Belle of the Beeb

MISHAL HUSAIN TAKES THE STARCH OUT OF THE BBC

When Mishal Husain completed "hostile-environment training" as a BBC correspondent, she may not have expected a Washington, D.C., television studio to be one of her war zones, but she holds her ground there each evening, grappling with geopolitics and delivering world events to a war-addled American audience. Whether it's an interview with a policy Clausewitz, or a nuanced, gimmick-free delivery of the latest gory news, Husain provides a pause from the breathless reportage that's defined events in the Gulf and beyond for U.S. viewers.

Husain, a 29-year-old Pakistani Briton who grew up in the United Arab Emirates and in London, is now anchoring a nightly international news broadcast on PBS and BBC America, bringing a uniquely broad worldview to Americans. She speaks in complete and lucid paragraphs without cue cards, studied law at Cambridge, took a master's degree in Italy, and has been cutting a bella figura in every American media pile-on that ensues when a story touches a ratings nerve, yet she still bristles when she makes a purchase with her credit card and gets cracks about being related to Saddam.

Since she made her U.S. debut, Husain and her marmalade-voiced news delivery have acquired a cult following here. One besotted viewer wanted to send her flowers, another a picture of his family. Husain's reaction: "I just thought, Why?"

Though she possesses the ingredients—flawless skin, unflappable cool—of an Americanstyle media star, Husain says she wants to present, not be, the news; the idea of becoming the next wind-whipped diva inspires in her a very British cringe.

"Here it's much more about news anchor as celebrity. In the U.K. that would be thought of as show business, not news." Her ambitions in America are, paradoxically, both modest and daunting. She'd like to "carry on the BBC tradition" of grown-up news triage and analysis. While she's at it, she has had to get used to opening fan mail, too.

AMY FINNERTY