TV3 NEW ZEALAND: 1998-2001
In 1998, aged 18, Kamahl began his career as a sports reporter with 3 News in Auckland, New Zealand. He also substituted as a news reporter and was producing nightly sports bulletins by the age of 20.
Kamahl's time at TV3 culminated in a six-month project with New Zealand’s entry in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2001. It involved documenting the teams' preparation, race progress, and reporting from the finish in Barbados.
He also produced, edited, and hosted a 30-minute educational children's programme on the race, which was shown in New Zealand primary schools.
Whilst travelling to Barbados in November 2001, Kamahl was grounded at New York's JFK Airport after American Airlines Flight 587 crashed. He reported from the scene that day, just two months after the 9/11 attacks.
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA: 2002-2004
In late 2001 Kamahl moved to Australia, where he spent three years as Melbourne Bureau Chief for Sky Business Report with David Koch, a nightly show on the 24-hour news channel Sky News Australia.
The role involved reporting, producing, studio presenting, and filming. He was based at the Seven Network digital broadcast centre in Docklands.
Kamahl interviewed key figures in Australian business and economics, focusing on Victoria-based companies such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Telstra, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, and Coles Myer. He would also occasionally contribute to Channel Seven’s financial coverage.
Kamahl left Australia in August 2004, and spent the next 15 months living in New York and London.
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: 2005-2022
For 16 and half years, Kamahl was a news and programmes presenter for Al Jazeera English, based in Doha, Qatar.
He moved to the Middle East in November 2005 to join the channel’s launch team. Over the following years he presented hourly news bulletins, the Newshour, the panel discussion show Inside Story, and a number of one-off specials.
Kamahl was also sole host of the business and economics programme Counting the Cost for seven years:
He was then asked to become the principal host of the interactive newshour newsgrid which debuted in November 2016. A special edition of the programme - hosted by Kamahl - was nominated for an International News Emmy Award in 2018:
In addition to these programmes, Kamahl was the channel’s "number cruncher" for four consecutive U.S. presidential elections, between 2008 and 2020. He then anchored the 2021 Presidential Inauguration live from Washington DC.
Countries and cites from where Kamahl anchored and reported for Al Jazeera English (2006-2022)
TVNZ: 2022
Kamahl left Al Jazeera in March 2022, after being approached by TVNZ to join their weekday morning show Breakfast.
He returned to New Zealand after 21 years away, and started on-air in late April, but resigned only a month later.
Subsequent media reports alleged Kamahl was involved in an instance of “inappropriate behaviour” at TVNZ, but for legal reasons he could not comment publicly about it. National and international media continued to report a series of anonymous and often uncorroborated allegations - some of which have now been thoroughly debunked.
After 15 months of silence Kamahl released a statement which clarified what actually happened, as well as the circumstances and context around the event and how TVNZ’s disciplinary process operated.
He is presently taking legal action against TVNZ at the Employment Relations Authority.
THE BALANCE: 2023-present
Kamahl’s new project, post-television, is The Balance - a boutique news and commentary website providing “journalism without agenda” - which launched in June 2023.
The premise is to actively move away from the speculative, emotive, controversy-first style which dominates modern journalism - and to refocus on facts and knowledge which simply leave the reader better informed.
The Balance features written pieces called Balancers which take on multiple sides of a story - particularly those which counter a prevailing narrative. There are also Viditorials and Vidcasts hosted by Kamahl, which provide nuanced analysis of multi-faceted stories.
The Balance also features the RE:Balance podcast, which is available on all major podcast apps, and bespoke news updates and explainers under the banner of Not the 6 O’Clock News.
All videos are available on The Balance’s YouTube channel, as well as X, Facebook, and Instagram: @thebalancefeed.
