Profile of Martin Bashir on Famous Like Me

Martin Bashir (born January 19, 1963, in London) is an British journalist of Pakistani origin.

Bashir came to wide prominence in 1995 when he interviewed (for the BBC's Panorama programme) Diana, Princess of Wales about her failed marriage to the Prince of Wales. Since then he has conducted interviews with, amongst others, Louise Woodward, the five suspects in the Stephen Lawrence case, Michael Barrymore, Jeffrey Archer, and most recently Michael Jackson and Major Charles Ingram and Joanne Lees.

Perhaps his most infamous interview was his 2003 dialogue with Michael Jackson, titled Living with Michael Jackson. Many contend that Bashir edited the tapes of the Jackson interviews in a manner that presented Jackson in an unflattering light. After seeing the edited version of the interview, Jackson released a rebuttal interview, filmed by his personal cameraman, which showed how the interview really went and what Jackson's responses really were.

Journalist Roger Friedman, who covered the Jackson pedophelia trial noted, "Jackson's attorney Tom Mesereau played the outtakes video for the jury in full. It was a brilliant move, because Bashir is so awful that Jackson comes off as a victim. Mesereau counted on the outtakes to help get Jackson acquitted, and he was 100 percent right."

Bashir was born in London and was educated at King's College London studying English. He started work as a journalist in 1986. He worked for the BBC until 1999, when he joined ITV, working on special documentary programmes and features for Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Currently, Bashir serves as a correspondent for ABC's 20/20. Bashir will become one of the three full-time anchors of Nightline following Ted Koppel's last broadcast in November 2005.

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