AP’s Saeed Ahmed On Embracing Identity In New Media

Journalists of Color Can Leverage Lived Experience to Benefit Audiences, AP's Digital News Director Said. Saeed Ahmed's unique lived experience helped him navigate major newsrooms at times when they needed his flexible worldview. He told NPF Widening the Pipeline Fellows about how he's helping AP broaden their digital reach. by Rachel Jones, National Press Foundation The career path that led Saeed Ahmed to his current role as VP of news for digital platforms with the Associated Press is stellar, marked by stints at other major media companies like NPR, BBC and CNN. What’s more impressive is his clarity about how culture and identity have enriched his life and career. When Ahmed spoke during the 2025 Widening the Pipeline Fellowship final training, that ease and flexibility was palpable. “I was born in Bangladesh, lived in the Middle East, went to Morehouse, and then married a white woman. And I say this and then everybody starts laughing. But there’s a point to this, which is I look at the world through multiple lenses. I look at it as parent of biracial kids, as an immigrant, as a Muslim, as a South Asian, and all of them inform when I was a reporter, inform the way I approached my journalism, and now it informs the kind of people I hire, the kind of stories I assign, every aspect of my life.” That introduction launched a wide-ranging conversation about lived experience, media transformation, AI in newsrooms and much more. “When I started in journalism, we were taught that you have to leave all your identities by the door to come and worship at the altar of objectivity. And now that whole concept is kind of flawed. There were so many times in my life, there were stories I wasn’t allowed to cover because they’re like, ‘oh, he’s a Muslim, he’s going to be biased.’ But that only seems to apply when you’re a person of color. It doesn’t apply when you are the majority.” Ahmed’s remarkable ability to leverage his identity and skills during critical moments of newsroom transformation has vaulted him to the front ranks of news innovators. Here are highlights from his session: It’s never too early to play all the angles While seeking internships and jobs after college, Ahmed learned that Cox Media Group, which owned the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper, was trying to create a one-stop news portal called Campaign 2000, which would be a repository of all their best campaign reporting. They asked Ahmed if he knew HTML. He didn’t, but they didn’t need to know that. After spending a few days in the campus computer lab, he taught himself and reported for duty the following Monday. “It wasn’t needed because they just needed someone to maintain it, to add the bold heads, et cetera,” Ahmed said. “They didn’t need me to build the whole thing. They said my job would be there until the end of the elections. This was the election that ran long because of hanging chads, et cetera. So I was there all the way until the end of December. Then in January, they said, ‘OK, you did really well. We’re going to move you upstairs to ajc.com because just like with all of you, social and digital seem to be the realm of young people.'” When breaking news meets lived experience By August of 2001, AJC work had dwindled, and Ahmed was told he could stay on as a part-timer. Then September 11th happened. “Every single news organization in America were completely caught off guard. They didn’t have any connections in the Muslim community. I was born a Muslim. I grew up in the Middle East … there are things about you that make you truly special and needed in a newsroom that others don’t have. You just have to find out what it is.” Decide how you let negative influences affect you As a journalist of Muslim descent, the months following 9/11 were challenging for Ahmed. “I had to go to the Richard Russell building because we all had to register. If you’re a Muslim [immigrant], you had to register. And right outside the ACLU would sit there with a table, and I’m like, ‘why are you here?’ And they go, ‘oh, because many people that go in don’t come out. So give me the name of your family members that you want me to call.’” Speaker: Saeed Ahmed, VP, News for Digital Platforms, Associated Press Summary and transcript: https://nationalpress.org/topic/aps-saeed-ahmed-on-embracing-identity-in-new-media/ This fellowship is funded by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation and the John C. and Ethel C. Eklund Scholarship Fund. This video was produced within the Evelyn Y. Davis studios. NPF is solely responsible for the content.