Habiba Nosheen

Habiba Nosheen is an investigative journalist and filmmaker. She produces documentaries and radio programs that have appeared on major platforms like PBS Frontline and This American Life.

Early life and education

Nosheen was born in Lahore, Pakistan. When she was nine years old, her family moved to Toronto, Canada. She later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto.

Her academic background includes two master's degrees. She studied Women's Studies at York University in Toronto and obtained another master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She is fluent in English, Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi.

Career

Nosheen's reporting appears in several outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and BBC. Her documentary film Outlawed in Pakistan premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. The Los Angeles Times described the film as being among the standouts of the festival. A longer version of this project eventually aired on PBS Frontline.

In 2012, her radio documentary titled "What Happened at Dos Erres?" aired on This American Life. The New Yorker called this work a masterpiece of storytelling. Her investigative documentaries receive support from organizations like The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and ITVS.

Nosheen served as the co-host of CBC Television's newsmagazine series The Fifth Estate from 2017 to 2019. She holds the distinction of being the first person of colour named as a co-host for the program in three decades. Additionally, she has taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

In March 2022, she released an 8 part investigative podcast series titled Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan. This project was produced with Spotify and Gimlet Media. It represents a three year long investigation into the disappearance of a Canadian woman who vanished in 2006.

Awards and recognition

Nosheen has won 3 Emmy awards for her professional work. She received an Emmy in 2013 for the film Outlawed in Pakistan. In 2016, she won an Emmy for the 60 Minutes investigation titled The Swiss Leaks. She also earned an Emmy in 2017 for a 60 Minutes report called The Hostage.

Her accolades include the Peabody and the Overseas Press Club's "THE DAVID A. ANDELMAN and PAMELA TITLE AWARD" for Outlawed in Pakistan. She is a recipient of the South Asian Journalist Association Award and the Morton Mintz Award. Other honors include the Leslie Sanders Award and being an IRE finalist.

She was part of the team that won the Best Canadian Spectrum at the HotDocs International Documentary Festival. Nosheen was also a finalist for the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.