# Ramita Navai

Ramita Navai (Persian: رامیتا نوایی; born 21 July 1973) is a British journalist, documentary producer, and author. A recipient of the Emmy Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, she has reported from over 40 countries and has a reputation for gathering stories on underreported topics in dangerous environments.

## Early life and education

Navai was born in Tehran, Iran, on 21 July 1973. Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, she and her family immigrated to the United Kingdom, where they settled down in London. Navai attended Putney High School and later graduated with a postgraduate degree in journalism from City, University of London, where she was recognized as Young Journalist of the Year by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council. In 2023, she was voted Alumna of the Year of the Girls' Day School Trust for her work with "women’s and girls’ issues in some of the most war-torn and conflicted regions in the world" over the course of her career.

## Career

Navai worked as the Tehran correspondent for The Times from 2003 to 2006, where she covered events like the Bam earthquake and parliamentary and presidential elections. She has worked in more than 40 countries, including reporting for the United Nations in Iran, Pakistan, and Iraqi Kurdistan. She has made 20 documentaries for Channel 4's current affairs series Unreported World. For ITN / Channel 4 News, she has made various features, including investigating child trafficking in India and police gang-killings in Brazil. Her report Macedonia: Tracking Down the Refugee Kidnap Gangs won The Foreign Press Association London for News Story of the Year: TV award, the Royal Television Society for The Independent Award.
More recently she has reported on the activities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2017) and United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2018). She has written for many publications, including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independent, the New Statesman, and The Irish Times.
In 2012, she won an Emmy Award for her undercover report from Syria for PBS Frontline. In September 2014, she appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
In 2017, she reported and produced the Frontline PBS documentary Iraq Uncovered, which was also broadcast on Channel 4 with the title ISIS and the Battle for Iraq. Iraq Uncovered/ISIS and the Battle for Iraq won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (International Television), the British Journalism Award for Foreign Affairs Journalism, and the Frontline Club award for Broadcast Journalism. It was also nominated for two Emmys (Outstanding Investigation and Outstanding Research).
In 2017 and 2018, she produced and reported the Frontline PBS, Channel 4, and ARTE documentary the UN Sex Abuse Scandal, which was broadcast in 2018.

### City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran

City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran was published in the UK by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in May 2014 and in the US by PublicAffairs in September 2014. Based on extensive interviews and research City of Lies is an intimate portrait of modern Iran. It chronicles the lives of eight protagonists drawn from across the spectrum of Iranian society. It has been translated into five languages. City of Lies won Debut Political Book of the Year Award at the Political Book Awards as well as the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Award. It was a Book of the Year in both the Evening Standard (2014) and The Spectator.

#### Reception

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show:
   The stories are beautiful, and they’re so well-detailed and nuanced.
Anthony Loyd:
   One of the world’s most exciting cities, as revealed by one of journalism’s most exciting women. Navai slips effortlessly into the boots of earthy, urban writer to tour Tehran’s ripped backsides in this intimate, grand guignol debut. She transports us through the Iranian capital’s multiple personas with deft and knowing navigation: never short of love for even the lowliest of her fellow Tehranis. An intimate and devoted portrait, lifting a beautiful truth from a city masked in lies.
Eliza Griswold, The Sunday Telegraph:
   A talented writer, she quickly sucks us in with her first character ... Navai has a reporter’s eye for the telling detail… this is a timely and beautifully written insight into the lives of Tehranis.

## Documentaries

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2022 | Afghanistan Undercover | Frontline PBS; |
| 2018 | The UN Sex Abuse Scandal | Frontline PBS; Dispatches, Channel 4; ARTE Awards: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, Television - International |
| 2017 | ISIS and the Battle for Iraq | Dispatches, Channel 4 Awards: British Journalism Awards: Foreign Affairs Journalism, and The Frontline Club: Broadcast Journalism Award Nominations: Rory Peck Trust: Sony Impact Award for Current Affairs, and One World Media: Television Documentary Award |
| 2017 | Iraq: Uncovered | Frontline, PBS Awards: The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for International Television Nominated: Emmy Award: Outstanding Investigation, and Outstanding Research |
| 2012 | Egypt: Sex Mobs and Revolution | Nominated: Foreign Press Association Award (2014), One World Media Award (2013) |
| 2012 | Honduras and Mexico: The Lost Girls | |
| 2011 | Undercover Syria | Awards: News & Documentary Emmy Award (2012) Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine, Nomination: One World Media Award in the Television category Archived 10 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine (2012) |
| 2011 | Breaking into Israel | Nomination: FrenchAmerican Foundation Immigration Journalism Award (2012) |
| 2011 | Burundi: Boys Behind Bars | Shortlisted: One World Media Award (2012) |
| 2010 | Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds | |
| 2010 | Afghanistan's Child Drug Addicts | |
| 2010 | El Salvador: The Child Assassins | |
| 2010 | USA: Down and Out | |
| 2009 | Sudan: How to Fuel a Famine | |
| 2009 | Peru: Blood and Oil | |
| 2009 | Papua New Guinea: Bush Knives and Black Magic | |
| 2009 | Turkey: Killing for Honour | |
| 2008 | Nigeria: Child Brides, Stolen Lives | |
| 2008 | South Africa: Body Parts for Sale | |
| 2008 | Bangladesh: The Drowning Country | |
| 2007 | India: The Broken People | Nomination: Amnesty International Gaby Rado Award for Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year (2009) |
| 2007 | China: Chongqing: Invisible city | |
| 2006 | Guatemala: City of the Dead | |
| 2006 | Malaysia: Asia's Slaves | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Nominated Work | Category | Result |
| 2003 | | Broadcast Journalism Training Council: Young Journalist of the Year | Won |
| 2008 | South Africa: Body Parts for Sale | Amnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights Journalist | Nominated |
| 2008 | India's Trafficked Girls | Amnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights Journalist | Nominated |
| | | One World Media: Children's Rights Award | Nominated |
| 2009 | Brazil: Murder in São Paulo (2008) | Amnesty Media Awards: Gaby Rado Young Human Rights Journalist | Nominated |
| 2009 | India: The Broken People (2007) | Amnesty International Gaby Rado Award for Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year (2009) | Nominated |
| 2012 | Burundi: Boys Behind Bars (2011) | One World Media Award | Shortlisted |
| 2012 | Breaking into Israel (2011) | French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism Award | Nominated |
| 2012 | Undercover Syria (2011) | News & Documentary Emmy Award, Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine | Won |
| 2012 | | One World Media Award in the Television Category | Nominated |
| 2012 | City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran | Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award | Won |
| 2014 | Egypt: Sex Mobs and Revolution (2012) | One World Media | Nominated |
| 2013 | | Foreign Press Association Award | Nominated |
| 2015 | City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran | Debut Political Book of the Year | Won |
| 2015 | Macedonia: tracking down the refugee kidnap gangs | Foreign Press Association in London: News Story of the Year: TV | Won |
| | | Amnesty Media Awards: TV News | Shortlisted |
| | | Royal Television Society: The Independent Award | Won |
| 2018 | Iraq Uncovered (Frontline PBS) | The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for International Television | Won |
| | | Emmy Award: Outstanding Investigation | Nominated |
| | | Emmy Award: Outstanding Research | Nominated |
| 2018 | ISIS and the Battle for Iraq (Dispatches, Channel 4) | British Journalism Awards: Foreign Affairs Journalism | Won |
| | | The Frontline Club: Broadcast Journalism Award | Won |
| | | Rory Peck Trust: Sony Impact Award for Current Affairs | Nominated |
| | | One World Media: Television Documentary Award | Nominated |
| 2019 | UN Sex Abuse Scandal (Frontline, PBS) | Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, Television - International | Won |
| 2023 | | Alumna of the Year, Girls' Day School Trust | Won |

## Books

* City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014, ISBN 978-1-610-39519-9.
** Vivre et mentir à Téhéran, Stock, 2015, ISBN 978-2-234-07808-6.
** Stadt der Lügen. Liebe, Sex und Tod in Teheran, Kein & Aber Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-0369-5750-0.
** Orasul minciunilor, ISBN 9789734657698
** Город лжи. Любовь. Секс. Смерть. Вся правда о Тегеране, 2018, ISBN 978-5-04-094684-6
** Miasto kłamstw. Cała prawda o Teheranie, 2014, ISBN 9788379618842
* "Iran: Coming out from the Cold?" In Shifting Sands: The Unravelling of the Old Order in the Middle East, edited by Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson, 113–127. London: Profile Books.