Zaffar Abbas

Zaffar Abbas
Occupation(s)	Journalist, editor
Years active	1981–present
Known for	Editor of Dawn newspaper

Zaffar Abbas is a prominent Pakistani journalist who has held the position of editor at the English-language daily newspaper Dawn since October 2010.

Career

Abbas launched his journalism profession in 1981 with The Star, a publication under the Dawn Media Group. From 1984 until 1992, he contributed as a correspondent for the Khaleej Times. In 1988, he became a senior reporter at The Herald, advancing to special correspondent in 1992 and subsequently serving as Bureau Chief. Additionally, he spent approximately 16 years working as a correspondent for the BBC in Islamabad and Karachi.

In 2006, Abbas was appointed resident editor of Dawn for its Islamabad edition. He was named Editor-designate in June 2010 and then assumed the role of the newspaper’s fifth Editor in October 2010, following Abbas Nasir.

In 2015, he was chosen as the inaugural chairman of Editors for Safety, an organization dedicated to uniting media professionals against violence. The New York Times has recognized him as a highly regarded political journalist.

In April 2017, the Prime Minister's Office referred his name to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society in connection with the Dawn leaks incident.

Abbas was honored with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in November 2019.