Over the past 20 years, Ali Hashem has worked with various news outlets, each with distinct editorial guidelines, and some with conflicting agendas. This extensive experience has provided him with the expertise to navigate the complexities of practicing journalism in a highly politicized environment while adhering to his journalistic values.
During his tenure at BBC, AlJazeera, AlMayadeen, and other prominent networks, Ali built a solid foundation in news and current affairs. He developed his skills in reporting, interviewing, producing, live coverage, and overseeing teams on the ground. Additionally, he contributed analysis and news reports to several respected outlets, including BBC Arabic, Al-Monitor.com, The Huffington Post, The National, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Tokyo's Facta magazine, and The Middle East Institute in Washington, with a focus on Iran, Political Islam, and the crisis in Syria.
His analysis and reports have been cited in numerous books and academic papers published in recent years. As BBC's Iran affairs correspondent, Ali traveled to Iran and other countries in the region where the Iranian narrative was unfolding. Despite limited access, he successfully produced numerous stories, utilizing digital storytelling, social media reporting, and in-depth analysis to engage an audience that had many other sources but chose to follow his coverage.
At Al-Mayadeen, Ali played a crucial role in establishing the channel's assignment desk during its launch period. He later returned to field reporting, covering major stories from Syria, Egypt, Gaza, Venezuela, Iraq, and Sierra Leone, before being appointed as the channel's bureau chief in Tehran. In Tehran, he observed the transition between governments and covered the Vienna talks, which culminated in the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1.
He also launched AlMayadeen online, the network's digital platform, where he led a team of young and seasoned journalists in creating online content and engaging with the audience. At Al-Jazeera, Ali covered significant events, including the revolution in Libya, the crisis in Syria, the famine in Somalia, and elections in Iran, while also participating in various training courses.
Among the notable stories he worked on were "The Many Names of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi" for Al-Monitor and "We Just Missed the ISIS Leader" for The Sunday Times.
