Syed Irfan Ashraf

Syed Irfan Ashraf holds a PhD in Mass Communication and Media Arts from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, United States. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. Ashraf’s career began with positions at The Frontier Post in Peshawar, Nawa-i-Waqt in Islamabad, and The News in Rawalpindi, following his journalism degree from the University of Peshawar in 1997. In 2002, he briefly served as the Media Manager at Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL) in Peshawar before transitioning to teaching public relations at the University of Peshawar. Subsequently, he joined Dawn News, an English TV station in Peshawar, as a local reporter, covering the evolving ‘war on terror’ that shifted from ex-FATA to Swat, an emerging hub for al-Qaida’s international terrorism post-2006. He also worked as a fixer for various foreign news networks, including the NYT. After four years of field reporting, he pursued his doctorate in the United States while continuing to contribute to Dawn’s Op-ed section. In 2014, he received the Mirror Award for his outstanding criticism of legacy media from Syracuse University. Ashraf co-produced an award-winning documentary titled ‘Class Dismissed’ on Malala. Following the completion of his PhD in 2018, he resumed teaching as an Assistant Professor at the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. His book, ‘The Dark Side of News Fixing: The Culture and Political Economy of Global Media in Pakistan and Afghanistan,’ was published by Anthem Press in 2022 and subsequently republished in paperback by Folio Press with the title, ‘The Dark Side of Journalism.’ He can be contacted at [email protected].