Pak journalist wins Peter Mackler Award

WASHINGTON: Asma Shirazi, Pakistan’s first female war correspondent and host of popular TV talk shows, was named 2014 Winner of Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on Friday.
Shirazi reported on conflicts that include the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, Taleban 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 recognize the courage and dedication to journalistic ethics that Ms. Shirazi has displayed every day of her career,” said Camille Mackler, Project Director for the Peter Mackler 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.