End this culture of impunity
Pakistani journalists and activists continue to face intimidation and violence. Worse, they have to deal with a culture of impunity that impedes justice and…
Interview for My Muslim Friends
“In 2017, I visited Boston and My Muslim Friends interviewed me” I had been writing for nearly 10 years for the Friday Times and…
The Big Question: Is Print Media on its Way to Becoming Obsolete?
August 2017: The Big Question: Is Print Media on its Way to Becoming Obsolete? (News Line Magazine) These are interesting times for journalism as technological…
With trust at an all time low, the U.S. media must return to its principles
January 4, 2017: With trust at an all time low, the U.S. media must return to its principles (Huffington Post) Journalism in the United States…
The travel ban on ‘Dawn’ journalist was just a side show in the civil-military conflict in Pakistan
The real issue is about fighting non-state actors, the ongoing street protests and Nawaz Sharif’s impending decision to appoint a new army chief. Pakistan’s…
Neither Here nor There: The Shifting Identities of Raza Rumi
A Pakistani journalist, writer, and public policy practitioner, Raza Rumi’s life exemplifies the intersection of the personal and the political. In 2014, his work…
My interview with Ithaca Times, U.S. (Asylum Writer Wields Pen Against Sword)
Recently I was interviewed by Ithaca Times, USA. Here is the text: The Ithaca Times sat down with Rumi to talk about his work…
One year after: On the endangered freedoms in Pakistan
It has been a year as I wrote here since I was almost assassinated. I have already posted the tribute to Mustafa who died…
Pakistan’s journalists under siege – my interview
Recently I talked with ” ABC news” (Australia) and explained how Journalism is under siege in Pakistan. Here is the audio-link. The transcript of…
Pakistani journalist shares why his work led to an attempt on his life
I was recently interviewed by Al Jazeera TV – here is a video clip: Raza Rumi describes the state of the media in Pakistan,…
Reporting in Pakistan – My talk
I spoke at the New America Foundation with Kati Marton, Peter Bergen and Joel Simon on the dangers of reporting freely in Pakistan. It…
Pakistan: Media Freedoms and Judicial Accountability
Media freedoms in Pakistan are no longer a cause of celebration. Recent events have shown that journalists are facing pressure from all sides. Historically,…
Qasmi – Urdu literature mourns a giant
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006) Ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh thehre hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye Now Nature must be held accountable at…
The most Dangerous Place for Journalists (a short interview)
I was interviewed in Karachi last month; here is the intro and the link- Recently, the journalist Saleem Shahzad has been killed in Pakistan…
Pakistan media: Through the looking glass
It is ironic that the electronic media which played a major role in the movement against a military dictatorship is now being cited as…
Farewell Haqqani Saheb – forgive your peers and colleagues
A personal favourite, Irshad Ahmad Haqqani is dead. This is a huge loss to Urdu journalism as he was the last of sane voices…
The vanity of being quoted
A friend sent me these links and I am shamelessly posting them here: My views on the IMF programme for Pakistan – Also here…
Fair and accurate journalism
A friend asks: “Are we going to see this article splattered all over the front pages of major American newspapers? I highly doubt it.…
Of Old-journalism, New Media and Myopia
Three quotes from this story covering the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual State of the News Media report struck me: It was believed…
How I met Dr. Shreekant Gupta
That the conservative and often skin-deep Economist published the story – “The world’s most dangerous place” – was not surprising. The publication sings an…