Required Reading in Pakistan

One of the delights of reporting in Pakistan—or India, for that matter—is that English-language newspapers are prevalent and important and, in many cases, enjoyable reads (both the truth and the English language are stretched in exciting ways). The crisis between Pakistan and India has led me back to the papers I read when I’m in Pakistan. Dawn is the largest and most reliable, though The News tends to have more scoops. However, Dawn’s website is superior to The News’. For what it’s worth, out of the top 12 stories on Dawn’s site today, eleven revolve around preparations for war. Few of the stories bother to mention the string of terrorist attacks that have given India little choice but to lash back at Pakistan, which is directly or indirectly responsible for the current mess.

Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post. View all posts by Peter Maass