Umar Cheema

Umar Cheema is a journalist and investigative reporter for the Pakistani newspaper The News. In 2008, he won a Daniel Pearl Journalism Fellowship, becoming the first Pearl fellow to work at The New York Times.

Education Cheema holds a master's degree in mass communication from Punjab University in Lahore. He also attended London School of Economics as a Chevening Scholar (Chevening Scholarship), doing M.Sc. in Comparative Politics (Conflict studies).

Kidnapping On 4 September 2010, he was abducted, beaten, flogged and sexually assaulted by a group of assailants. They also shaved his head, eyebrows, and mustache. Cheema reported that his attackers asked him if he was trying to discredit the government with his reporting, leading him to believe that they were from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. In his acceptance speech, Cheema thanked the group for its "recognition of the bold work Pakistani media is doing". On 14 April 2011, Cheema also received the Tully Center Free Speech Award of Syracuse University.

Cheema is the father of a son and a daughter. Adil, his son, was two years old when Cheema was abducted.