Video Discription |
News anchor, Correspondent, Fitness enthusiast and Blogger, Afrida Ali is the newest guest at
'Jam With Sam'. Currently working with Times Now, the leading news channel in present day India, Afrida is working closely with Mr. Arnab Goswami, while balancing her work and family life
magnificently.
The Journey:
Afrida began her career as a bureau reporter in 2002 for the Hindi news channel 'Aaj Tak';
covered lifestyle & entertainment at the time, and then began her first show -'Raat Ki Baat'.
She then moved onto becoming the first female Bureau Chief at the Assam branch of the Aaj Tak
and Headlines Today office. Her next show, in 2007, was called 'Headstart' along with 2 other female journalists. She says excitedly that the moment she knew her work was recognized was when Shah Rukh Khan mentioned that he watched Headstart daily and loved the 3 newscasters.
She had to take a couple of breaks whilst working as she did not stop having a family life due to
her work, and so when she had to move to Mumbai when her husband got a job here, she joined
'Times Now' and recently completed a year there. She is also a blogger, and is currently focusing on writing about parenting and a work life-personal life balance.
Her Social Media Stance:
Being an extremely people friendly person, Afrida doesn't hold back on accepting people's requests on her Facebook account, and happily updates the world on what she does and what she finds interesting. Her thoughts and opinions however, she saves for her Twitter followers, where she posts what she thinks unabashedly.
Newscasting Diaries:
Afrida says that at times when the news is too difficult to deal with, her poker face comes off
because the audience expects a newscaster to not be absolutely rigid and so she tries to express
with her eyes and not let her emotions get the best of her. She has had the opportunity to work with people that allow her to ask her own set of questions at various moments, if and when she desires, and she finds that to be the utmost act of respect from a channel towards a journalist, and one she's grateful for. She also adds that if and when she finds an editorial headline that she doesn't completely agree with, she manages to get through it 'cause that is, in fact, her job, but in
certain cases, gets out of it.
Arnab Goswami, the mystery:
Despite being infamous for his ways, she believes him to be one of the most hard working humans she has come across. She credits him with helping her sustain her career by understanding her will to maintain a balance between work and family, and says that he's the toughest taskmaster in the business who has a lot to teach. She further adds that he ensures his channel Times Now holds a stance on every issue that is reported by them, after both sides of the issue have been informed to the public as he believes that their opinion is of utmost importance.
QUICK GUN SAM:
Men - Interesting species
Times Now - Bold
Money - Not everything
Family - Is everything
Facebook - Fun
Politics - Very interesting
Family Time:
Afrida's want to maintain a balance gets her to work from 5 am to 11 am daily, and gives her enough time off to spend with her daughter, 8, and son, 4. On weekends however, she works more and wants to someday be able to travel the world but also have a successful Prime Time show. ipOe5WKGGRc |