Najia is currently a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University working on a multi-model project for reducing dangers of journalism. She is focused on experimenting with animation and visualization to create a safety guide for journalists. Besides working on her journalism challenge, she also has been asked to speak at numerous Stanford community events.

She has been a senior anchor and producer at Geo News, Pakistan’s most reputable news channel. Ashar also is a columnist and blogger, writing for the Daily Jang and The News international. She began her career in journalism as a researcher and writer with the state-run television network PTV, and soon worked her way to up hosting daily and weekly programs. In 2004, Ashar moved to work for Geo, which leads the television news industry and has the largest market share in Pakistan. Initially, she provided the news bulletins from Dubai. Ashar anchors the main news bulletins in Karachi, Geo’s headquarters. She has reported live on many historic events. Ashar also has hosted daily public affairs programs, including “This is Pakistan”.  She has a master’s degree in international relations. In 2013, she was named a fellow at The East-West Center.