DW Akademie in Pakistan

Media freedom is limited in Pakistan and was ranked 157 out of 180 countries by Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 World Press Freedom Index. Nevertheless, a wide range of opinions and mediado exist and people openly discuss controversial issues on radio and TV programs, in newspapers and on the Internet. However, the views and voices of some members of society are rarely heard, especially those of women and religious minorities.

Independent reporting is extremely difficult for media professionals, particularly in western and northwestern Pakistan. They often have little formal training and are exposed to dangerous situations and threats, including those from various militant groups. The population in these conflict areas therefore find it hard to get balanced and well-researched information, and local reporting is scarce. Although some journalists' associations and organizations in Pakistan do provide training to media professionals, they often lack proficiency in teaching key topics such as how to verify information and generate income with journalistic content.

Our activities

DW Akademie supports three local partner organizations in Pakistan: The Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) in Karachi, the news agency Tribal News Network, and the NGO Individualland (IL) in Islamabad and Quetta. The aim is to strengthen their training skills in the area of fact-checking, and for them to become financially sustainable.

Download our most recent evaluation report for Pakistan here.

Our joint activities focus on local media, media initiatives and citizen media which use Facebook, YouTube and other social media to give the local population a voice. Our goal is to provide those living in the marginalized provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan with more relevant and verified local stories. 

In addition, DW Akademie supports the non-governmental organization Individualland in sensitizing mental health professionals based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to the special needs of media professionals there.

Funding: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Program Director: Karin Schädler 

Locations: Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, Khyber Pashunkhwa

Local partners: Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ), Individualland (IL), Tribal News Network (TNN)

Focus: Qualification and consulting, further training for media professionals, safety for media professionals, social participation, empowerment and participation of disadvantaged groups