News

American Homestays Dispel Negative Stereotypes Among Pakistani Journalists

Pakistanis have high standards when it comes to hospitality, but those standards were met by American families who hosted participants in ICFJ’s U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism.

"A Document Frame of Mind" Goes a Long Way in Data Journalism

It’s all about the evidence.

David Donald, a data journalist in residence at the American University School of Communication, stressed this fact during a recent talk with visiting Pakistani journalists from ICFJ’s U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism.

"Everything I talk about is in the context of evidence," Donald said.

Pakistan Alumni Summit Builds Digital Journalism Skills

More than 120 participants in ICFJ’s Pakistan-U.S. Professional Partnership program updated their digital journalism skills at an alumni summit held in July at the Centre for Excellence in Journalism in Karachi.

The summit featured sessions with six U.S.

ICFJ offers six-week online course for Pakistani journalists on “Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age”

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) invites Pakistani journalists with three to 10 years of professional journalism experience to apply for a six-week online course, “Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age,”which will be held from April 8 to May 20, 2015. The deadline to apply has been extended to April 5, 2015. During the six-week course, participants will learn to produce multimedia content, write and blog for the web, and effectively and ethically manage online communities that attract constructive, responsible dialogue with their audiences.

A Nightmare Turned Beautiful

Most of us have been through travel nightmares that over time have turned into fond memories. Maybe you were lost for hours while in a place where nobody spoke your language, but you ended up making great friends and learned how to live alone. This is what happened with me.

Being A Fellow

It seemed to be an interesting possibility from the very beginning when I filed the application with the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan. I applied at the last moment of course, as would be expected of me, running off to the general post office in Islamabad and depositing the envelope in person just 10 minutes before the office shut down. Then, I got an interview call. It all seemed surreal, as if it was not happening to me at all.

The idea of going to the United States for the first time and to actually be able to work there for a broadcast media outlet would be no less than a dream for a workaholic like me. The U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism instantly became the highlight of my very happening and fast-developing life.

Pakistan's Rural Reporters Use Social Media to Cover the Elections

ICFJ recently conducted a program training rural Pakistani journalists how to cover the country's upcoming general elections with the aim of highlighting issues important to rural citizens. As the country prepares for its first democratic transition of power May 11, the program provided almost 40 rural journalists with mobile devices, their own wireless "hotspots," and taught them to use Facebook and Twitter to cover issues important in their communities.

Debating the Values of U.S. and Pakistani Media

I never saw this trip to Pakistan with the International Center for Journalists as a one-time event, a go-and-come-home gig, something that was good for creating fodder for speaking engagements around Tallahassee and not much more.

I’m not much of a sightseer for the purpose of just seeing sights, either.

A Profile of Pakistan: Travails and Hopes

It was an extraordinary trip to Pakistan – a whirlwind two weeks filled with dozens upon dozens of meetings – meetings with government officials, news executives, journalists, NGOs and even an artist or two. We were wined, dined, gifted and feted. We were welcomed extravagantly, generously, sometimes lovingly. We made business contacts and we made friends. We saw amazing sights – from the ancient ruins at Taxila and extraordinary art to security checkpoints and blockades.

We learned that Pakistan is a complicated, feudal society.

Occupy D.C. Protesters Hold Mock Committee Hearing

Mussadaq is currently a guest reporter at the McClatchy Washington Bureau as part of the U.S. - Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism. This story appeared on McClatchy's website.

WASHINGTON — Sitting under the open air on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Occupy D.C. protesters held a mock hearing on how to create a fair economy for most Americans — a contrast, protesters said, to Capitol Hill hearings that they said work to enrich the nation’s top 1 percent of earners.