Midhat Ali Zaidi

Midhat Ali Zaidi was a participant in the U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism. She completed a three-week fellowship with Feature Story News in Denver, Colorado.

Zaidi has been associated with Pakistan’s broadcast media industry since 2007, when she was an intern at Geo Television Network. In 2008, she became a production associate for Geo News’ Lahore-based Current Affairs programming team. As part of this team, she covered Pakistan’s transition to democracy with the 2008 elections and the country’s descent into turmoil as the Taliban carried out large-scale, targeted attacks. Zaidi was promoted to an associate producer position, leading the Punjab team for Geo Dost, a show that has pioneered citizen journalism in Pakistan.

From 2009 to 2011, Zaidi worked for the English-language Express 24/7 television channel as a news reporter and documentary producer. At Express 24/7, she covered Pakistan’s tumultuous and sometimes violent political arena. She then worked as an editor for The Nation newspaper’s magazine section.

In 2013, Zaidi joined the team that launched Pakistan Television’s PTV World. She helped the state-owned network’s English-language broadcast develop most of its news programming. As part of this team, she covered Pakistan’s 2013 elections and was the official translator for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first address to the nation.

Zaidi’s journalistic articles about social issues and human rights have been featured in some of Pakistan’s leading newspapers and magazines. She conducts workshops and mentoring sessions for children from marginalized segments of society. She also does communications-related consulting for development organizations.