Hossein Shahidi has taught journalism and communication at the American University of Beirut, the American University of Kuwait, the Lebanese American University and the Jordan Media Institue. He is the author of Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession, and co-editor, with Homa Katouzian, of Iran in the 21st Century, Politics, Economics and Conflict, both published by Routledge in 2007.

Hossein Shahidi worked at the BBC World Service, London, 1983-2001, as a journalist in the Persian and Arabic services and the Central News Department, and in the Training Department where he was in charge of journalism and production training for all broadcasters joining the BBC World Service. He has also trained professional journalists in East and South Asia, the Arab World, and Iran.

Hossein was Gender and Media Specialist with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Afghanistan, 2003-2004, managing a project aimed at supporting women journalists in the country. The project helped with the formation of the Afghan Women Journalists’ Forum, which organized coordination and training conferences for some 300 women journalists from across Afghanistan and produced literature and video material to promote gender equity and prevent violence against women.

Over the past thirty years, Hossein Shahidi has written on Iran, Central Asia and the Arab World for a variety of media, including www.iranian.com, http://english.aljazeera.net/, and independent specialist journals in Iran, San’at-e Haml-o Naghl, Adineh, Payam-e Emrouz, Mehrname and Bokhara. Since September 2006, he has been Assistant Editor, Social Sciences, for Iranian Studies.

His areas of research interest include Iranian politics, economy and culture; media professionalism, media accessibility, and media usage, especially in the Islamic world; public service communication, especially for the promotion of healthcare, education and gender equality; history of the media; and global production and consumption of energy.

* Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession, Routledge, London, 2007. * Iran in the 21st Century: Politics, Economics and Conflict, co-edited with Homa Katouzian, Routledge, London, 2007. * “Ma bi’asser – Lessons for life from Lebanon”, article published in the Lebanese paper, The Daily Star, 27 August 2010, Iranian.com, http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/aug/ma-bi-asser. * “For my friends in jail in Iran”, commentary for Al-Jazeera.net, July 2009, on the detention of some 30 Iranian journalists following Iran’s disputed presidential elections in June 2009: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/08/20098664517311631.html

* Iranian politics, economy and culture
* Global energy and the Middle East
* Public service communication, especially for the promotion of healthcare, education and gender equality
* Media professionalism, media accessibility, and media usage, especially in the Islamic world
* History of the media