Tazeen Ahmad: Award-winning journalist and presenter dies at 48
- Published
Tributes have been paid to journalist and news presenter Tazeen Ahmad, who has died at the age of 48.
Ahmad worked for BBC News, Channel 4 Dispatches and as a foreign correspondent for NBC News.
The Asian Media Awards said she was "one of the most gifted journalists of her generation".
Her brothers, Faheem and Nadeem, said "she left a lasting impression on everyone she met", both personally and professionally.
"We remain immensely proud of all she achieved - as a mother, journalist, writer and for her coaching work," they said in a statement.
"So many people have been in touch remarking on her powerful ability to turn around people's lives for the better.
"Her groundbreaking and award-winning television reporting work took her across the world into some of its most troubled areas and, at home in the UK, Tazeen tackled difficult but crucial subjects which resulted in real change."
Ahmad's brothers added that she died surrounded by her close friends and family.
Her agents, Knight Ayton Management, said the Bafta-nominated Ahmad "shone a light on important stories but did so with care, sympathy and integrity".
Broadcaster Adil Ray remembered her as "extraordinary", adding that she was "committed to real, authentic issues & [had] an amazing ability to tell the stories to a wider audience".
Ahmad was a reporter on BBC Three's Liquid News and a presenter for the channel's 60 Seconds bulletins and News Show.
She later carried out and presented investigations for Dispatches on subjects ranging from sex gangs, female jihadis, beauty creams and cruise ships.
She won an RTS Journalism award for the documentary The Hunt For Britain's Sex Gangs, earning a Bafta current affairs nomination for the same programme.
She co-presented The Truth About Child Sex Abuse on BBC Two in 2015, and wrote a book about six months she spent undercover working on supermarket checkouts.
BBC London's Riz Lateef paid tribute to the "fearless, passionate and kind" Ahmad, and Radio 4's Aasmah Mir described her as "a great journalist and a lovely person".
BBC South Asian correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan wrote: "Graceful, kind and inspirational, she became a mentor and friend. It meant so much to see a brilliant Asian woman excel. She was a dogged journalist and a role model."
Outside journalism, Ahmad was the founder and director of emotional intelligence consultancy EQ Matters.
World Service chief Mary Hockaday was head of the Newsroom when Tazeen was on 60 seconds. She said: "Tazeen was always an engaging and professional broadcaster who brought the news to audiences on BBC Three in a fresh way before becoming an excellent and determined investigative journalist. Our condolences to her family, friends and colleagues."
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