Martin Bashir

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Martin Bashir interviewing Michael Jackson

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

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, Major Charles Ingram, and Joanne Lees.

In his 2003 dialogue with Michael Jackson, titled Living with Michael Jackson some people contend that Bashir edited the tapes in a manner that presented Jackson in an unflattering light^{[citation needed]}. After seeing the edited version of the interview, Jackson released a rebuttal interview, filmed by his personal cameraman.

Bashir was born in London and was educated at the University of Winchester, studying English & History from 1982-85, and at King's College London [1]. He still keeps a house in Winchester. He started work as a journalist in 1986. He worked for the BBC until 1999 on programmes including Songs of Praise, Public Eye and Panorama and then he joined ITV, working on special documentary programmes and features for Tonight with Trevor McDonald. Bashir has also appeared in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager, where he played himself.

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