Deepening Democracy through Media in National Alumni Conference 2014 October 17-20 Marriott

Participant Biographies

Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange Alumni:

Syed Wiqas AHMAD Assistant Controller News, Khyber TV Channel, Peshawar 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Syed Wiqas Ahmad is assistant controller for news and current affairs in the regional Pashto TV channel , a position he assumed in November 2010. He supervises three news bulletins, setting the agenda for news and assigning tasks to reporters and producers. He also hosts a weekly current affairs program (Khyber Newsroom Live) from Peshawar in which he conducts discussions on various socio-political issues taking place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas of Pakistan. Prior to this present position, Mr. Wiqas spent two years in Kabul as bureau chief for Khyber News and as a reporter for the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun. While in Afghanistan he conducted the weekly current affairs programs Kabul Diary and Zeba Watan for Khyber News TV. He conducted exclusive interviews with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former Foreign Minister and leading challenger to Karzai in the 2009 polls, and most of the other leading presidential candidates. He produced two documentaries on Mehmood Ghaznavi and other personalities of Gazni, a multi-ethnic province hard- hit by the Afghanistan fighting.He was awarded certificates by AVT Channels for his marathon coverage of the judicial crisis and Lal Masjid operation. During this period he had an exclusive interview in London with United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Milliband, produced a documentary on music in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and filmed and produced a mini documentary on the military operation in Hangu as well as more than a dozen other mini documentaries on the rise of Talibanization and its consequences.

Amir ARAIN Bureau Chief, Online News Network, 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Aamir Latif has been working as the Karachi bureau chief of Pakistan’s largest wire service Online News Network for the last ten years and for an Islamabad-based weekly magazine Pulse for last five years. He is also CBS radio and Boston-based newspaper Global Post correspondent in Pakistan, and a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Mr. Latif is associated with OnIslam.net, the world’s largest Islamic portal as its Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent. Mr. Latif frequently appears on Al-Jazeera English TV Channel as a panelist. He began his career at Pakistan Press Internationaland worked as a member of the investigation wing of US News and World Report from 2001 to 2008. He has been part of various award-winning stories such as “War to Win Hearts and Minds of Muslim World,” “Where This Man (Bin Laden) is Hiding,” and “Pashtun Nationalism.” With US News and World Report, he worked as a reporter for The Washington Times, and his story “FBI Puts Spiders in Pakistan” was the first one that disclosed the presence of US intelligence operations in Pakistani in 2002. Mr. Latifvisited the North Waziristan region, the prime target of US drone attacks, and has written a series for the Global Post about how drone attacks have changed Waziristan. His prime area of interest is counter-terrorism, defense, and security-related issues. He was elected as treasurer and vice-president of the Karachi Press Club, the largest press club in Pakistan, for two terms. National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 2 of 13

Malik Arshad AZIZ Resident Editor, Daily Jang, Peshawar 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Malik Arshad Aziz is a senior journalist and resident editor of Daily Jang Peshawar. He has distinguished career of 23 years in journalism and started his carrier during his post graduate studies as columnist from Daily Mashriq and Daily Jang. After completing his university education, he assumed the post of sub editor at the Daily Mashriq Peshawar and then joined the Daily Aaj Peshawar as sub editor. He spent 20 years in Daily Aaj Peshawar on different positions. His last assignment was senior news editor at the Daily Aaj. He is a qualified security, first aid and trauma trainer for journalists in Pakistan. He has worked as a trainer with Internews, IFJ, PFUJ and other organizations and trained more than five hundred journalists in Pakistan. Besides his professional activities, He is also active in Journalist’s Union affairs and Peshawar Press Club activities. He was elected twice as President Khyber Union of Journalists and was elected member of federal executive council of PFUJ in 2013.

Muhammad Aftab QURESHI Political Specialist, Embassy of the United States of America, Islamabad 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Muhammad Aftab Qureshi is a political specialist at the Embassy of the United States of America in Islamabad. Previously he was a staff reporter with Pakistan’s premier news organization, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) at its head office in the Federal Capital, Islamabad, where he covered human development, reporting in conflict/disaster zones, environment, politics, tourism, and Kashmir affairs. He also covered the proceedings of the Parliament and special assignments such as the 2005 earthquake and military operations in FATA-Balochistan and their impact on the lives of citizens and on local elections. He started with APP in August 2002 after clinching a single seat in the organization in a written competition held in 2002. Mr. Qureshi had previously worked for an Islamabad-based Saraiki language television channel known as Rohi TV, preparing feature packages on various issues of human interest. Before joining APP, Mr. Qureshi worked as media coordinator and public relations officer/researcher for two Dera Ismail Khan-based NGOs.

Mr. Muhammad Ejaz KHAN Bureau Chief, Geo TV/The News International, Quetta 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Muhammad Ejaz Khan is the bureau chief of Geo TV for Balochistan (based in Quetta) as well as the senior correspondent of The News International—a sister publication of the same group—for the region since 1995. He has been associated with Geo TV since its inception in 2002.As the bureau chief, he leads a team of more than 18 assignment editors, reporters, cameramen, satellite engineers and other staff members always prepared to deliver in the most challenging situations. He has written hundreds of articles on various topics related to Balochistan, covering politics, natural calamities, and problems confronted by the people especially after 9/11. He began his career in journalism after a brief stint as teacher at the Helper’s Public School and College. He started at a local English newspaper as a reporter, and moved to the South Asian Media Watch (SAMW) as its senior correspondent in Balochistan. He is a recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz—a prestigious civil award of the country—from the president of Pakistan for his services in the field of journalism. He covered the US-led war on terror in neighboring Afghanistan from the Pakistan-Afghan border as well as the conflict in Iran. He lost his right eye while reporting a terrorist bomb blast from the scene in Quetta for Geo TV.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 3 of 13

Henna SAEED International Freelance News Producer, Channel News Asia, Singapore 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Henna Saeed assumed the position of a reporter/news producer for CNA Singapore through ETN News Agency in Pakistan in June 2013. She has been doing disaster reporting, covering bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, floods, etc. from Pakistan for international audiences in Singapore and across the world. Her freelance ventures include reporting for channels like Al-Jazeera, ABP News India, Arise News Now USA and MTA-International TV, UK. Ms. Saeed started her journalistic career with the print media at Daily Times Newspaper Pakistan, where she headed the Infotainment desk. She made her television debut with Pakistan’s first English news channel, TV, as a news producer and reporter. She is a one-woman production team; the researcher, script-writer, editor, reporter, anchor and the camera-person too. Ms. Saeed bagged the International Commission of the Red Cross award for the best electronic media journalist in Pakistan for 2011. Following this, she secured the prestigious Chevening Scholarship to study in the UK. She is the first Pakistani journalist to have won the Emerging Talent of the Year award by the O2 North West Media Organization in the UK in 2012.

Mehmal SARFAZ Deputy Secretary General, South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), and Joint Secretary of South Asian Women in Media, 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mehmal Sarfraz is the regional Deputy Secretary General, South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), an associated media body of SAARC, and Joint General Secretary of South Asian Women in Media (SAWM), a platform committed to fighting gender-based violence and promoting women’s rights in SAARC countries. Previously, she worked as the Executive Director of Vanguard Books, The Friday Times and Good Times magazine, as lead analyst in a project on child rights violations with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and UNICEF, as the Op-Ed Editor of Daily Times, as Programmes Officer/Principal Information Officer at SAFMA, and as Deputy Editor of The Post.Ms. Sarfraz’s work has mainly focused on highlighting religious extremism in Pakistan, terrorism, women’s rights, minority rights, peace in the region, inter-faith harmony, media freedom, reporting in conflict zones, Pakistan-Afghan relations, Pakistan-US relations, Indo-Pakistan relations, foreign policy, social issues and politics. She was the only Pakistani woman editor to moderate a panel discussion at the 16th World Editors Forum in the session on the importance of female editors in newspapers.

Kamal SIDDIQI Editor, , Karachi 2011 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Kamal Siddiqi is the editor of The Express Tribune, a national English language daily. Prior to this, he was editor reporting for The News International, a national English language daily. Before coming to The News International, he worked for Daily Dawn as a member of the editorial board in the capacity of lead writer. This was a specialized assignment associated with the editorial and opinion editorial pages. Three years prior to that position he taught journalism at Monash University in . Most of Mr. Siddiqi’s professional work has been in Pakistan and the region, where he has been associated with the Dow Jones News Wires, Economist Intelligence Unit, CNN, and local media houses. He also worked for five years as a Pakistan stringer for the Indian Express and more recently reported for the Hindustan Times. Mr. Siddiqi has written a book on online journalism for media students titled “The Online Journalist” and also edited “Journos on Journalism,” a book on the practice of journalism. In 1994, Mr. Siddiqi was awarded the Britannia Scholarship from the London School of Economics. Currently, he teaches in the university’s journalism department as a lecturer from the working media.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 4 of 13

Mr. Shabbir AHMAD Correspondent and Producer, PTV World, Islamabad 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mr. Shabbir Ahmad is a correspondent and producer at PTV World, an English language program of state broadcaster Pakistan Television. Previously, he was producer in the news and current affairs department of at the Islamabad station, where he was responsible for producing different talk shows, special news reports and documentaries. He travelled extensively to FATA and Afghanistan for his program, Jirga, which focused on the war on terror and its effects. Mr. Ahmad joined Geo News in December 2007. Before that he was a producer for Pakistan Television. He also worked as a producer/reporter at Indus TV Network. He started his career at The News International as a trainee subeditor, then worked with the Daily Khabrain as subeditor before switching to electronic media. He previously taught mass communication at several universities as a visiting lecturer. He received the Best Road Show award from Indus TV Network in 2004.

Mahboob ALI Correspondent, Geo TV Network, Mingora, Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mr. Mahboob Ali assumed the position of correspondent at IMC Geo TV Network of Pakistan when the war on terror was beginning in his home district of Swat Valley and adjacent districts of the Malakand Division. He is responsible for covering all events in the district of Swat, the lower Dir, upper Dir, Shangla, Buner, and Chitral districts as well as the Malakand Agency, where he supervises 7 reporters throughout the district. He has covered every aspect of news in these regions, especially the war on terror since these areas are in the heart of the conflict zone. He has covered 32 suicidal attacks in Swat and other parts of the Malakand Division and has received many threats from militants. After one of his colleagues, Musa Khan Khel, was killed in the line of duty by militants on February 18, 2009, Mr. Ali was given threats to leave the area or face a similar fate. He is general secretary of the Swat Press Club. Previously, he was a reporter with Geo TV English (2007), and with the Swat-based newspaper, Daily Azadi, from 2005 to 2007.Mr. Ali has participated in and received a number of journalistic trainings and awards including the Pearl-Shahzad Media Training Workshop held in Karachi (2011), the National Media Workshop held at the National Defence University Islamabad (2010), and the best news package award from Geo Television Network (2009). He interviewed ex-US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, the late Richard Holbrook and ex-US Ambassador to Pakistan, Ms. Anne W. Patterson in 2009 for Geo TV Network. He is the deputy general secretary of “Global Peace Council Pakistan”, which advocates and works for lasting peace and security in the region.

Aneela Khan KHALID Writer and Anchor, Khyber News, Peshawar 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Ms. Aneela Khalid is a Pashto reporter and anchor covering political, social, and current issues as well as the impacts of the war on terrorism, particularly on women and youth. She started her media career as a reporter for renowned Pashto television station Khyber News. She moved on to produce programs related to tribal women and their emancipation in the border regions neighboring Afghanistan. She worked as a freelance journalist with Mashaal radio, a Pashto broadcasting channel of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Presently she is anchoring a news show on Khyber News.In the aftermath of the security operations conducted by the Pakistan Army in Swat and surrounding areas, she actively participated in media work with the displaced tribal women then residing in refugee camps at Bajawar, Swat, BunerMardan and Nowshera. She arranged a series of television programs to highlight the plight of the affected women and children. To focus on the plight of the youth, she did a series of programs named “ZwanKul” (the young generation). She conducted news bulletins as producer and produced documentaries on various social issues for which she won awards.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 5 of 13

Azam KHAN Reporter, Radio Pakistan, Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mr. Azam Khan has been working as a reporter for Radio Pakistan Peshawar and the FATA Research Centre Islamabad since July 2010. He mainly covers FATA issues such as social problems, health, education, water, gas and electricity, unemployment, mineral resources, communication, farming, and many others. Mr. Khan reports for Mohmand Agency and its adjacent settled areas of the Charsadda district, where tribal people reside. These stories are broadcasted from the state-owned radio station based in Peshawar and a local community radio station, Dilbar Radio, based in the Charsadda district. Before joining radio journalism, Mr. Khan worked at the daily Statesman, daily Frontier Post, and weekly Charsadda News. He also worked as a research assistant with one of the American Pashto writers, Robert Sampson, who is currently writing a book on the great Pakhtoon poet Khushal Khan Khatak. During this research, Mr. Khan visited the districts of Charsadda, Peshawar, the Mohmand Agency, Afghan camps, Mardan, and AkoraKhatak, the birth place of Khushal Khan Khatak to collect his poetry. Mr Khan also has experience teaching the basics of journalism to kids at government high school Tangi, Charsadda.

Sumeera RIAZ News Producer, Express News TV, Lahore 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Ms. Sumeera Riaz is currently serving at the planning and coordination desk at Express News TVwhere she works with a team to plan news coverage with close coordination between all bureaus across Pakistan. They are responsible for the content of the news broadcasts, deciding which stories should be highlighted and how coverage should be given to important events. Ms. Riaz started her career in 2003 at the English daily, Daily Times. In 2005 she joined another English Daily, The Post, serving first as city editorand later promoted to assistant news editor (shift in-charge) of the main news room, where she was responsible for selecting, analyzing, and finalizing news for the paper. At the time she was the first woman shift in-charge in the entire city. After six years in print media, Ms. Riaz joined Express 24/7, the only English news channel in Pakistan. There she was trained at various desks and was promoted to news producer (shift in-charge) where she led a team of panel, packaging, visual and copy editors, monitoring desk, ticker desk, reporters and bureaus, and was responsible for planning and organizing news and editorial content. She was among the judges invited to a competition held among aspiring journalists from across the country by one of Pakistan’s most prestigious universities, LUMS.

Imrana SAGHAR Reporter, Daily Express News, Multan 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Imrana Saghar has been a reporter at the national Urdu-language newspaper Daily Express since 2005. She reports on government institutions, such as social welfare, Women Development, Child Protection Bureau, Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Youth Affairs, and Ministry of Minorities, as well as women’s wings of all political parties, non-government organizations, and women parliamentarians. She has been working as a journalist for the last 12 years and achieving distinctive success in helping the vulnerable people of the society through her journalism by highlighting their issues and encouraging relevant support through Government departments that are there to serve them. She received a National award in 2006 for a story which helped free a girl who had been imprisoned with chains by her family because she refused an imposed marriage. Through another story, she helped two women from Burma return to their home country after serving jail sentences in Pakistan. Ms. Saghar also works with Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Pakistan and Trade Association of Pakistan for the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and she conducts forums with students, teachers, political women and institutional representatives on current issues with media National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 6 of 13

coverage. She has participated in many training programs on journalism, trafficking of women and children, sexual harassment, child protection, human rights, international consumer rights, labor rights, democracy, and development strategies since 1998.

Mushtaq SARKI Reporter, TV News, Karachi 2012 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mushtaq Sarki has been a reporter for Sindh TV News since March 2008. He was on-site to report the extensive damage due to heavy floods, rain, and natural disaster in 2010 and 2011 in remote districts including Badin, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpur Shas, Sanghar, Jacobabad, KadhKot, and Kashmor. Mr. Sarki also highlighted many crime stories such as exposing the injustice of the UN’s laws and police cruelty on innocent citizens. Mr. Sarki was kidnapped on December 15, 2005 in Karachi and was released from Dadu on January 6, 2006. He was injured several times by unknown armed persons and no culprit has yet been arrested by the police. He has received 8 awards and certificates for his reporting such as the Sindh government award, cultural awards, best reporter award, and Benazir Bhutto Shaheed award. For the last 13 years, he has also worked with several newspaper companies writing articles on social issues in Sindhi and Urdu. Mr. Sarki is a member of the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), which is affiliated with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). He was elected as joint secretary of the Karachi Union of Journalists in 2009 and was again elected as senior joint secretary in 2010.He has attended several training programs including electronic journalism, news safety, and war zone reporting.

Muhammad Imran AHMED Bureau Chief, Channel 92, Karachi 2013 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Muhammad Imran Ahmed is currently bureau chief Karachi of Channel 92 (soon to be on the air). Previously he was station head Karachi at Samaa TV and was associated with Roznama Dunya Karachi as chief reporter. Mr. Ahmed and the team of professionals he leads are responsible for covering all aspects of the news from ethnic, religious, linguistic and political topics to the vulnerable security situation in Karachi. Before joining the Dunya Media Group, Mr. Ahmed worked as bureau chief of Express Media Group’s Urdu TV channel in Karachi from December 2006 to June 2012. He reported extensively on political and security situations in Karachi such as the Lyari Gang War, extortion, and terrorist activities like the major attack on the Mehran Naval Airbase which he covered live as the first to break the news on his channel.Prior to becoming an electronic media journalist, Mr. Ahmed was a print media journalist associated with one of the largest newspapers in Pakistan, the Daily Express in Karachi. He was among the youngest chief reporters in the city at that time working for one of the most widely-read Urdu newspapers. There he led his team and broke many exclusive stories such as the suicide attacks on French engineers at the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi and the attack on American diplomat David Foey near the Marriot Hotel. He also covered political developments like the military coup against former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif. Throughout his career Mr. Ahmed has interviewed Former President General Pervez Musharraf, Major General Salahuddin Satti, Former Director General Sindh of the Pakistan Rangers, and many other federal and provincial government officials, heads of political parties, and foreign dignitaries. He won the National Reconstruction Bureau Award for best local bodies reporting and was invited by the Pakistan Rangers to deliver lectures on coordination and cooperation between media and law enforcement agencies under prevailing security environments in January 2012. He serves as senior joint secretary of the Karachi Union of Journalists, member of the Association of Television Media Journalists, member of the Karachi Press Club, and member of the Pakistan Arts Council.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 7 of 13

Abdul Ghani KAKAR Chief Investigative Reporter, Daily Awam, Quetta, Balochistan 2013 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Abdul Ghani Kakar is an investigative journalist in Balochistan currently serving as a chief investigative reporter for the Urdu language newspaper the Daily Awam, and for its sister English paper, the Daily Public. He is a senior correspondent for the Washington-based Central Asia Online, a USCENTCOM-based news service. Mr. Kakar covers national and international political and social issues, crime, and culture beats, and has reported extensively on the war against terror, suicide bombing, IEDs, and militancy issues in the region. He worked with Mr. Willis Witter, the foreign desk editor of the Washington Times, accompanying him while covering the live events of the strike on Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al-Qaida, and visited the Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Helmand, Hiraat, Ghazni, and Shorawak provinces of Afghanistan. He has also traveled extensively throughout Balochistan for news coverage.He served as a senior vice president of the Balochistan Union of Journalists and president of the Balochistan Newspapers Workers Union for its previous tenure. Previously, Mr. Kakar served as bureau chief for ARY One World Television, Balochistan, and as producer and anchor of the current affairs program, Nun-SABA, for a Pashto Television station, Shamshad. He previously hosted and remains responsible for generating content for a Pashto TV Kabul program (JIRGA) for its Quetta station.

Nisar Ali KHOKHAR Special Correspondent, KTN News TV, Hyderabad 2013 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mr. Nisar Ali Khokhar is a journalist and author of two books in the Sindhi language of Pakistan. He is working as a special correspondent with a Sindhi media house, KTN News. He contributes a weekly column in the largest circulated Sindhi Daily newspaper, Kawish. Mr. Khokhar has directed and produced several socio-political talk shows and documentaries for KTN News. His documentaries and talks shows were thrice awarded in the annual KTN award. He also received the Women of Courage Award from Oxfam and allied organization Shariatpur Development Society for best reporting in 2006.Mr. Khokhar was associated with Internews Network International as mentor/trainer in 2010, where he trained radio-journalists who were assigned to cover the flood in Sindh. He joined the BBC Urdu service in 2005 as a radio/online producer based at Sukkur where his responsibility was to cover the rural areas of Pakistan and Sindh. He was part of the South Asian Assembly of Change Makers panel in 2006 at Colombo and was also among the panelists of the International Conference on honour killing organized by the British Council of Pakistan, Karachi, in 2005.

Muhammad SALMAN Senior Staff Reporter, Daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Peshawar 2013 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Muhammad Salman has been a staff reporter for the Daily Nawa.i.Waqt since 2007. He worked for the Daily Ausaf in the Peshawar bureau as a reporter and also worked for the Online International News Network.In 2004 Mr. Salman was selected for the Winds of Change Media Perception program by the British Council Pakistan. He is a member of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the Khyber Union of Journalists and the Peshawar Press Club.He attended a five-day training workshop on safety reporting organized by Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships in Karachi as well as a three-day public affairs reporting workshop by Internews Network.

Muhammad Riaz BURKI Diplomatic Correspondent, Pakistan Television, Islamabad 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Riaz Burki is a reporter with Pakistan’s state-run TV channel Pakistan Televison News (PTV). He has been working for the country’s largest coverage TV channel for more than ten years. Mr. Burki has National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 8 of 13

been covering foreign affairs and the parliament as a news reporter (diplomatic correspondent). Before joining PTV, Mr. Burki worked as a news editor in the country’s leading newswire Independent News of Pakistan. He also worked as desk editor/reporter with another newswire, Online, for almost four years. Mr. Burki was the first reporter in Pakistan to cover the initial military operation of the Pakistan Army against Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the tribal areas of South Waziristan. He also covered military operations in Bajour Agency and Swat. Mr. Burki received a gold medal for “best live reporting” during the polio eradication campaign. He was also named “best reporter” for PTV News. He has also successfully completed training workshops conducted by the US Embassy, Foreign Office and PTV.

Kheshgi KHALID Staff Reporter, The News International and Stringer, Mashaal Radio Peshawar 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Khalid Khan Kheshgi has been a staff reporter at the Peshawar Bureau of daily The News International since February 2008, covering the provincial assembly, political events and issues related to Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Besides print journalism, Mr. Kheshgi also reports for Mashaal Radio, a Pashto channel of Radio Free Europe, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He conducts a weekly program, MashaalMaraka (Mashaal exclusive interviews), with prominent personalities including politicians, writers, artists, sportsmen and other celebrities from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas. He has been in journalism for the last 15 years and started his career as a sub-editor for one of the leading English newspapers, The Frontier Post Peshawar, in 1997. He also served as deputy bureau chief of the English daily The Nation at its bureau in Peshawar. Mr. Kheshgi appeared as a co-host in a documentary “The Last Days of Osama Bin Laden” with Peter Bergen for the National Geographic channel filmed in Abbottabad, Rawalpindi and other parts of Pakistan. He also wrote a research paper on fighting militancy with a special focus on Pakistan semi-tribal areas, “frontier regions,” for the New American Foundation, published in 2010.Mr. Kheshgi also plays an active role in union activities for journalists and was elected as Assistant Secretary General of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) for a two year-term. He also served as Secretary General of the Khyber Union of Journalists, the biggest platform of local journalists for union activities.

Ghazala Fasih KHAN Reporter-in-charge women edition, columnist and feature writer, Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Publications, Karachi 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Ghazala Fasih is a senior journalist working with Nawa-i-waqt group of publications. Ms. Fasih is currently working as the reporter-in-charge of the women’s edition, where she is a feature writer and columnist. She has been in charge of the student’s, cultural, international and political editions within the same organization.Ms. Fasih’s particular areas of interest are social, women’s and children’s issues, publishing features on minorities’ rights, honor killings, home-based workers, child labor, violence against women and environmental issues. Ms. Fasih has interviewed many famous personalities, such as late prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. She also interviews foreign diplomats and conducts family interviews with foreigners. She has interviewed the wife of the American ambassador to Pakistan, Mrs. Cameron Munter, American Consul General Michael Dodman and Japanese, Chinese and Sri Lankan consul generals recently.Ms. Fasih has received many awards and won numerous writing competitions. She won first prize in a writing competition on gender issues at the White Ribbon Media Awards; the USAID/Intermedia Award competition for best article on maternal mortality; a certificate of extraordinary performance in journalism from the Provincial Assembly of Sindh; a Green Star Best Article Award on maternal health, and many others.Ms. Fasih also participates in TV and radio shows as an expert and analyst. She is regularly called to speak on Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan. She was the only female member of the Karachi press club’s governing body in 2011 and 2012. She is an active member of the Karachi Union of Journalists and Arts Council of Pakistan, as well as vice president of a media women publishers and journalist’s organization in 2010. National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 9 of 13

Zulfiqar Ali MEHTO Special Correspondent (economic and investigative) and Head Business Desk, TV, Lahore 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Zulfiqar Ali is a special correspondent with Dunya TV, one of the leading news channels in Pakistan’s private sector. For the last 23 years Mr. Ali has been reporting and editing for various prominent newspapers and news channels in Pakistan. He produced a regular weekly program while at Aaj TV, where he spent more than eight years. Previously he spent 4 years at Nawa-i-waqt and 3 years at Daily Jang, two of Pakistan’s leading Urdu language newspapers, covering economic governance, energy, environment and agriculture.Mr. Zulfiqar has extensively covered events and issues ranging from commerce and trade to politics and social issues. In 2005, when one of the most devastating earthquakes struck Pakistan, he reported in depth on the victims from Muzaffarabad and other areas around the quake-hit northern Pakistan. He was also elected as Secretary General of the Lahore Press Club in 2012, Treasurer in 2004 and 2009, and served as President of the Lahore Economic Journalists Association.

Ikram Ullah MOOMAND Editor in charge Editorial Page, Daily Aaj Urdu, Peshawar 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Ikram Ullah Moomand is head of the editorial board and in charge of the editorial page of the Daily Aaj, an Urdu newspaper published from Peshawar, Islamabad and Abbotabad. Mr. Moomand started his journalistic career as a sub-editor at Aajin 2000. After two years he assumed the duty of founding editor for the health page and was assigned the responsibilities of the editorial board and page. He started his weekly columns in 2006. His columns are currently also being published in the weekly Asia Tribune New York. He has also completed a number of panel interviews and special reports for Peshawar University Campus Radio.

Mahwish QAYYUM Reporter, Express News, Peshawar 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mahwish Qayyum has been working with Express News as a reporter since 2011. For the past two years she has been covering education, health, culture, crime and other stories for the channel. Before joining Express News, Ms. Qayyum was host and producer at FM 107 from June 2009 to May 2010 under the National Internship Program (NIP) and sub-editor at The Statesman newspaper (2006– 2009). On March 7, 2013, Ms. Qayyum wrote an exclusive story about the closure of the Government Girls’ Primary School GarhiSikandar Khan in Pishtakhara, Peshawar for five years. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took action one day after the story aired and concerned authorities got the school functional within few days. On December 3, 2013, she broke a story about the shortage of blackboards at Government Primary School Sardaryaab, Charsadda, after which authorities in the educational department took action and provided blackboards on December 5, 2013. Ms. Qayyum attended trainings on “TV Responsible Reporting and Security” and “Social Media and Advance IT Training” from Internews Network Pakistan, and “Effective Reporting on Acid and Burn Violence” from the Acid Survivors Foundation, as well as a number of other trainings.

Yasir QAZI National Program Manager, HOT FM105 News Network, Karachi 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Yasir Qazi is National Program Manger at Hot FM105 Radio Network, the largest FM Radio network in Pakistan. Since 2012 he has been responsible for the programming of the entire radio network, consisting of 14 stations, operating in the main cities of Pakistan. Through this work, he has produced and managed a number of news, infotainment and entertainment radio shows, live transmissions on National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 10 of 13

special occasions, interviews and outdoor broadcasts. He successfully ran 48 consecutive hours of live election coverage on the eve of the 2013 General Elections in May 2013, which originated from Karachi and was aired from all the network stations. The regular news show of Hot FM105 Radio network, titled “Press Club” is one of the most popular radio news shows in Pakistan.Mr. Qazi joined Hot FM 105 Radio Network in March 2013 after serving 10 months as a research associate and faculty member at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi, where he taught “Broadcasting” to media science students and rendered research services in the department of Sindh Studies (Sindh Abhyas Academy). Previously, he served as presenter and producer at Shalimar FM Radio Network. He also produced and hosted many memorable radio shows for Shalimar Radio. He served as program executive at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, where he promoted performing and visual arts, and was research officer at the Shah Abdul LatifBhitai Chair at the University of Karachi. Mr. Qazi has earned many honors for his services in the field of journalism and services for radio and television medium. He received the Best TV Host Award in 2006 from Pakistan Television as well as the KTN Award from Kawish Television Network, one of the popular television satellite channels of Pakistan, as Best TV Anchor.

Zia Ur RAHMAN Broadcast Journalist, Samaa TV, Lahore 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Zia Ur Rahman is a Lahore-based broadcast reporter, working for Samaa TV Channel. He visited South Waziristan in 2012 and reported from there on the Rah-e-Nijaat operation against Taliban militants. Samaa TV management honored him with the certificate and prize for “Reporter of The Month” for his work in 2011. Pakistan Rangers Punjab, the paramilitary organization, honored him with an appreciation letter for his work regarding the military.Before joining Samaa Television, Mr. Rahman was associated with Dunya Television. As a reporter with Dunya TV, he covered the devastating floods in 2010. He also covered a number of terrorist attacks and other war journalism activities. Dunya Television management honored him with appreciation letter and prize for his exclusive coverage at the railway station.

Asma RAZAQ Staff Reporter, AbbTakk, Islamabad 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Asma Razaq has been working as a staff reporter for Abbtakk News Channel, an emerging Urdu TV channel for the past year. She covers the Ministry of Finance, Federal Board of Revenue, Economic Affairs Division, Board of Investment, multilateral financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, and the bilateral economic relations between the US and Pakistan. She has also worked as a staff reporter for the Daily Business Recorder, the country’s premier financial daily. While there she covered the Economic Affairs Division, multilateral financial institutions, National Savings Centre, and Parliamentary Affairs including the proceedings of the National Assembly and Senate, Benazir Income Support Program, economic relations between the US and Pakistan and the Privatization Commission. Recently she worked on two assignments of international importance with Al Jazeera English. She has also worked on two assignments with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a coordinator in addition to working as an internee for the country’s well-reputed news wire Independent News Pakistan. In print media (for the Daily Business Recorder), she has written many articles on foreign assistance to Pakistan, and has highlighted issues such as the debt burden to Pakistan. Ms. Razaq is the only female in the Federal Capital who is covering taxation and other related issues. At Abbtakk news channel she has made numerous reports on economic issues. Recently, she reported on “The IMF Loan and its Impacts,” a story which earned appreciation at the national level.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 11 of 13

Ashfaq Ahmed UNAR Director News & Current Affairs, Kawish Television Network (KTN News), Karachi 2014 Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange

Mr. Ashfaq Ahmed Unar is director of news and current affairs at the Kawish Television Network (KTN News), one of the largest media organizations in Pakistan. His role in the organization is to run the news room and supervise news content and current affairs programs. Mr. Unar has produced and directed numerous talk shows on social and political issues and documentaries on various subjects pertaining to the social, political, anthropological, cultural and historical perspectives of Sindh in particular and Pakistan in general. He also contributes to a weekly column in the largest circulated Sindhi language daily newspaper, Kawish, which is published by the same media house. Mr. Unar served as a sub-editor for the Kawish before being assigned as in-charge of the op-ed section. He has been awarded as the Best Columnist of the Sindhi Language twice by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), the most prestigious award for journalists in Pakistan. In 2012, Mr. Unar worked with Internews on a project about flood reporting in Pakistan which encompassed the mentoring and training of fellow reporters and cameramen of KTN News.

Jefferson Fellowships Alumni:

Fazal ULLAH Media Consultant &Communication Consultant, Directorate of Information, FATA Secretariat 2011 Jefferson Fellowships

Mr. Fazal Ullah is currently Media Consultant & Communication Consultant with the Directorate of information FATA Secretariat. Prior to that, he was Media Coordinator to the Governor of KPK. As a spokesperson, Ullah has given hundreds of interviews to VOA, Radio Mashal/Radio Free Europe, Radio Dewa, and Radio Pakistan besides national and international print and electronic media to project a positive image and defend Government policies. He has constantly received threats from militants and non-state actors in FATA. He has also been associated with Geo television, the largest television network of Pakistan. He has recorded more than three hundred programs on news and current affairs for different television channels. Prior to his position with Geo, Mr. Fazal has also worked with Pakistan Television, AVT Khyber Television and News Network International Pakistan. He has completed work on a book titled “The New Great Games in the Pak Afghan Region,” as well as research work on militant profiles in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan which will soon be published. Mr. Fazal has to his credit a series of interviews with the top political leaders of Afghanistan. He has attended the historical Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga in Kabul in 2007. He also has made short documentary (One Day on Earth) for UNDP on the socioeconomic reintegration of bomb blast victims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA.

Mahim MAHER Reporter, The Express Tribune, Karachi 2012 Jefferson Fellowships

Mahim Maher is a reporter for The Express Tribune and other papers on a freelance basis. Previously, she was the city/metropolitan section editor for Karachi, Pakistan at The Express Tribune. The city section produces four broadsheet pages, including the first-ever daily crime map for Karachi. Maher was also responsible for ensuring coverage of the province of Sindh. Before that role, Ms. Maher spent a year at Urdu news channel SAMAA TV launching its English news website as editor. She was the youngest woman to launch a metropolitan section at age 28, when she was at the Daily Times, and while at the Express Tribune, was one of only two women running a metro section in Pakistan. Ms. Maher has also worked at the older daily Dawn newspaper and at its investigative monthly magazine Herald and as a features writer at The Friday Times.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 12 of 13

Hasnain RAZA Assignment Editor, Dawn News TV, Islamabad 2012 Jefferson Fellowships

Syed Muhammad Hasnain Raza currently works as an assignment editor with Dawn News TV Islamabad, a position he assumed in 2012. Before joining Dawn, he was with SAMAA TV from 2010-2012 also as assignment editor, and he spent four years with ROHI TV Islamabad, a mainstream TV channel in the local language Seraiki as Shift In-charge. IN this role, Mr. Raza executed six live news bulletins per day and made many news reports and a few documentaries. Mr. Raza also was associated with Pakistan Broadcast Corporation in Dera Ismail Khan as a student/youth program host (Youth Forum). A current area of interest is how cities in Pakistan are dealing with rapid and on- going migration of internally displaced people due to militant activity and natural disasters. Mr. Raza is also pursuing his MPhil in mass communication from Allama Iqbal Open University. The focus of his thesis is “Role of media in strengthening democracy in Pakistan: Exploring the journalists’ perception.”

Beenish JAVED Media Coordinator, Norwegian Refugee Council, Rawalpindi 2013 Jefferson Fellowships

Ms. Beenish Javed is currently the media coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Rawalpindi. Previously, she was a foreign affairs reporter for ARY News Islamabad. Previously, Ms. Javed was a city reporter at ARY News, covering cultural and social stories in Islamabad and the neighboring city Rawalpindi. She also has done many independent stories on women’s rights and child labor. In 2010 she won an award from the International Labour Association for the best electronic media report on child labor. Before joining ARY NEWS in April 2011, she worked for Islamabad as an associate producer for their news department and as a researcher for a famous current affairs talk show, Live with Talat. Although Ms. Javed is a TV reporter, many of her writings have been published in the Express Tribune, Dawn, the Pakistan Observer and other major newspapers in Pakistan. From 2008-2009, Ms. Javed spent one year in the US studying business administration through a scholarship program funded by the US government.

Moayyed Ali JAFRI Correspondent, The News International Daily, Lahore 2014 Jefferson Fellowships

Mr. Moayyed Jafri is a professional journalist who has been associated with the Jang Media Group for over five years. He previously worked for Geo English (an English news broadcast channel) where he covered Pakistani’s religious political parties. Later he joined The News International Daily where he worked as a correspondent covering communication (aviation, railways, and IT telecom), human rights and minority affairs issues. In addition to this, Mr. Jafri hosts and moderates discussions on socio-political and economic issues, human rights, civil-military relations and other local, regional, and international topics as the host of “The Jang Forum.” Mr. Jafri has been associated with Jang Group’s Aman Ki Asha project since its inception as a special Indo-Pak correspondent. This project aims to promote people-to-people interaction between India and Pakistan.In addition, Mr. Jafri is also the secretary general of the Institute of Democracy & Development (IDD), a Pakistan based, non- partisan, independent think-tank, aimed at strengthening and building the capacity of democratic institutions. He has worked with delegations from the US in partnership with USAID and the US Consulate General Lahore to provide assistance in establishing a better understanding of the socio- political and economic dynamics of Pakistan. As a consultant with the Development Dimension Society, a registered NGO, he has assisted the Chief Minister of Punjab’s Youth Mobilization Committee on the Smart Vote Project and the formulation of the Provincial Youth Policy 2012. He represented Pakistan in Tashkent and Moscow in a journalism exchange program between Pakistan and Central Asian Republics.

National Alumni Conference, Participant Biographies page 13 of 13

Shakir ULLAH Senior Producer, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Islamabad 2014 Jefferson Fellowships

Mr. Shakir Ullah is a senior producer at the News and Current Affairs Channel, Islamabad, of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. As producer he works out the subject or content for a program, as well as topics, format, participants and presentation. Mr. Ullah has been producing and co-hosting the prime time flagship show “NaeUfaq” for two years. He talks to and interacts with top national and international level policy makers, politicians, journalists, analysts, social scientists, religious scholars, social workers, educators and other important stakeholders on current issues. He has also served as reporter for foreign office briefings, and has followed closely the Senate and National assembly proceedings, closely observing debates, bills, motions and other procedures of the two federal legislative bodies. Moreover, he produced a program, Sadyonka Safar (Journey through Centuries), which was a research-based program depicting the history of different civilizations, their movements, the rise and fall of nations, and biographies of historical figures. In addition Mr. Ullah was a reporter at the Chakwal and Rawalpindi districts of Punjab and at Islamabad during the 2008 and 2013 general elections. He has also worked for the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Rawalpindi and for the Pakistan. Mr. Ullah has received a number of professional trainings from Pakistan Broadcasting Academy, Islamabad and has certificates on “Current Affairs Reporting,” “Train the Trainer,” and “Digital Archiving” conducted by Deutsche Welle Academy.

Senior Journalists Seminar Alumni:

Shah Zahir SHERAZI Dawn News TV, Peshawar 2011 Senior Journalists Seminar

Mr. Shah has more than 15 years of experience as a print and electronic media journalist and is currently working as war correspondent and bureau chief of DawnNews Television, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and FATA Region. Mr. Shah was among the pioneer team leaders who launched DawnNews, the first-ever English language News Channel of Pakistan. He is responsible for covering the NWFP and FATA affairs, the war on terror, militancy, and Taliban and Afghan affairs in addition to the production of documentaries. Mr. Shah contributes to various national and international magazines, newspapers and wires, such as Central Asian Online, the Asian Tribune, Herald and Dawn. He also manages a network of correspondents in 25 districts of KPK and seven tribal areas. Prior to joining DawnNews, Mr. Shah was part of the team which launched the English Daily, The Statesman from Peshawar and served as a city editor for seven years. He started his carrier at Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper, The Frontier Post and was promoted to city editor. From there, Mr. Shah worked as city editor at The Statesman before joining DawnNews Television.

Muhammad Yasir PIRZADA Columnist, Jang Group, Lahore 2014 Senior Journalists Seminar

Mr. Muhammad YasirPirzada has been a weekly columnist for the Daily Jang, the largest newspaper in Pakistan, since 2006. His column covers terrorism, extremism, public sector governance, self help, humour and other areas of social interest. Mr. Pirzada was also the host of one of Geo TV’s most popular talk shows, “Choraha,” in addition to writing scripts of various political satire shows for several Paksitani TV channels, including Dunya News and Express TV. Mr. Pirzada started his journalism career with The Nation, where he covered the crime beat, after which he started writing columns for the daily NawaiWaqt. Aside from column writing, Mr. Pirzada currently works for the Federal Board of Revenue in Pakistan as a commissioner of inland revenue. Previously he has worked with USAID as a provincial director; with the Directorate of Staff Development as the deputy program director; and with the Planning & Development Department in the Government of Punjab as the chief of section. In 2009-2010 he received the Best Columnist of Pakistan Award by the All Pakistan Newspaper Society from the President of Pakistan.