Alan Fisher is a Scottish broadcast journalist, who works for international news channel, Al Jazeera English and is based at its News Centre in Washington DC.

Early career

Born and raised in Motherwell, he worked for his local newspaper, 'The Motherwell Times' while still attending the town's Dalziel High School. On leaving he was accepted to study journalism at Napier College in Edinburgh. On completing the course, he joined Moray Firth Radio in Inverness before moving to Northsound Radio in Aberdeen. He came to the attention of the bosses at what was then Grampian Television (now STV North) and was offered the post of reporter/presenter on the main evening news programme North Tonight. After six years in the North East, he moved back to the Central Belt

Central Belt

The Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless situated at the 'waist' of Scotland on a conventional map and the term 'central' is used in many local...

 of Scotland as a reporter and presenter with Scottish Television. During his time with the Glasgow based broadcaster, he reported from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Dubai ahead of the first Gulf War; and from Kuwait and Southern Iraq in its immediate aftermath. He also presented an investigation into a sinister extortion racket operating across Scotland, which led to questions being asked in the House of Commons. He also appeared regularly as a reporter on Radio Clyde's 'Superscoreboard' Sports programme.

National TV

When GMTV

GMTV

GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

took over the Breakfast franchise on ITV, he was appointed Ireland correspondent setting up its bureau in Belfast. Throughout his time in Northern Ireland he reported on a number of terrorist atrocities and outrages as well as travelling to report on the wars in Balkans. Transferring to London, he was appointed Senior News Correspondent before being promoted to Chief Correspondent. While at GMTV, he reported on some of the world's biggest news stories, from the Bali bomb and the invasion of Afghanistan to the London 7/7 attacks as well as the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, becoming a familiar face on British TV screens.

Al Jazeera

He moved to Al Jazeera English before its launch, based at its London News Centre and has reported from across the globe including Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan and many countries across Europe. His coverage from the war in Georgia was nominated for a number of awards. His reports were also part of the International News Emmy nominations Al Jazeera English received for its coverage in Georgia and during the Israeli offensive in Gaza. A frequent blogger and Twitter user @AlanFisher, he is also a regular contributor to the station's website. On August 1st 2011, he annnounced via his website and later on Twitter that he had been appointed Senior Correspondent for Al Jazeera to be based in the Washington DC News Centre.

Other interests

He is a columnist with the highly regarded on-line current affairs magazine Scottish Review and is a patron of the Young UK Programme which aims to stretch the minds and broaden the horizons of young people. For his work with the programme, he was awarded 'The Inveramsay Medal'. He is a former trustee and member of the board of the charity The Institute of Contemporary Scotland. An accomplished conference host, he has spoken at many international events on the role of the media and coverage of breaking news, including appearing on a panel at the US National Association of Black Journalists Conference in Philadelphia in August 2011. He is also an entertaining after dinner speaker. He has been a guest lecturer at the London School of Economics Summer School and spoken to journalism students around the world. In November 2010, he earned a Master of Arts Degree (MA) in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester in the UK and has contributed a chapter to an academic book on the reporting of the 2011 revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East - known collectively as 'The Arab Spring'. A keen cyclist, he has raised thousands of pounds for the British Heart Foundation. He has also appeared in the ITV series 'Bad Girls' where he played the role of a television reporter. He lives in Washington DC.

External links

10 Questions for Alan Fisher - All Media Scotland

Alan Fisher's personal website
www.alanfisher.tv