Razia Bhatti
| Razia Bhatti | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944 Karachi |
| Died | 12 March 1996 |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Occupation | Journalism |
Razia Bhatti (Urdu: رضیہ بھٹی) (Born: 1944 Died:1996), was a Pakistani journalist who served as editor of the Herald and Newsline magazines. When she died at the age of 52, the Pakistan Press Foundation called it "end of a golden chapter of journalism in Pakistan." Bhatti founded Newsline magazine with the help of other female journalists after leaving Herald magazine.
She was editor of Pakistani magazine Herald for 12 years and then she founded Newsline and edited it for 8 years. In 1994, Bhatti received the “Courage in Journalism” award from the New York-based International Women's Media Foundation.
Bhatti was born in 1944 at Karachi. She did her Masters in English and Journalism from Karachi University and then decided to join the professional journalism.
Bhatti's professional career spanned thirty years. In 1967 she joined the Pakistani magazine The Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan, later renamed as The Herald and turned into a monthly publication with focus on current and political issues. Bhatti became the assistant editor of Herald in 1970 and editor in 1976. The censorship imposed on press during General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law did not deter Bhatti and she continued reporting. "General Zia once got so infuriated that he waved a copy of her article at a press conference and said he would not tolerate such journalism," recalls Beena Sarwar in her article, Razia Bhatti and Najma Babar: Two Champions of Independent Journalism in Pakistan. After she was pressurized to write in support of the policies of General Zia's regime, Bhatti resigned from the magazine.
After receiving pressure to curb her writing most of her team of journalists resigned from The Herald along with her and together they established a new current affairs magazine called Newsline. Newsline was first published with Bhatti's editorial note in July 1989, that began,
Forty-two years down the road from independence, this nation seems to have bartered away the promise of its birth. To a whole generation of Pakistanis, fear, violence, authoritarianism and deceit represent the norm, for they have known no other. .... The press in Pakistan shares the guilt of this nation's state. It has been silent when it should have spoken, dishonest when it should have been forthright, succumbed when it should have stood fast.
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