Fasi Zaka
Encyclopedia
Fasi Zaka is a television host
, satirist
, political columnist, radio talk show host, music critic, academic and Rhodes Scholar
in Pakistan
. He is recognized for being one of the few media polymath
s in Pakistan with a successful presence in print, television and radio, he is a public intellectual who employs humour from a political and democratic perspective in his media forays. Because of this extensive presence he was declared one of Pakistan's newsmakers of the year in 2006. Fasi Zaka also occasionally comments on the Pakistani media
and politics to National Public Radio (NPR).
family from Charsadda
, Zaka received his elementary schooling in Peshawar
where he stayed until he acquired his Bachelor's degree
from Edwardes College
in Peshawar and Master's degree from the University of Peshawar
. Zaka is also a University of Oxford postgraduate funded as a Rhodes Scholar in the session 2001 – 03 from Somerville College
where he was elected President of the MCR for Graduates and subsequently elected life member. He is a member of the Mohammadzai tribe.
as the host of the off-beat program called On the Fringe
which he also scripted for Indus Music and later MTV Pakistan
. It was a collaboration with his friend and cousin, Zeeshan Parvez. The show received critical appeal and is the only programme of Indus Music that MTV Pakistan kept in its original format once Indus Music was shelved to become MTV Pakistan. On The Fringe was thematically based as a guerilla interview programme that asked Pakistan's politically powerful entertainment figures counter culture, political questions and challenged prejudices. Fasi Zaka, already known to the public through On The Fringe, first came to the entertainment industry's attention after hosting the 3rd Annual Indus Music Awards, an event marked by mismanagement that became the material of Zaka's adlibbing.
. The show News, Views & Confused
was co-hosted by Nadeem F. Paracha
and Mohsin Sayeed, with scripting by Zaka. The show received significant international attention through The Washington Post
and other publications for its programmes during the second emergency declared during President
Musharraf's
rule in 2007 amidst a severe clampdown on press freedom. The show ended its run in 2008
, where he wrote the weekly political opinion editorial column The Pakistan Report Card and the pop culture criticism column titled His Bigness in the Instep segment of the Sunday edition. He also wrote a bi-weekly light humour diary column in the weekly magazine The Friday Times under the heading, Man Friday. His columns about branding and branding strategy are also an occasional feature of the advertising magazine Aurora. As a writer some of his prominent themes have included bringing back rationality into civil dialogue, political satire, debunking conspiracy theories that affect the national discourse in Pakistan, and taking on right wing conspiracy theorists and hate mongerers in the press
station Radio One FM 91, which is aired nationally. It has been the subject of features in the LA Times, and AFP noting how it dispenses mass therapy and questions accepted truths. The show is aired three times a week, and is known for its absurdist humour and liberal politics embedded in the jokes. It was because of the show and its appeal that the British Council
Pakistan linked up with Fasi Zaka to create Ace Encounter, an edutainment
programme that used his appeal with the youth to send out educational advice.
. ADCOM is a Pakistani advertising agency that bagged the most Aurora Awards for Advertising. He also consults, and has done work for the World Bank
, ACCA, ICRC and the British Council. He first worked for several years as an academic at the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar, Khyber Pukhtoonkwa
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, satirist
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, political columnist, radio talk show host, music critic, academic and Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He is recognized for being one of the few media polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
s in Pakistan with a successful presence in print, television and radio, he is a public intellectual who employs humour from a political and democratic perspective in his media forays. Because of this extensive presence he was declared one of Pakistan's newsmakers of the year in 2006. Fasi Zaka also occasionally comments on the Pakistani media
Media in Pakistan
Media in Pakistan provides information on television, radio, cinema, newspapers, and magazines in Pakistan.-Regulation:The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority was formed in 2002 to "facilitate and promote a free, fair and independent electronic media", including opening the broadcasting...
and politics to National Public Radio (NPR).
Background
Born on 9 October 1976 to a PakhtunPashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
family from Charsadda
Charsadda
Charsadda is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°8'43N 71°43'51E with an altitude of 276 metres and lies 29 kilometres from the provincial capital - Peshawar....
, Zaka received his elementary schooling in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
where he stayed until he acquired his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Edwardes College
Edwardes College
Edwardes College is an undergraduate and graduate institution in the city of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province along Pakistan’s northwest border with Afghanistan...
in Peshawar and Master's degree from the University of Peshawar
University of Peshawar
The University of Peshawar is a public sector university in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The university was established in October 1950 by Mr...
. Zaka is also a University of Oxford postgraduate funded as a Rhodes Scholar in the session 2001 – 03 from Somerville College
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...
where he was elected President of the MCR for Graduates and subsequently elected life member. He is a member of the Mohammadzai tribe.
On The Fringe
He rose to prominence in 20042004 in television
The year 2004 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2004.For the American TV schedule, see: 2004–05 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
as the host of the off-beat program called On the Fringe
On the Fringe
On The Fringe is a popular Pakistani television show on Indus Music. It is hosted and scripted by the eccentric television host and music critic, Fasi Zaka and directed by Zeeshan Pervez. The show gained popularity and a bit of notoriety because of the way it conducts itself, i.e...
which he also scripted for Indus Music and later MTV Pakistan
MTV Pakistan
Music Television Pakistan is the Pakistani subsidiary of MTV, a cable television network owned by Viacom Inc. headquartered in New York. The Pakistan franchise has been set up in collaboration with Pakistan's first satellite channel media group known as Indus Media Group . Indus TV is Pakistan's...
. It was a collaboration with his friend and cousin, Zeeshan Parvez. The show received critical appeal and is the only programme of Indus Music that MTV Pakistan kept in its original format once Indus Music was shelved to become MTV Pakistan. On The Fringe was thematically based as a guerilla interview programme that asked Pakistan's politically powerful entertainment figures counter culture, political questions and challenged prejudices. Fasi Zaka, already known to the public through On The Fringe, first came to the entertainment industry's attention after hosting the 3rd Annual Indus Music Awards, an event marked by mismanagement that became the material of Zaka's adlibbing.
News, Views and Confused
On 11 April 2007, Zaka started to host and script a political and social satire show on one of Pakistan's leading TV channels, AAJ TVAAJ TV
AAJ TV is a 24 hour Pakistani news television channel. Aaj in English means "Today".-Channel and its Programmes:AAJ News was initially started on March 23, 2005 by the Business Recorder Group...
. The show News, Views & Confused
News, Views & Confused
News, Views & Confused is a Pakistani political and social satire show. It is based on BBC’s popular panel show Have I Got News for You. It started to air on one of Pakistan’s leading TV channels AAJ TV from April 11, 2007. The show is hosted by TV personality and journalist Fasi Zaka and co-hosted...
was co-hosted by Nadeem F. Paracha
Nadeem F. Paracha
Nadeem Farooq Paracha , , is a left-liberal Pakistani journalist, cultural critic, satirist and short story writer.-Early life:...
and Mohsin Sayeed, with scripting by Zaka. The show received significant international attention through The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and other publications for its programmes during the second emergency declared during President
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Musharraf's
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
rule in 2007 amidst a severe clampdown on press freedom. The show ended its run in 2008
Columns in print
Zaka is currently a weekly opinion editorial writer for the Express Tribune, the paper which also brings out the International Herald Tribune in Pakistan. He used to write as a columnist for the leading Pakistani newspaper, The News InternationalThe News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
, where he wrote the weekly political opinion editorial column The Pakistan Report Card and the pop culture criticism column titled His Bigness in the Instep segment of the Sunday edition. He also wrote a bi-weekly light humour diary column in the weekly magazine The Friday Times under the heading, Man Friday. His columns about branding and branding strategy are also an occasional feature of the advertising magazine Aurora. As a writer some of his prominent themes have included bringing back rationality into civil dialogue, political satire, debunking conspiracy theories that affect the national discourse in Pakistan, and taking on right wing conspiracy theorists and hate mongerers in the press
Radio
Zaka headlines one of Pakistan's most listened to radio shows, The Fasi Zaka and Friends Show, on the Pakistani FM radioFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
station Radio One FM 91, which is aired nationally. It has been the subject of features in the LA Times, and AFP noting how it dispenses mass therapy and questions accepted truths. The show is aired three times a week, and is known for its absurdist humour and liberal politics embedded in the jokes. It was because of the show and its appeal that the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
Pakistan linked up with Fasi Zaka to create Ace Encounter, an edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...
programme that used his appeal with the youth to send out educational advice.
Professional
Previously, outside Fasi Zaka's media work, he was the "Head of Ideas" for ADCOM based in IslamabadIslamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
. ADCOM is a Pakistani advertising agency that bagged the most Aurora Awards for Advertising. He also consults, and has done work for the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, ACCA, ICRC and the British Council. He first worked for several years as an academic at the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar, Khyber Pukhtoonkwa