BOL News, the channel owned by AsiaPak Investments, has allegedly delayed paying staff salaries by over three months. In a LinkedIn post from Areeba Fatima, who was the co-host of an international news show, said that her contact was suddenly terminated and that the company owed her severance pay of one month. The reason given for her termination was that she was allegedly inciting a strike.
“The context is that the management hadn’t paid their workers for up to three months and the audacity to call someone in and go like ‘we think you’re creating a negative atmosphere’, is criminally ridiculous, when you have made them work for months without pay,” she said. “Naturally, my contract mandated that I be given severance pay of one month.”
She said that the Sophia Chishty, the CEO of BOL News, is a puppet with zero relevant experience or qualifications to head a channel. She added that Chishty has ignored all requests to release salaries of BOL News staff despite being a women’s empowerment spokesperson, with Fatima adding that this CEO is “basically just an ultra rich American citizen aunty who has little to no care about real people and their real lives”.
Fatima added that the staff behind the camera don’t have a union and can not afford to miss a pay check.
“More than 500 people are paying out of their own pockets, to sustain a huge media house just so they don’t have to declare their failure,” she said. “Quite frankly, this industry is a bloody joke and all these rich industrialist families are laughing at all of us, all the time. They have not seen a single honest penny, they have not seen an hour of real hard work, and they have never experienced this thing we call empathy for anyone who’s not a bloody millionaire.”
At the time of publishing, BOL News representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Who is Areeba?
Born into a low-income household in Karachi, Pakistan, Areeba defied expectations by becoming a leading journalist and activist in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters. As a teenager, she drafted Pakistan’s first anti-harassment policy for educational institutions—now used across the country. While completing her Anthropology degree, she worked full-time as a journalist to support herself.
Today, Areeba works as a fact-checker and investigative reporter at Soch Media, Pakistan’s first IFCN-signatory organization. She supports her ailing parents and helps put her youngest sibling through college—all while publishing groundbreaking investigations in a country ranked 12th on the Global Impunity Index for journalist safety.
A Life-Changing Opportunity
Areeba has been accepted to Columbia University’s prestigious Graduate School of Journalism—a miraculous opportunity that once seemed impossible. While this acceptance represents a tremendous achievement, it comes with significant financial challenges. To fully embrace this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she needs support to cover her educational and living expenses.
This fundraiser goes beyond meeting financial obligations—it’s about helping transform a talented journalist’s dream into reality. Your contribution will allow Areeba to focus on her studies and maximize the potential of this extraordinary opportunity at Columbia University.
Her Impactful Work
Over five years, Areeba has:
- Published over 250 comprehensive fact-checks across multiple domains
- Tracked $364 million worth of Pakistani artillery shells in Ukraine despite official denials
- Analyzed the Commonwealth Observer Group’s misleading report on Pakistan’s 2024 elections
- Co-founded community libraries in Lahore and Karachi
- Served as Information and Media Secretary for the Women Democratic Front in Karachi
Why Columbia?
Pakistan has only one journalism school and press freedom continues to erode dramatically. Columbia’s journalism program represents a crucial opportunity for Areeba to:
- Learn from industry leaders in a program with a strong track record of nurturing Pakistani talent
- Gain skills in data-driven investigative journalism and visual storytelling
- Return to Pakistan equipped to launch the country’s first data investigations organization
The Dream
After Columbia, Areeba plans to create an unprecedented platform in Pakistan focused on data journalism and visual storytelling—making complex truths accessible through compelling visualization in a country where bureaucracies remain opaque and data access is limited.
Financial Need
Total Program Cost:
- Tuition and fees: $133,269
- Living expenses: $39,514
Cost includes fall, spring, and summer
Already Secured:
- Columbia scholarship: $90,000
Still Needed: $84,108 ← Your donation directly supports this amount
The Stakes
In a country where:
- Press freedom ranks 152nd out of 180 countries
- Seven journalists were killed in just the first half of 2024
- Journalists face dire consequences for speaking truth to power
Your contribution will help equip a courageous journalist to fight for transparency and truth in Pakistan’s challenging media landscape.
