Dr. Shahid Masood is director news and current affair of ARY TV, a private Pakistani TV channel broadcasting from Dubai.He the regarded as the most contraversial TV journalist in Pakistan and his show is by far the longest-running current-affairs show in the history of Urdu television from any where in the world. Dr Shahid Masood’s thirst for truth results in an in-depth hunt for facts that usually remain hidden from the public eye. His fearless and honest views on such news have made him the most popular talk show host on any Pakistani TV channel.
Dr Shahid Masood started his career as a surgeon but after a successful stint with operation theaters, he has trained his scalpel towards the healing the political and social wounds of the Muslim world. His pen (his program is also a well-known regular Urdu column in the national press) has cut through many a hard barrier to dig out that rare commodity called the truth.
Views on News is credited with many firsts: it was the first program to interview many important personalities from politics, civil life, literature, and issues of wide interest. The personalities from the sphere of politics who have been interviewed on Views on News include President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, MQM leader Altaf Hussain, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif, General (retd) A. A. K. Niazi (of East Pakistan fame), former CIA Director James Woolsey, and other important personalities including former ISI chiefs. Celebrities from the world of literature, who have appeared on the show, include Ahmed Faraz, the late Ashfaq Ahmed, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, and Munnoo Bhai.
This show has broken important news, bringing significant information to the viewers. It is undoubtedly the topmost TV column show that gives information to its viewers.
What makes this show stand out is the fact that it has taken up burning issues from the current affairs. Whether it is the issue of terrorism perceptions in the west, or the war against terror at home; religious intolerance among American voters, or seminaries in Pakistan; the probe into the 9/11 attacks, or future of the Palestinian nation, Dr Shahid Masood has commented on all issues with a fair view and bold approach. He has taken the facts to the public, something Pakistani viewers were not used to.