Naween Mangi is Bloomberg News’ bureau chief in Pakistan, where she’s responsible for overseeing news coverage of the nation’s government and economy. Naween, who has been based in Karachi since she joined Bloomberg in 2006, has been working to expand her staff and provide readers with a greater depth of Pakistani news coverage.
In Depth recently spoke with Naween to discuss her long-term goals and the challenges she faces along the way.
When you started, you were tasked with expanding Bloomberg’s coverage of Pakistan. What was coverage like before you arrived? What challenges did you face in expanding it?
In 2006, when I joined Bloomberg News as an editor, coverage of Pakistan was limited to basic economic data, some corporate coverage and major political news. Coverage was handled by one reporter and a stringer. The primary challenge was identifying which areas of coverage we should most keenly focus on, keeping in mind our clients’ interests and the limitations we faced as a small team. We then slowly worked to build up corporate coverage, interviews with major corporate and political newsmakers, and introduce feature coverage of Pakistan.
How has coverage of Pakistan and the surrounding regions fit into Bloomberg’s global news strategy?
Pakistan’s position as a nuclear power and as South Asia’s second-biggest economy makes it of major interest to our clients from a political and strategic point of view. Additionally, Pakistan is a major emerging market, which is why we focused on expanding coverage of listed companies, outlining major business trends and identifying themes little explored by the global media.
What challenges have you faced as a woman working in a conservative country?
When I first started working as a journalist in Pakistan 19 years ago, there were very few women in the media. That made everything from requesting a separate restroom for women to managing a newsroom full of men somewhat challenging. Over time, this has changed. Pakistan today is a progressive and modern nation where women fully participate in the economy and contribute to work life. Over the past decade, as Pakistan’s media business has opened up and expanded, several women have entered the field and been fully accepted in leading roles.
How much do you still have left to accomplish? What are your goals for the future of Bloomberg’s Pakistani news coverage?
Pakistan continues to be an engaging story for our clients. Its political journey, fight against terrorism and evolving economy all make for a heavy and fascinating news flow. In the past couple of years, we’ve focused on team building. We’re still challenged by a small team and a big story, but we’ve worked to build skill sets that complement each other. Now that we have built a solid base of Pakistan news for our readers, we plan to work on more in-depth stories that tell a story about what’s happening on the ground in business and government through major newsmaker interviews and feature stories.