Pakistan’s Almeida named 71st IPI Press Freedom Hero

Cyril Almeida, an editor and columnist with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper facing treason charges following his tenacious coverage of the Pakistani state’s patronage of militant groups, has been named the International Press Institute (IPI)’s 71st World Press Freedom Hero. IPI and International Media Support (IMS) also announced the Egyptian news site Mada Masr as the recipient […]

Cyril Almeida, an editor and columnist with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper facing treason charges following his tenacious coverage of the Pakistani state’s patronage of militant groups, has been named the International Press Institute (IPI)’s 71st World Press Freedom Hero.

IPI and International Media Support (IMS) also announced the Egyptian news site Mada Masr as the recipient of the 2019 Free Media Pioneer Award. Mada Masr has courageously defied Egypt’s media crackdown to deliver independent, investigative news to a public otherwise starved of it. Both awards, which for the past five years have been given in partnership with IMS, will be presented during a special ceremony on June 5 in Geneva, Switzerland, during IPI’s annual World Congress and General Assembly. IPI’s World Press Freedom Hero Award honours journalists who have made significant contributions to the promotion of press freedom, particularly in the face of great personal risk.

A Rhodes Scholar with a law degree from Oxford University, Almeida briefly worked as a lawyer in Pakistan before entering journalism. After joining Dawn, a highly respected English-language publication, he quickly gained a reputation as one of the country’s most brilliant analysts. In particular, it is Almeida’s critical coverage of Pakistan’s powerful military and its direct or indirect involvement in political affairs – an extraordinarily risky and, for many, taboo subject in the country – that has won him admiration and legions of followers. Such is Almeida’s influence that he is “read by everyone who matters in Pakistan”, even those in the government and security establishment, as one observer recently put it.

Almedia’s scrutiny of the Pakistani military-security complex has made both him and Dawn a target. In 2016, Almeida was banned from leaving the country after publishing an exclusive story in Dawn on a rift between Pakistan’s civilian government and the military over the latter’s protection of certain extremist groups. The story prompted enormous controversy in Pakistan. Both Almeida and Dawn’s top editor were subjected to a widespread smear campaign and dragged before a military-initiated tribunal in an effort to force Dawn to reveal its sources. (IPI)