Namgay Zam

Namgay Zam (born 1985) is a Bhutanese journalist and activist. Having made her name as a producer and anchor on the public Bhutan Broadcasting Service, she served from 2019 to 2023 as executive director of the Journalists' Association of Bhutan. A 2016 lawsuit against Zam was considered the first test case of the country's press freedoms after its democratic transition.

Early life and education Namgay Zam was born in 1985 into a Bhutanese family in Bhutan, where she spent her childhood.

She attended university in India at Lady Shri Ram College, a women's college at the University of Delhi, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature.

Journalism career Zam began her career with Bhutan's first national youth radio station, Kuzoo FM, in 2007. She spent 10 months in 2015 and 2016 as a Humphrey fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

In 2017, she was described by The Diplomat as "the most well-known face on television in Bhutan." In 2016, she was accused of defamation by the influential businessman Sonam Phuntsho, the father-in-law of the country's Chief Justice Tshering Wangchuk, over a post on Facebook in which she shared a petition against the businessman. She described the suit as a "witch hunt" led by Wangchuk. However, she returned to Bhutan from Nepal later that year.

Then, in October 2017, Zam began producing and hosting Bhutan's first mental health radio show, Mind Over Matter Bhutan, on Radio Valley. She now works as an independent journalist in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu.

In 2019, she became executive director of the Journalists' Association of Bhutan, a role she held until 2023. On her appointment, she identified gender equality in the media as one of her goals as executive director.

Activism As an activist, Zam has supported various causes including social justice, gender equity and LGBTQ rights, and mental health advocacy.