ABOUT KAMAHL
1998-2001: TV3 NEW ZEALAND
In 1998, aged 18, Kamahl Santamaria began his career as a sports reporter with 3News in Auckland, New Zealand. He also substituted as a news reporter and was producing nightly sports bulletins by age 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.
2002-2004: SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA
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 like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Telstra, ANZ Bank, NAB, and Coles Myer. He also contributed to Seven’s financial coverage.
Kamahl left Australia in August 2004, and spent the next 15 months in New York and London.
2005-2022: AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
In 2005, Kamahl joined the launch team at Al Jazeera English, as a Principal Presenter based in Doha, Qatar.
Over the next 16 and half years, he presented news bulletins, the Newshour, discussion show Inside Story, and numerous one-off specials.
He was also Al Jazeera’s dedicated ‘number cruncher’ for four consecutive U.S. presidential elections between 2008 and 2020. On each occasion Kamahl hosted 12+ hours of live presentation and analysis from the videowall in Doha.
After the 2020 election, Kamahl went on to anchor the 2021 Presidential Inauguration live from Washington DC, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
Kamahl was also the sole host of the business and economics programme Counting the Cost for seven years between 2009 and 2016.
He was then tapped to be the principal host of the new interactive newshour newsgrid, which was launched on Al Jazeera English’s 10th anniversary.
Kamahl was part of the newsgrid launch team which created the show’s concept and structure, and a special edition hosted by Kamahl was nominated for an International News Emmy Award in 2018.
READ MORE: Counting the Cost (2009-16)
READ MORE: newsgrid (2016-19)
Locations from where Kamahl anchored and reported for Al Jazeera English (2006-2022)
The news media reported an instance of “inappropriate behaviour” was behind Kamahl’s resignation, but for legal reasons he could not comment.
Media continued to report anonymous and uncorroborated allegations - some of which have now been thoroughly debunked.
After 15 months, Kamahl released a statement clarifying what actually happened, including context which the media had never reported and how TVNZ’s disciplinary process had operated.
2023-PRESENT: THE BALANCE
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 of this content is curated and available online at thebalance.website, as well as The Balance’s various social media channels: @thebalancefeed.
THE BALANCE IS CURRENTLY ON HIATUS