I believe I have strong journalistic/editing experience and related education. My key strengths include:
- Graduate Diploma in International Relations and Political Science from the Australian National University (ANU)
- BSc (Honors) in Politics from the University of Wales in UK
- Unconditional admission offer to a MPhil programme leading to PhD at the University of Wales (Renamed Cardiff University)
- Training in editing from Australia and consequent work experience in Australian papers including my own monthly magazine on the diplomatic community in Canberra.
- Employment at the Institute of Regional Studies as Collation Officer.
- Employment at Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies as Research Fellow editing its journal and articles in addition to writing a research paper on Urban Violence in Karachi.
- Freelance work as editor for numerous civil society organizations and UN agencies.
- A deep understanding of Pakistan’s politics, society and foreign policy imperatives.
- A complete, hands-on technical knowledge of producing world class monographs, journals and books
- A working knowledge of maintaining a serious and dynamic website for a think-tank.
- I’m a strong believer in teamwork and carry a burning passion to edit and/or write good English discourses on cutting edge strategic visions.
- My journalistic career spanning over 20 years that provided the opportunity to observe the Pakistani society, Pakistani politics and state institutions from close quarters and offered the ability to conduct political analyses focusing on federal and provincial politics
- I know the key influencers in the new government, the civil service, the armed forces, political party officials and civil society activists/managers. By virtue of my training as a Press, Radio and TV journalist I have the ability to approach them and engage them in a meaningful communication.
- Outstanding command of written and spoken English. I started my early schooling in a Convent and my higher degrees are from Britain and Australia’s top university. I have worked for English language newspapers, radio and television in Britain, Australia and Pakistan. My language skills in Urdu are equally good.
- My contacts within news reporters’ fraternity, anchors, talk-show producers and media management who are of immense help wherever and whenever I needed it.
- Experience of working for major NGOs and UN agencies as Media Consultant has resulted in making friends and I command a lot of respect there. I worked for Sungi Development Foundation, Network for Consumer Protection, Development Foundation, UNICEF and UNHCR among others
I bring with me a comprehensive knowledge of Pakistani politics as it is a prerequisite for any successful journalist and since it is a passion, I could not keep my mind away from it. My dissertation at the end of my first degree from Cardiff University was on Pakistani Military Intervention in Politics. I authored a book called “1988”on the transition of Pakistani politics from a dictatorship to democracy and in another, more recent attempt I am in the process of upgrading an elaborate piece of research I conducted on Karachi’s urban violence into a book. My political pieces published in the newspapers and magazines and my reporting on radio and TV channels testify to my knowledge of Pakistani politics. As a reporter and editor I covered the following beats: Elections, political parties, Sindh Assembly proceedings, National Assembly and Senate proceedings, Standing Committees, major political cases in the Supreme Court, Islamabad High Court, press conferences of major political leaders, PPP public meetings at Garhi Khuda Buksh, MQM meetings at “90” in Karachi, terrorist attacks including the one on Benazir Bhutto, floods and so on. This includes many “off the record” and “backgrounder” meetings.
Select examples of my published work matching the set of skills required to carry out the job:
- Supreme Court rejects government's plea to review NRO verdict
- Blog on India-Pakistan War 2009
- UK Minister says Afghanistan pullout not complete withdrawal
- My monthly magazine on diplomats in Canberra, The International Observer
- My press report cited in Adam Dolnik and Keith M. Fitzgerald, Negotiating Hostage Crises with the New Terrorists, 2008
- Karachi Bomb Blast coverage on Express 24/7
- Research Paper:Profiling the Violence in Karachi
- Article in Arab News: Afghan War and Pakistani Media
- Published articles on Kashmir
- A published poem Marziyya (Translation from Urdu to English)
- I represented Pakistan and read a paper in a WHO Workshop on Enhancing the Role of Media in Tobacco Control, Cairo
- FECCA Congress Report In Canberra compiled and edited a voluminous report on multiculturalism. It’s in the National Library of Australia and 12 other libraries
References