Umar Cheema, investigative reporter, The News, won the 2013 Knight International Journalism Award for his excellence in reporting.  Umar was a 2008 Daniel Pearl Fellow from Pakistan hosted by The New York Times. He will be honored at the International Center For Journalist’s Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C, on November 7, with CNN lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer as the master of ceremonies.

Umar was kidnapped and tortured in 2010 for writing stories about the government. In 2011, he  founded the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan. In his first report, Umar did an analysis on tax records from 446 lawmakers and ministers, discovering that almost 70% of legislators, including the President Asif Zardari, did not file income taxes in 2011.

 Learn more at http://www.icfj.org/news/intrepid-investigative-reporters-russia-and-pakistan-win-premier-international-journalism-award.