for International Television

Nominated: Emmy Award: Outstanding Investigation, and Outstanding Research

2012Egypt: Sex Mobs and RevolutionNominated: Foreign Press Association Award (2014), One World Media Award (2013)
2012Honduras and Mexico: The Lost Girls
2011Undercover SyriaAwards: News & Documentary Emmy Award (2012) Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine, Nomination: One World Media Award in the Television category (2012)
2011Breaking into IsraelNomination: FrenchAmerican Foundation Immigration Journalism Award (2012)
2011Burundi: Boys Behind BarsShortlisted: One World Media Award (2012)
2010Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds
2010Afghanistan's Child Drug Addicts
2010El Salvador: The Child Assassins
2010USA: Down and Out
2009Sudan: How to Fuel a Famine
2009Peru: Blood and Oil
2009Papua New Guinea: Bush Knives and Black Magic
2009Turkey: Killing for Honour
2008Nigeria: Child Brides, Stolen Lives
2008South Africa: Body Parts for Sale
2008Bangladesh: The Drowning Country
2007India: The Broken PeopleNomination: Amnesty International Gaby Rado Award for Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year (2009)
2007China: Chongqing: Invisible city
2006Guatemala: City of the Dead
2006Malaysia: Asia's Slaves

Awards and nominations

YearNominated WorkCategoryResult
2003Broadcast Journalism Training Council: Young Journalist of the YearWon
2008South Africa: Body Parts for SaleAmnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights JournalistNominated
2008India's Trafficked GirlsAmnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights JournalistNominated
One World Media: Children's Rights AwardNominated
2009Brazil: Murder in São Paulo (2008)Amnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights JournalistNominated
2009India: The Broken People (2007)Amnesty International Gaby Rado Award for Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year (2009)Nominated
2012Burundi: Boys Behind Bars (2011)One World Media AwardShortlisted
2012Breaking into Israel (2011)French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism AwardNominated
2012Undercover Syria (2011)News & Documentary Emmy Award, Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News MagazineWon
2012One World Media Award in the Television CategoryNominated
2012City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in TehranRoyal Society of Literature Jerwood AwardWon
2014Egypt: Sex Mobs and Revolution (2012)One World MediaNominated
2013Foreign Press Association AwardNominated
2015City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in TehranDebut Political Book of the YearWon
2015Macedonia: tracking down the refugee kidnap gangsForeign Press Association in London: News Story of the Year: TVWon
Amnesty Media Awards: TV NewsShortlisted
Royal Television Society: The Independent AwardWon
2018Iraq Uncovered (Frontline PBS)The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for International TelevisionWon
Emmy Award: Outstanding InvestigationNominated
Emmy Award: Outstanding ResearchNominated
2018ISIS and the Battle for Iraq (Dispatches, Channel 4)British Journalism Awards: Foreign Affairs JournalismWon
The Frontline Club: Broadcast Journalism AwardWon
Rory Peck Trust: Sony Impact Award for Current AffairsNominated
One World Media: Television Documentary AwardNominated
2019UN Sex Abuse Scandal (Frontline, PBS)Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, Television - InternationalWon
2023Alumna of the Year, Girls' Day School TrustWon

Books

See also

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