Azmat Khan: The Digital Maven

Tell us about the most rigorous assignment you’ve ever taken on.

That’s a tough call. I was in Egypt with FRONTLINE, the PBS current affairs series, during the 2011 revolution, helping field-produce a story about the Muslim Brotherhood at a time when it was really dangerous to be talking to the Brotherhood. President Mubarak was still in power, the government was trying to censor the press and our safety was often compromised. I had lived in Cairo before, but it was a completely different experience then, almost a surreal one. It was rigorous, but it was also thrilling.

Another rigorous assignment I took on was reporting on-air in Pakistan in 2008 and 2009 with Express 24/7, then one of the country’s most-watched English news channels. I think Pakistan is a place unlike any other in the world, and so you’ll find stories there that you would never find anywhere else.

I was there as lawyers led a national march to the Capitol to reinstate the former chief justice of the Supreme Court who had been ousted by the former president. There were moments when I thought the government might come crumbling down. I also happened to be reporting there as the military carried out operations to root out the Pakistani Taliban in area called Swat. It was an incredibly hard environment to navigate, but it was equally rewarding and I learned a great deal.

Those two stories were the ones that have made me feel both out of my comfort zone personally and in my element as a journalist. The ability to trudge through these complicated places and be a part of something unexpected and new is probably one of the hardest things for a journalist, but it’s also what I think we enjoy the most.

Has having roots abroad influenced your journalistic career?

My parents are from Pakistan, but I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., where I was fortunate to grow up speaking several different languages, including Urdu. I think it made me very curious about the world. I minored in Spanish, went on to study political science in Cairo and went to graduate school in England. Seeking out those experiences helped open me up to different communities, whether domestically or abroad. My background is a part of who I am, but I’m certainly not limited to that. I may report a great deal on the issues that face American Muslims or I might report on what’s happening in Syria or in Egypt, but I am equally relentless about important stories here in the United States. I love covering campaign finance and the economy in particular.

How did you get to this point in your career?

I went to graduate school expecting to go into academia, but I remember looking at my thesis and thinking, “Who will ever read this? Isn’t there a better way to connect with people, to hold the powerful accountable and have an impact?” That’s when I turned to journalism.

I started in local news in Michigan, and later in 2008, moved to Pakistan to report. I was there for a year, until I started receiving death threats from a group claiming to be Taliban. I tried to stay, but had to leave the country. It was really difficult.

I arrived back in the U.S. in 2009 and the media landscape had changed dramatically. Newspapers had gone through a revolution and I saw an exciting opportunity for television in the digital place. It just seemed like such a fun and creative place to be a journalist. I had previously worked at Facebook, so I already had a digital background to some extent.

The desire to merge my digital background with my reportorial instincts brought me to the digital team at PBS’ FRONTLINE, where I worked for the last three years. I collaborated with some of the best investigative journalists in the country on stories that were important, serious and underreported and found great ways to tell them online. I also reported hundreds of my own digital stories, produced dozens of interactive projects, created new digital partnerships and experimented in immersive digital film.

But I really wanted to be a part of something from the ground up, something of my own to help shape, and that’s what ultimately brought me to Al Jazeera America. I’m thrilled to take on the task.

What is it about journalism that attracts you and keeps you interested despite the difficult circumstances and situations?

I think it’s the most fun job in the world. This is an industry that constantly keeps you on your feet. What I get to do is what I would be doing in my free time if I had another day job. Every day I learn about something new and thrilling, and I love being out in the field, meeting new people and exploring challenging environments. But I also love that I get the opportunity to interact with people online and experiment with digital tools. The digital sphere takes journalism to the next level — after broadcast, after publishing — in terms of generating a conversation with the audience. I feel really lucky to be a part of that. And I get to work with great people, which is a big part of it too. I think journalists are awesome — they’re curious and interesting people who never stop learning.

Of all the places you’ve been to on assignment, do you have a favorite?

Ordinarily I would tell you a place like Egypt or Pakistan, but the 2012 Republican primaries were so interesting to me. I was in New Hampshire in January 2012, and witnessing the American political process on that level is amazing. I was riveted by what was happening before me.

So far, what have you really liked about Al Jazeera America?

I love the people here. I’ve never seen such a diverse newsroom, and I’ve worked in very diverse places. And I’m not just talking about racial diversity. There are people here with different economic backgrounds, work experiences and skills. Getting to be a part of a newsroom like America Tonight, where you have people from so many different walks of life, is very exciting.

What do you think Al Jazeera America will bring to the American news conversation?

I think Al Jazeera America will bring smart conversation and more thorough investigations. We live in a time where television, for the most part, is no longer leading in investigations at all. It’s left to newspapers. I think that Al Jazeera America’s investigative unit in particular is what’s needed in American journalism. Close attention to detail, reporting a story thoroughly and in depth, and giving a story the time it deserves are part of the process — and we’ll really raise the bar in that.

Which other news sources do you follow?

I listen to NPR as I get ready every morning. I read every major paper. When I want to sit back with something, I turn to Longform.org and Longreads.com. For my investigative fix, I love FRONTLINE and the websites of ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Investigative Reporting. But I look online for a great deal of the news I like to consume. In the morning, I get my daily updates with news.me, which, basically, scours my Twitter feed to find what’s trending and what I might enjoy reading. Twitter is obviously a big part of my news process, but with a caveat. We live in an age when people often get their news based on individuals they follow and like, but it can keep us from even hearing or reading diverse perspectives we may not agree with — or people who aren’t using the Internet. I make an effort to not let myself get lost in Twitter alone.

Do you have a favorite book?

“The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison. It dramatically changed the way I think about beauty. She’s a heavy writer and can be pretty depressing, but the lowness I felt after reading that book was worth the lesson that I learned from it. The novel really illustrates the pernicious danger of focusing on appearance and looks, and what we subject others to in a society that does that. It just made me look in the mirror a little bit differently.