Amna Akram is a news anchor who has been a part of the media industry for over 10 years now. She hails from Sheikhpura, a small city about 40 minutes away from Lahore. Amna never aspired to become an anchor; instead, she was more interested in ground news reporting.
Amna completed her BA as a private candidate and her MSC in communication studies from the University of Punjab. She started working at Value TV, which was a property channel that later converted to a news channel. She joined them in mid-2012 and worked there for six months. In 2013, she worked in the elections cell of Dunya News.
Despite being recognized as a talented news anchor, Amna never got a chance to go on air on Dunya News. She was selected as one of the top three candidates in a talent hunt program, but Dunya News could not put her on air for some reason. Her proper launch and first claim to fame as an anchor happened on Neo TV, where she became part of the pioneer team of the channel. She worked there for a couple of months before going on air and was a proud member of the team that launched the channel.
In 2015, Amna moved to Karachi to join Jaag TV and remained part of the channel for almost two years. She left when the channel was acquired by GNN and scheduled to move its head office to Lahore. Amna says that Karachi’s industry was more professional at the time, and hence, she had no plan to move back to Lahore. She joined Abb Takk and worked there for two years before getting a call from Dawn News.
Living in Karachi is not easy but Amna says that she enjoys living in this city, “Karachi is like a habit that you cannot leave. I fully understand this city has problems we struggle with basic nacacities as compared to Lahore or Punjab and cost of living is also high. But once you get along with the city there is nothing like that.”
Amna worked for Dawn News for six months only, but the channel became another claim to fame for her. About leaving Dawn News for Bol, Amna says, “It was a lucrative offer and I had no reason to refuse it. I really enjoyed my time at Bol News and that is why I have spent the longest time of my career at Bol. The period of more than three years was a smooth sail. The workplace environment was good and they also treated me well.”
Earlier this year, Amna became one of the new faces to appear on ARY News when she joined the channel. She said, “It was just an ordinary day, and I was on air on Bol News when I got a phone call from ARY News. They wanted me to come for an interview. They sent me a car to come for the interview, and the protocol I received really impressed me. The interview went well, and I had a feeling that I might get the job. However, I was skeptical about leaving Bol and moving to ARY. But one thing that motivated me was the fact that I love to work and test my skills, and I felt that moving to ARY News would be a good opportunity to work and enhance my skills.”
When asked about her transformation from Bol to ARY News, Amna said, “I decided to leave Bol because I had spent more than three years, and I thought that it was time to move on. I left Bol on amicable terms and very professionally. After signing my ARY contract, I served my notice period properly at Bol. As far as ARY is concerned, it teaches you a lot; it is among the only few institutes where you can actually learn. I feel if one has a knack for learning, ARY is a fine place for that. I enjoy my hectic shifts at ARY News because work keeps me going.”
Amna added, “Future plans are something I don’t fancy much. I never wanted to be an anchor. In fact, I wanted to be a correspondent because I am a good observer, and I still feel that I can be a good on-ground reporter because of my observant nature and storytelling skills. Fate had other plans, though. My teachers used to push me and send me for auditions. Now when I look back sitting on ARY
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