Journalist Anushe Engineer’s entry, "It’s all or nothing for Arshad Nadeem in Paris,” carried in the Karachi daily Dawn, earned her the first prize in the Young Reporters Writing category at the awards function hosted by the International Sports Press Association, also known by its French name, Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS). The awards ceremony was held at Palais Jawhara in Rabat, Morocco on May 13, 2025.
Altogether 2,065 submissions from 136 countries had been received for the 2024 awards, stated the Association website aips.media.com. For the eight Senior categories and the Young Reporters categories, the submissions went through four voting stages after which the last 27 were invited to Morocco. For the Young Reporters Writing award that comes with an AIPS Scholarship at a top sporting event, 37 entries had been received.
With affiliation from 160 national associations throughout the world, AIPS advocates for sports media rights, hosts programs for young sports journalists and honors excellence through its international awards. Engineer’s award winning feature capturing javelin thrower Nadeem’s struggles, discipline and training at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore was carried in Dawn, August 6, 2024, a few days prior to his winning the historic gold medal for Pakistan at the Olympics in Paris.
Associated with Dawn for over a year-and-a-half, when responding to queries from Parsiana, Engineer mentioned that she currently has a desk job hence "any reporting I do is on my own time outside of my shift hours, (so) it has been somewhat challenging. While reporting on human rights and politics have their own adrenaline rush, I have a soft spot for sports reporting since I was a former athlete (I swam for the Pakistan swimming team as a teenager) and truly understand the perspective of an athlete, how much training goes into each event, how much corruption and politics has further seeped into sports.”
Despite Reporters Without Borders ranking Pakistan as one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists owing to its high rate of impunity for killers of journalists, Engineer maintains, "So far I’ve had nothing but immense passion and love for my career. As a young woman, I’m always hyper-aware of my surroundings, mindful of what I say and who I speak to, where I’m going, what I’m asking, etc. But that’s just what journalism is.
Top: Anushe Engineer;
above: Arshad Nadeem (l) and his coach at the
Punjab stadium featured in her award-winning article
"As clichéd as it might sound, I’ve wanted to be a journalist since I was 12 years old,” says Engineer who was inspired by CNN’s Kristi Lu Stout. "Fast forward to college in the US (Scripps College in Claremont, California where she majored in politics), I worked for my student newspaper for three years and I always credit that as my foundation for journalism and reporting. I knew that due to visa issues I’d be back in Pakistan eventually after college. There’s no better place to be a journalist than in a country like Pakistan where there’s no shortage of news… I see myself in this bleak field for as long as it lasts. But if I do end up switching out of journalism, I’d like to continue working in an editorial capacity, or in social media and in the digital sphere.”
While she has not ruled out migration, she mentions, "For now I’m content with being in Karachi. It’s where I grew up (educated at the Karachi Grammar School), where I’m from, and where my family is.” Daughter of Khushnuma and Dinyar Engineer, she considers herself "lucky enough to still have both my grandmothers around, and it’s a blessing to be able to spend time with them.
"I’ve also just begun my career in Pakistan, in a field like journalism it takes time to build your contacts and network, understand the political landscape, develop your sense of reporting, etc. There’s so much to learn and report on here, and I’d like to pursue that for a while more. Also, I’ve lived in the US and visited other western countries enough to know the realities of living abroad and the struggle to find decent employment, affordable rent, etc. In Pakistan there’s a lot I need not worry about.”
While Anushe believes in observing most customs and thanking "God for all He has blessed me with,” she doesn’t consider herself "deeply religious. Prayer has always been personal for me, not something I do to please anyone.” Attending local community events intermittently, she admitted, "I wish I could say I was a more hands-on volunteer.”