May Issue 2003

We’ve done it again! Following Newsline’s sweep of the APNS awards — we bagged the Best Column, Best Investigative Report and Best Special Report awards — the magazine has another feather to add to its cap! This time around, Newsline’s Senior Editor, Sairah Irshad Khan, took away the UNESCO-supported Pakistan Press Foundation award at its first ever award ceremony held on April 26.

The PPF awards were designed to encourage gender sensitive reporting and recognise outstanding stories covered by women journalists in the print media. Out of 90 entries, only five finalists were shortlisted for each of the two categories. And true to tradition, four members of Newsline editorial team made it to the list of 10. While Sairah Irshad Khan walked away with the “award for best reporting by a female journalist,” for her article ‘Kandahar Chronicle,’ Shimaila Matri, was runner-up for her story, ‘Hard Time Hotels’ and Sanna Bucha and Naziha Syed Ali were among the finalists for the “excellence in gender sensitive reporting” category with their stories, ‘Twice Damned’ and ‘Vanishing Stations’ respectively. The panel of judges comprised eight eminent journalists, media professionals and academics, including Javed Jabbar, Abdul Hameed Chhapra, Dr Shahida Kazi and the distinguished I.A. Rehman.

The win holds special significance for a magazine team comprising mostly women, steadfastly refusing to rest on their laurels. Way to go sisters!