Students replenish old timer's supply of optimism
Amidst these dark times, a ray of optimism shown on me this week, when I had the privilege of meeting with two extraordinary students. I was wowed by these young ladies and their energy, intelligence, and drive to make the world a better place.

The first student whom I’ll call Irina Zoomed in from Florida to discuss her plans for the future. A friend-of-a-friend connected us. Irina is 17, yet the discussion we had was much more reminiscent of a similar discussion I’ve had with bright post-grad students in their mid 20’s. Irina is torn between pursuing a career in international law or one in international diplomacy and development. The scope and sophistication of her questions was impressive. 

AI-generated image. Interesting--these seem to
be getting better and better.

As we spoke, I was honest with her about the obstacles she’ll face in today’s world of diplomacy and international development. At the State Dept. in 2025, over 1,350 employees were laid off, with roughly 1,000 civil service and 250 Foreign Service members receiving reduction in force notices (GovernmentExecutive.com). Understandably, morale is at an all-time low, with 98% of foreign service survey respondents saying morale had declined since January 2025. (CNN)

Things weren’t much better in 2025 for international organizations. For example, job posting were down 25% last year at the budget-strapped UN (Devex.org).

Despite all of this, I suggested to Irina that the situation has got to improve (it can’t get much worse!) for foreign service and international development specialists. Jobs in this field are so incredibly interesting, challenging, and rewarding that I can still recommend this kind of work even in the current climate. Irina enthusiastically agreed, and will be seeking an international relations undergraduate degree at an east coast university TBD.

The second young woman whom I’ll call Myra and her university professor Zoomed me from India. Myra is spending a post-undergraduate year as a researcher before she enters a graduate program. Myra is interested in writing a dissertation about peace journalism, and her professor wants to include more peace journalism instruction at her university in western India. Joining Myra and I on the call was the outstanding Indian journalist Priya Sen, with whom I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with on several projects.

Like Irina, Myra’s questions were sophisticated and challenging. Priya discussed the difficulty of practicing peace journalism in India, though her work and those of several other journalists she cited demonstrates that peace reporting is possible in India. (For example, see Priya’s ‘voice of the marginalized’ story on survivors of the recent Delhi rots-- https://religionnews.com/2025/11/25/survivors-of-hindu-muslim-riots-find-healing-in-womens-empowerment/ ) Despite these challenges, I told Myra that peace journalism is an aspiration, a goal worthy of stiving towards whether we reach the end point of a PJ-dominated media landscape or not. She agreed.

My visits with Myra and Irina lifted my spirits and reminded me to be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to serve as a peace journalist, teacher, international aid provider, and now as a media program coordinator at the East-West Center in Honolulu. I hope that Irina and Myra’s careers are as fulfilling as mine has been.

 

 

 

At the “Essential Tools for Pakistani Journalists" workshop 
on Zoom and live in Islamabad.

Pakistani journalists explore challenges, AI, peace journalism
If you want a lengthy, detailed conversation, ask a Pakistani reporter to list the challenges faced by journalists in their country.

This is exactly what I did during a Zoom discussion last night with about 20 Pakistani journalist during the launch event of a multi-year project called, “Essential Tools for Pakistani Journalists.”

As the reporters listed their challenges, several themes repeatedly surfaced. One was a lack of official sources and access to credible information, which in turn helps to fuel rumors and mis and disinformation. The sad economic state of the media was also mentioned repeatedly, including newsroom downsizing, poor salaries, and inadequate resources needed to facilitate reporting. The third major theme that emerged was about biased, subjective, and polarizing reporting—a fact exacerbated by political pressure exerted by media house owners who are themselves politicians, or in bed with politicians. Also, the reporters decried a lack of training for journalists in identifying and combating disinformation and deepfakes. Finally, the journalists cited concerns about censorship, and about a flimsy legal framework and judicial system that offers no legal cover for investigative reporters who are just trying to do their jobs.

At the introductory session, I also presented the basics of peace journalism, and discussed how this is especially relevant in the ongoing Pakistan vs. India context. This led us into an introduction of mis and disinformation, and another discussion about the extent of the problem in Pakistan. The journalists said that “influencer journalism” and citizen journalism are problematic, and that the false information they spread discredits professional media outlets, even though these outlets aren’t responsible for the lies and vitriol spread on social media. 

We also briefly discussed AI, and whether it’s ethical for AI to write stories for journalists. Most said no, although they expressed a collective trepidation about a future when economically distressed media owners might turn to AI writers and reporters instead of their human counterparts.

In March, I meet this lively group of journalists for a three day in-person seminar in Islamabad that builds upon the themes we discussed last night. I very much look forward to continuing our interactions.

The “Essential Tools for Pakistani Journalists” project is sponsored by the East-West Center, supported by Coca-Cola Pakistan, and administered by Rohtas Communications/Pakistan.

Discussing challenges faced by Pakistani 
journalists at the zoom session on 1/6.