Changing the Face of Information in Pakistan

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Source: Ashoka

Ashoka fellow Shafqat Munir Ahmad’s organization Journalists for Democracy and Human Rights (JDHR) has educated over 1200 journalist to incorporate social issues into mainstream media. The success of JDHR led Shafqat to create a new initiative this year called the Infochange News and Features Network (INFN).

INFN is a newspaper/website constructed to change the face of information by adding the people’s perspective. The news produced by INFN gives a voice to the marginalized and neglected people and issues of Pakistan and South Asia. The result is a no-frills online news site with diverse stories on development and social justice issues and solutions.

INFN also provides a space for the public to voice their opinions, through contributing in write-ups, columns, and letters to leaders of the country. This easy-to-use format has allowed independent journalists, researchers, development specialists, and civil society activists to contribute to the content of the news site on a regular basis.

Each day INFN's featured stories are sent to the mainstream news in Pakistan (in both Urdu and English) and at midnight uploaded onto the website. Sending the news first to the mainstream media emphasizes INFN's desire to see coverage of social issues in mainstream news, something in which Shafqat has already proven his success.

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