CPJ honours Zaffar Abbas with press freedom award
July 17, 2019
The Committee to Protect Journalists honoured Pakistan daily English newspaper Editor Zaffar Abbas with its prestigious 2019 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.
The CPJ bestowed the award upon the veteran journalist ‘for extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom.’
“Amid threats and murders of Pakistani journalists in recent years, Abbas has been a vocal supporter of industry steps for journalists to keep themselves safe. In 2015, he was elected chairman of Editors for Safety, a network of editors in Pakistan who work together to protect journalists who come under attack,” wrote the CPJ.
Zaffar Abbas began his career in journalism in early 1980s. He worked as a reporter for The Star and Herald, Pakistan’s top current affairs magazine.
Abbas also worked briefly for the BBC and reported on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and post 9/11 world order.
He returned to Dawn in 2006 and was named the prestigious newspaper’s editor-in-chief in 2010 — a post he holds to date.
