Azhar Abbas

Azhar Abbas is the Managing Director of Geo News. A natural leader, Azhar was an activist in his student life, struggling against General Zia-ul-Haq’s tyrannical rule. This led him to join “Roshan Khayal,” a thinking person’s Urdu magazine in the late eighties. In 1988, after democracy was restored in Pakistan, he wrote the book “Army, Democracy & People” in which he argued that though at that point the military had no choice but to restore democracy, it was not in its interest to let democracy flourish in the long run.

Azhar entered mainstream journalism in 1990 as a reporter for the English daily, The News. Within three years, he became the first journalist to secure the prestigious Hubert Humphrey Fellowship which is part of the Fulbright Scholarship program. The scholarship took him first to Boston University and then to Syracuse to attend the prestigious Newhouse School of Communication, where he studied broadcast journalism and realized that television will be the medium of the future for Pakistan.

Upon his return to Pakistan, he launched Pakistan’s first private-sector TV program with his team, Pakistan Business Update. The program brought modern broadcast journalism into Pakistan and provided the base for other private sector companies to start investing in electronic media. He simultaneously joined the reputed news and views magazine, Herald, and began reporting on political and economic issues. In addition to these responsibilities, he also reported for a number of international publications such as an Indian news magazine Outlook and the widely circulated daily USA Today and served as a correspondent to NBC and CNBC. He interviewed top politicians and celebrities, and also reported extensively on the Afghan war and the elections in Pakistan, India, and the UK.

His 1998 investigative story on cricket match-fixing exposed the culprits and led to an official investigation of the scandal. In June 1999, his cover story for Herald Magazine, “THE CREEPING COUP” became the talking point in domestic and international media and political circles. It it he predicted that the military was again looking for an opportunity to directly come into power. His fears turned out to be true: only a few months later the military took over in a bloodless coup.

In 2001, ten months before the transmission of Geo News, he joined the core team that launched the channel as its first Director News. Abbas’ dedication, journalistic sense, and managerial skills helped the organization develop an unbeatable team at Geo Network.

In 2007 he was approached by Pakistan’s first English-language TV channel, DawnNews to help in its launch. He joined DawnNews as Director News and Current Affairs. But his long relationship with The Jang Group, couldn’t keep him away for too long, and he returned to Geo News.

He has participated in many national and international forums on journalism and public policy. He played a key role in making the code of ethics for journalists regarding coverage of terrorism and anti-terror operations. He has written many reports on how to cover in a hostile environment and the challenges Pakistani journalists face in this regard.

In recognition of his services to journalism, Azhar Abbas was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the government’s second-highest civilian award.