Early life

Mir was born to first-generation Pakistani immigrants and brought up in the middle class suburb of Bearsden

Bearsden

Bearsden ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the City Centre, and is effectively a suburb, with housing development coinciding with the introduction of a railway line in 1863, and from where the town gets its name...

, near Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. She graduated from the University of Bristol

University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

 with an honours law degree in 1993. She passed an entrance exam to study law at Oxford University, but failed at the interview stage.

Journalism

In 1995 Mir had a brief stint as a reporter for the Daily Record

Daily Record (Scotland)

The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

 and Sunday Mail

Sunday Mail (Scotland)

The Sunday Mail is a Scottish tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is the sister paper of the Daily Record and is owned by Trinity Mirror and as such has a left-wing outlook which in turn tends to guide Scottish political debate in that direction.The Sunday Mail is read by over one million...

, then became a radio researcher. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the Sunday Herald

Sunday Herald

The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...

.

Television

Mir began her career in broadcasting in 1992 appearing on a BBC TV programme called The Insiders with Gordon Kennedy

Gordon Kennedy (actor)

Gordon Kennedy is a Scottish actor. Kennedy grew up in Tranent, East Lothian, and attended George Watson's College in Edinburgh...

. After graduation she joined Scottish Television

Scottish Television

Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

 aged 21 as a trainee and read the early morning news bulletins, and presented the main news show.

She presented a couple of editions of the documentary strand for BBC TWO

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 called East in 1996 and some items on Desi DNA

Desi DNA

Desi DNA is a British television show on the BBC covering Desi art, culture and entertainment, currently broadcasting its fifth series in 2008....

. In 1998 she became a reporter for Central TV in Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

.

Mir has also presented Just Write on Channel 4 and Around Scotland on BBC Two. In 2010 she became a newspaper reviewer on GMTV with Lorraine and Lorraine

Lorraine (TV programme)

Lorraine is the early weekday morning, lifestyle and entertainment show for the British ITV network, presented by Lorraine Kelly. ITV Breakfast produces Lorraine, which airs every weekday from 08:30 until 09:25, following Daybreak...

.

Radio

Mir presented ethnic programmes on BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

 for two years from 1996. In 1999, she moved to London as a producer for BBC Radio London and started doing freelance news-reading shifts for the national radio station BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

. She joined the station full-time in July 2001.

In April 2006 she covered the weekday morning phone in programme on BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...

 for a fortnight when Sonia Deol

Sonia Deol

Sonia Deol is a British radio and television presenter who has presented the Sonia Deol Show on the BBC Asian Network.-Background:Born as Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu in England to Punjabi Sikh parents...

 left the programme, and before Anita Rani

Anita Rani

Anita Rani is an English born ethnic Indian radio and television presenter and journalist.-Early life:Rani was born and raised in Bradford in Yorkshire, to a mother of Sikh origins, and Hindu father...

 became presenter. She has presented items on the BBC Asian Network Report.

Mir presented the Midday News on 5 Live, Monday to Friday, until 9 January 2009. She joined BBC Scotland in April 2009 as a presenter of the Friday edition of Good Morning Scotland

Good Morning Scotland

Good Morning Scotland is a Scottish breakfast radio news programme. It is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland weekdays from 06:00 to 08:45. Established in 1973, it is the longest-running radio show broadcast from Scotland and remains one of the most popular....

. Also in 2009 she presented a series of programmes for BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 on Scotland's Year of Homecoming

Homecoming Scotland 2009

Homecoming Scotland 2009 was a series of events designed to attract people of Scottish ancestry to visit Scotland. The campaign, organised by EventScotland and VisitScotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, claimed that "for every...

, as well as Colour Me White for Radio 4, and Gay Life After Saddam for Radio 5 Live. In 2010 she replaced Anita Anand

Anita Anand

-Early life:Anand was born in London, England to Pakistani Hindu parents from the North West Frontier, bordering on Afghanistan.-Education:Anand was educated at Bancroft's School, a co-educational independent school in the town of Woodford Green, in the suburb of Woodford in North East London,...

as a presenter of Radio 5 Live's Drive programme.

External sources

• Aasmah Mir Sunday Herald, 7 August 2005
• Asian Network Reports Special BBC Asian Network - Documentary presented by Mir on Asian Network Report