Big Picture at a glance in 2025

The year 2025 was a roller coaster in every sense. From starting the year with the return of Donald Trump to the White House to Pakistan taking centre stage in the world of diplomacy, and from artificial intelligence (AI) turning into an uncontainable monster to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza — everything kept us on the edge of our seats all year round.

At Big Picture, we kept a close watch on all that demanded attention and published work that not just highlighted some of the most crucial stories of our times, but also those that asked difficult questions and sought context. 

Over the past year, we published over 80 reported features, commentaries, and essays that explored subjects including human rights, climate change, tech and AI, politics, sports, health and culture, among others. Each piece chosen carefully to reflect our belief that journalism and the power of words, when combined with urgency and rigour, can have a positive impact on the world around us.

We worked closely with our diverse roster of contributors, reiterating the need for significant stories in times of great uncertainty. This year-long roundup is, therefore, not just a celebration of our output featuring some of the best and most-read pieces, but also an ode to the power of the written word at a time when it is unfortunately being taken over by bots and machine learning models.

While we enjoyed editing and reading everything published on Big Picture this year, we have compiled a shortlist of works that stood out for us, as well as those read the most by our readers.

We analysed the potential impact of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency on not just the United States but also the world at large, particularly Pakistan. His bid to become the ultimate peacemaker and bag a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, his team’s twisted but somewhat attention-grabbing social media strategies, and his flimsy pace deal as a mediator amid Israel’s continued offensive in Gaza all got covered at Big Picture.

Pakistan’s diplomatic strategies and nuclear deterrence, its restraint during India’s unprovoked attacks in May, the disinformation and fake news that took over not only the internet in both Pakistan and India, the gimmicks of our rivals’ mainstream media (that left even of us in Pakistan cringing), New Delhi’s threats to suspend the Indus Water Treaty and the Kashmir issue, among other issues — all needed an exploration of their own. We also approached Islamabad’s policies regarding Afghanistan by seeking expert analysis on the subject.

We examined Pakistan’s worsening political landscape, including an in-depth look at the February 8 general elections a year later, as well as the two-year anniversary of former premier Imran Khan’s incarceration and also delved into the consequences of the draconian PECA law. The country’s Independence Day was also looked at from the context of history and contemporary challenges facing the nation.

This year, Pakistan also remained in the grip of terror attacks, which made us study the need for a counter-narrative and the unfinished war against terrorism.

Our contributors wrote about the slow death of thought due to AI as well as the technology distorting reality and blurring the truth on the contested social media site, X. They asked questions on whether AI will fill mental health gaps or will it steal pay cheques of professionals.

We also featured brilliant women making waves in Pakistan’s tech sector and studied the government’s inclination towards the world of cryptocurrency.

Our contributors wrote about the long-term impact of COVID-19 on women’s health issues often swept under the rug, including the crucial need forthe  HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a look at what endometriosis entails, and women’s struggles with cortisol.

Our platform also gave space to the often-dismissed subject of suicide as well as raised awareness on breast cancer — the two pieces that were approached with immense care and sensitivity.

This year, we saw several incidents that raised our awareness about several human rights and social justice issues that are often disregarded as bureaucratic, systematic or infrastructural failures.

For instance, Karachiites are being mercilessly killed in traffic accidents, the recent tragic event of a toddler dying after falling into an open manhole in Karachi, the collapse of a residential building in the city and the growing concerns for the safety of labourers and garment workers working in dangerous conditions.

The menace of human trafficking was also explored in-depth following several incidents of Pakistanis losing their lives at the hands of human traffickers.

Our contributors touched upon gender issues including the increasing cases of gender-based violence and patriarchal chains keeping women away from legal awareness.

One of our most read pieces, and not just culture pieces, this year — published on Valentine’s Day — jotted down lessons on love from the “K-Drama” lens, while the exploration of the evolution of Dholki in Pakistani weddings wasn’t just an enjoyable read for us but also became a reader favourite. The farshi shalwar trend, too, was the highlight of the year that we didn’t want to miss out on.

The meme wars between Pakistan and India amid the brief war-like situation was not just a political but a huge cultural moment we couldn’t afford to skip. We also got a peek into the world of cricket as Pakistan became host to Asia Cup 2025.

Our contributors traced the legacy of legendary folk singer Mai Bhagi and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, and also wrote about the dilemma of abandoned writers and artistes like Mushtaq Kamlani and Humera Asghar whose tragic passing left people mourning for the life she lived as a woman in Pakistan.

A personal essay exploring the yearning for the saptaparni tree across the border in Delhi, a tribute to Dr Arfa Zehra and a heritage walk of historical Lahore stood out as some of the moving pieces we homed this year.

At Big Picture, we remained concerned about the need for the much-needed work on climate, environment and conservation.

It was, therefore, why we commissioned reported features and expert analyses on the devastations of floods, impact of climate change-induced destruction on women, the canal brawl in Sindh, rescuing endangered wildlife, rethinking urban flooding resilience and seeking accountability from the environment-damaging corporations displacing indigenous communities in the southern province.

Whether smog can be tackled by implementing AI technology or if electric vehicles could help clean Pakistan's air were also among the subjects we analysed.

While this shortlist is not enough to reflect our dedication to produce good journalism and writing, it emphasises that both quality and reader’s interest go hand in hand. This year taught us that our work is meaningful, responsible and capable to initiate discourse on important subjects, give  readers the opportunity to consume quality content and maybe also make a difference.