A Pakistani journalist in the US

I observe the United States of America — a land where the ‘can do’ attitude prevails and dreams can come true. Since I landed here some six weeks ago, I have been experiencing some great adventures, the likes of which I never had in Germany, India, Nepal or Sri Lanka. As I experienced cultural shock in six US states, I learned how the majority of Americans are only interested in their domestic affairs.

People here believe in freedom of speech so they speak openly on domestic and international affairs. During my visit, I observed that the biggest issue of excitement for a large number of Americans seemed to be presidential politics.

Though Americans will choose their next president in 2016, in debates in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Saint Louis, Kansas and Missouri, participants and supporters vigorously discussed the elections. The most widely asked question was: will Americans finally elect their first female president? If yes, many see Hillary Clinton to be at the top of this race at the moment.

Usually in Pakistan, people assume that Americans are rude. Yes, I discovered that some are. But I also observed that a majority of people were loving and caring. Moreover, they also always welcome foreigners.

Finally, I discovered that investigative reporting is done very differently in US media houses. Here, I am working with Mr Mike McGraw — a Pulitzer Prize-winner and head of the investigative project at The Kansas City Star, a McClatchy newspaper.

“Our [The Star’s] job is not to report the news but to make the news,” Mr McGraw told me soon after I entered the well-constructed newsroom. I finally started on my first project assignment. Some fellow journalists and I have obtained more than 1,100 files and conducted dozens of interviews for our story, which will take four to five months to be published. Unfortunately, in our newsrooms in Pakistan, we don’t have ample resources to do such in-depth investigative stories.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2014.