Fatima Saleem is the beautiful, charismatic, and talented sports journalist of Pakistan who has been serving in the field for over a decade now. Cricket is something that falls in your lap when you are covering sports in Pakistan but Fatima never wanted to be associated with cricket alone and has covered all the sports under the sun. Born to deliver news, Fatima Saleem was is the pioneer female sports journalist of Pakistan.
Fatima began her career in sports when she joined Geo News Network as a sports reporter 14 years ago. Her senior and sports journalist Waheed khan motivated her to also do sports bulletins from the studio even though reporting was her first preference. Since then, she has been doing sports reporting, anchoring, presentation, and all sort of sports coverage. Fatima’s position as one of the best female sports journalists in Karachi provides a unique perspective on sports news.
In an exclusive interview with The Blind Side, Fatima took a trip down the memory lane to recall the ups and downs of her decade-long career, her ambitions and dreams.
“I remember when I was in university, Andrew Miller from ESPN had come in for a session with us students and that’s when I knew sports reporting is something I would definitely consider in the future,” Fatima recalls.
Fatima was raised with three brothers and was brought up as a ‘Tom girl’. Her father, her brothers, and she herself were dedicated fans of sports, especially cricket. Her love for sports bloomed at an early age, watching cricket, soccer, and field hockey with her family and playing in the street for hours. She also swam at the national level till she was 12 but she had to quit due to a knee injury.
My vocation as a sports journalist combines two distinct passions of my life, the power of information and my love of sports.
When Fatima was asked if she ever felt uninvited or discouraged by cricketers or other athletes, her response was both blunt and surprising. She said had worked with all the cricketers and they all were extremely humble and kind towards her.
“I won’t lie, none of them were hesitant or unwelcoming. I never faced any issue with them. Only once a cricketer didn’t want to sit in the same room as me and while I was offended, I do respect his decision and I never made a big deal about it.”
She even said that one time she kept on referring to Wasim Akram as Ramiz Raja so many times that he had to interrupt her live and tell her that he was not Ramiz but he could look for him. Upon this, she apologized and went back to the conversation.
According to Fatima, it was in fact her colleagues and other people in her field that demotivated her. She was often told to switch fields and cover arts or entertainment news instead. Sports journalists with a lot of experience under their belt didn’t want a newbie to compete with them. But she never wanted to compete and just wanted to learn from them and co-exist with them.
Fatima also mentioned how the public response has always been so nice. She received love not only from Pakistan and India but from across the world she received fan mail and appreciation. Whoever watches sports recognizes her and she wants her daughters to feel the same way about her.
Despite being discouraged, trolled, and body-shamed, she never quit. There were days when she would come home and say “I’m done” but her husband and mother support always encouraged her to keep going.
In 2013, Fatima was selected by an ESPN program in the US. She was the only Pakistani sports journalist at the program and her work was praised by the journalist fraternity across the whole world. It was a moment of pride for her to represent Pakistan at the international level. Global Sports Mentoring Program, an initiative of the US department of state, also featured her on their website where her efforts and achievements were highlighted.
Fatima is also a wife and mother of a beautiful daughter. Managing motherhood and journalism at the same time is challenging but she has managed to keep a balance among both.
Sometimes it is hard to leave your daughter and go to work. But I keep myself composed and remember that I’m doing it for her. At times, I had to feed my child and get my make-up done at the same time.
Fatima is also co-founder of ‘Go Girl Pakistan,’ an organization that believes in empowering women through sports. Fatima solidified her idea for Go Girl Pakistan in 2013 as a participant in the Global Sports Mentoring Program, a joint effort between espnW and the U.S. Department of State, and launched it in February 2014. The goal was to set up football clinics all around Karachi, where girls could come in with their parents and play with qualified female coaches.
I wanted every girl to play, once you entered the ground it didn’t matter what your background was or if you are rich or poor, these clinics were free for everybody.
Unfortunately, after 2 years, when she became a mother, Fatima had to take a break from the project as due to parental duties and lack of resources it had become tough to continue the project. However, she is determined to keep her mission going.
“Go girl Pakistan is a registered NGO so InshaaAllah soon we will resume from where we stopped.”
Along with Go Girl Pakistan, she also conducts free sports journalism sessions for older girls. In the future, Fatima wants to open her own sports channel where all sports will be covered, not just cricket. She wants to promote other sports including squash, badminton, and tennis in Pakistan, with a special focus on female players.
Upon being asked what would she say to girl’s aspiring to be a sports journalist, Fatima said:
“People will advise you and force you to follow their advice, but you don’t need to. Some people used to say I smile a lot and I should control that. But I say, smile if you want to, laugh if you want to. You do not have to follow every advice.
There was a time when a senior journalist stormed out from the studio saying he didn’t want to work with me because I kept on asking questions while we were co-hosting. Later I was asked to be removed from the show but I’m not sorry. I didn’t come to the studio to look pretty and just take breaks.
Fatima shared her favorite moment when she was covering Naseem Hameed’s welcome, who had won the 100m race in South Asian Games and was returning home from Sri Lanka. Naseem’s story was extraordinary, she won the gold when no one would even talk about women empowerment.
“It was a very small house in a very narrow street of Korangi. Men, women, and children had gathered outside to welcome her. Fathers would come to me with their little daughters and tell me ‘I’ll make her an athlete too.'”
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