When you are behind the BBC microphone, nobody knows whether you are a member of staff, or a freelancer. While on the other side, listeners and certain journalists may assess you better than officials, such as a Jordanian sports editor, who credited me for making the British football clubs and players more popular and favourites than local clubs and players.

I started my career in Near East Arab Broadcasting Station, founded by the British and buried on order from London, at the height of its fame, while most of its listeners thought it was financed by Arabs, which was why it was a...