Lotfullah Najafizada

Lotfullah Najafizada is an Afghan journalist and the Founder and CEO of Amu TV, a Washington, DC-based international news channel broadcasting via satellite and digital platforms to Afghan audiences at home and abroad. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in journalism, including more than a decade as Director of TOLOnews (2009–2021), Afghanistan’s largest news network. During his tenure, he hosted Afghanistan’s only televised presidential debate in 2019 and interviewed numerous global leaders. In 2024, he received the joint UK-Canada Press Freedom Award at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on behalf of Afghan journalists. He was named Journalist of the Year by One Young World in 2022 and awarded the Press Freedom Hero Medal by Reporters Without Borders in 2016. He has been a fellow at leading institutions, including the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, and the World Press Institute. He holds a BSc in Economics.