WASHINGTON: Asma Shirazi, Pakistan’s first female war correspondent and host of popular TV talk shows, has been named 2014 Winner of Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.
Shirazi reported on conflicts that include the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, Taliban violence on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 2009 and General Pervez Musharraf’s 2007 state of emergency. She also hosted two popular television talk shows, including one on parliamentary affairs that Musharraf banned when he clamped down on independent news coverage.
“We are thrilled to recognise the courage and dedication to journalistic ethics Shirazi has displayed every day of her career,” said Camille Mackler, Project Director for the award. At great personal risk and defying death threats, Shirazi ensures “that unbiased, free information is available throughout Pakistan,” Mackler said.
Shirazi is the second woman to win the award since its creation in 2008, after Honduran radio news editor Karla Rivas won in 2011.
Shirazi’s award pays “tribute to the courage of those who fight for freedom of information in Pakistan, where seven journalists were murdered in connection with their work in 2013,” said Delphine Halgand, US Director of media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
“AFP is happy to be associated with this recognition of Shirazi’s great courage and perseverance in reporting on conflict and politics in Pakistan despite the personal dangers she faced,” said David Millikin, AFP’s Director for North America.
The award, named after the late Agence France-Presse journalist Peter Mackler, will be presented at a ceremony at National Press Club in Washington on October 23. It is administered by Global Media Forum in partnership with AFP and Reporters Without Borders.
Pakistani border guards foil attack
Islamabad: Pakistani border guards killed 16 insurgents in Baluchistan province in the southwest yesterday. A spokesman for the border guards said unidentified gunmen stormed the area of Pellngor in the province to carry out an attack, but guards repulsed them. He said the confrontation resulted in the death of 16 attackers, adding the guards started combing the area after they cordoned it off. He did not say whether there were any casualties among the troops or not.
Agencies
