Zara Janjua studied Business Management as an undergraduate degree, before undertaking a Masters in Journalism, where she volunteered at The Innocence Project. It was here she started investigating miscarriages of justice and drafting appeals to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission. She then launched her career as a human rights journalist with the Scottish Human Rights Commission before becoming a current affairs news presenter.

She has worked as a weekly columnist for The Scottish Sun, presented the Sunday morning show on BBC Radio Scotland, and reported on Cop26 and Cop27 for The New York Times.

Zara Janjua has presented national news programmes, as well as daytime, comedy, and cookery shows. She is one of BBC Radio London’s New Voice Talents, won a place in BBC Comedy Writer’s Room, and hosted BBC’s The Comedy Underground. She has reported for the New York Times, and has performed as a political satirist for BBC’s Noising Up.

She is one to watch on the comedy circuit, twice gaining a spot at the semi-finals of Scottish Comedian of the Year, and she regularly performs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other festivals around the UK.

Below: Zara’s hosting and facilitating showreel

She has appeared in adverts, including a global campaign for Liz Earle Skincare, and a UK-wide campaign for Sainsbury’s. She also hosts global fashion shows, sporting events, awards ceremonies, and corporate dinners, as well as hosting a series of podcasts for RBS about entrepreneurial women.

See Zara Janjua in the RBS TV commercial below:

She is an advocate for women’s rights, equality, and mental health, and has spoken at some of the biggest International Women’s Day events across the country. She is an ambassador for several charities, working closely with Bloodwise, Craig Gowan’s Memorial Fund, and Jak’s Den.

Zara Janjua is the founder of Scottistani Productions, a humanitarian film project which tells stories of impact, from Nepal to Tanzania, to Guatemala, Canada, and the Cayman Islands. She also launched the Gender Pay Gap Action Plan for Scotland with Nicola Sturgeon, worked on the Domestic Abuse Campaign with Solace during lockdown, filmed with Richard Branson on the first ever ‘Pride Flight’ for Stonewell 50 in New York, and presented the European Bank of Reconstruction and Redevelopment conference in Uzbekistan 2023.

In Zara’s showreel you’ll see her with her STV sparring partner David Farrell. If you like their on-screen chemistry then you’ll be delighted to know we also have David on the team here at Great British Speakers!