In the early stages of his career in the late 1960s, Sid trained as an actor at the Conservatoire de Musique et Déclamation in Algiers, where he performed several stageplays. Between 1970 and 1979, Sid went on to work as an actor and presenter at Radio-Télévision Algérienne, a radio and television centre in Algiers, where he wrote and performed in radio dramas, and presented both radio and television programmes. But he was perhaps best known as a presenter of Between High Schools, a site-specific television and radio show resembling University Challenge. In 1979, at the age of just 29, Sid was selected as the first ever Algerian broadcaster at the BBC World Service, where he broke picket lines in creating a completely new style of radio broadcasting. He later began voice-coaching broadcasters in his new style, commenting that it made the broadcaster sound "less like a dictator and more like a democrat".
Radio work
Sid has conducted interviews, covered conflicts, presented documentary features, and broadcast the news and current affairs for over 35 years at the BBC World Service. In 2012, the BBC World Service moved from Bush House, its iconic home for over 70 years, to Broadcasting House. Sid said of the move, "The BBC Arabic Service will not be the same".
Journalism
Coverage of the Algerian political conflict, 1991
Algerian Civil War 1992-2002 The Algerian Civil War began in December 1991, when the Islamic Salvation Front party gained popularity amongst the Algerian people and the National Liberation Front party, fearing the former's victory, cancelled the elections after the first round. At this time the country's military, Algerian People’s National Army, effectively took control of the government, and president Chadli Bendjedid was forced from office. After the FIS was banned and thousands of its members arrested, Islamist guerrillas rapidly emerged and began an armed campaign against the government and its supporters. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, where more than 70 journalists were assassinated, either by security forces or by Islamists. The conflict effectively ended with a government victory, following the 1997 surrender of the Islamic Salvation Army and the 2002 defeat of the Armed Islamic Group. However, low-level fighting still continues in some areas. Media Coverage In 1991, Sid covered the Algerian political conflict for the weekday BBC news bulletins and BBC News. Many of his broadcasts were syndicated across the United Kingdom, United States, France and Germany. Sid produced and presented a Panorama programme, which investigated the cancellation of the first round of the 1991 legislative elections. He used a report in which he interviewed the leaders of the three main parties: Abdelhamid Mehri, Hocine Aït Ahmed, as well as the new leader of the FIS, Abdelkader Hachani, just moments before his arrest in 1991. On 22 November 1999, a few years after his interview with Sid, Hachani, the former FIS leader, was assassinated in the waiting room of a dental clinic in the Bab el Oued district of Algiers.
