Media freedoms in Pakistan

This via the Committee to protect journalists


We released this statement after Dawn newspaper columnist Kamran Shafi said today that his house had been sprayed with machine gun fire on the night of November 27, in Rawalpindi...

“CPJ condemns this attack on such a prominent Pakistani journalist,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator. “Pakistan’s media environment is declining rapidly as a consequence of the political and military strife erupting under the government of President Asif Ali Zardari. Local and foreign journalists are coming under threat from all sides to the country’s many conflicts. Increasingly, Pakistan’s free press is under a threat almost as menacing as that under former president Pervez Musharraf ,” added Dietz.

Pakistan faces up to its media horrors

With the contining battle against terrorism in Pakistan,this guest post on the Dawn blog looks at how the sensativities of the population have been numbed by the media

It seems being the frontline ally in the war against terror has numbed our sensitivities. And the ongoing quest for the highest ratings among the broadcast media is adding wind to the sails of insensitivity.

adding that

you realise how worthless the loss of human life is and how easily people get away with murder. Now that sense of worthlessness is being compounded in the name of free media.

It's a question that the media worldwide has to grapple with balancing the often gruesome facts of reporting with the need to self regulate tbroadcasting of the horrors.

When decision makers at channels are asked if it’s appropriate to sully the airwaves in this manner, they shrug and offer the evergreen reply that it is their responsibility to report what is happening.

Their solution?

Broadcasters need to carefully consider – on a case-by-case basis, no less – what constitutes good reporting, and what is mere exhibitionism. And in an ideal situation, viewers need to be given a choice about what kinds of images they consume, rather than being forced to scamper for the remote and change the channel every time blood or a body part flash across the screen.

Ht-Adrian Monck

Media freedoms being curtailed in Pakistan

Bob Dietz Asia Program Coordinator for CPJ reports on some worrying incursions into media freedoms in Pakistan who got an email message from Mazhar Abbas in Islamabad this morning.

He is worried about proposed legislation that passed Thursday through the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Information—which is headed by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. The committee has recommended that a new law be passed that would set restrictions on media, including a ban on live coverage of events the government doesn't want to see on the air. Mazhar says the legislation would allow for sentences of up to three years in jail and 10 million rupee fines (about US$120,000). He worries that “it is almost the revival” of an ordinance amended by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulations Authority that was imposed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007. That's the day Musharraf declared a state of emergency amid mounting political criticism that eventually drove him from office.

Pakistan is of course at the forefront of the fight against the Taliban.its armies are currently on the offensive in the border territories with Afghanistan and the Taliban have responded by carrying out suicide attacks on its cities including a devastating one in Peshawar earlier this week

Don't be a journo in Pakistan

Journalists are the biggest terrorists in Pakistan according to President Asif Zardari.(Ht-Adrian Monck).

The Pakistani tribune says that

Members of the delegation of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), which met the president on January 15, quoted him as saying that journalists misreported things and presented the situation in a non-objective manner. They said the president felt the media should be careful in its handling of sensitive issues.

What the papers say on Bhutto's death

The quiet period for news between Xmas and New Year has been blown away with yetserday's assassination in Pakistan and this mornings newspapers are filled with reports and analyis on the events in Rawalpindi.

The leader writers across all the papers are focusing on the events

Let democracy be Bhutto's memorial says the Mail

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto once again exposes the gaping fault lines which lie below the surface of political life in Pakistan.

Nation on the brink says the Mirror

In the difficult days ahead, President Pervez Musharraf and his generals will be tempted to put off the polls and launch a crackdown.
Musharraf must follow Ms Bhutto's brave example and find the courage to avoid a retreat into military rule.

Benazir's fight must go on says the Sun

let us remember that Bhutto, while a formidable force for good and a powerful ally, was not her divided country’s only potential saviour.The path to democracy is often painful. It took three decades of bloodshed before peace finally came to Northern Ireland.
Bhutto’s death may be the awful price Pakistan must pay to achieve the same end.

Pakistan is a more dangerous place says the Telegraph

In such circumstances, Gen Musharraf, who resigned last month as army chief but remains president, may decide to postpone or cancel parliamentary elections due on January 8.
If they are held, with Miss Bhutto murdered and the other political heavyweight, Nawaz Sharif, disqualified from running, they could well be rigged to favour the general's party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q).
The situation may deteriorate to the extent that the army decides once again to intervene, this time removing the author of the 1999 coup, Gen Musharraf.

A killing that reverberates far beyond Pakistan says the Indy

As the urgent words of tribute and warning showed yesterday, however, Ms Bhutto's assassination will reverberate far beyond her native land. The United States, and to a lesser extent Britain, had encouraged Ms Bhutto to return in the expectation that she would be Pakistan's next Prime Minister. They envisaged her as a moderating and pro-Western force in a country where Islamic extremism is never far from the surface. They hoped an electoral mandate would bring stability. At a time when the Taliban are advancing in Afghanistan, violence still plagues Iraq, and Iran's intentions are uncertain, new volatility in the region can be in no one's interests. Benazir Bhutto might not have been able, as she aspired, to save Pakistan for democracy, but now she will not have the chance.

Media Crackdown in Pakistan.

Five days after the declaration of marshall law by General Musharaff,a number of sites are monitoring the situation as reagrds the media.

Global voices is one of the sites that is observing the situation.

It reports that

Even as the Army stormed the Supreme Court in Islamabad, and detained Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry, the seriousness of the issue escalated as private television channels were taken off air, local phones were blocked and access to the Internet was curtailed

.

Imran Khan's rallying cry is broadcast here

Check this site for up to date info on the student situation in Lahore

Also check out the Human rights commission of Pakistan blogs

These are the latest stories from the English language Dawn

The benefits of citizen journalisn

I have just come across this link to a blogger who is giving updates on the situation developing at the Mosque in Islamabad.

This is just a snipet,have a look at the full post

2:23 AMDawn Television reports that the 111 Brigade from the RWP Corps has assembled at the Lal Masjid and there is a high probability of an assault. The area is cordoned off completely, and there is a curfew. EVERYONE IS ADVISED TO AVOID THE AREA AS SPECIAL FORCES AND OTHER SECURITY PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN TOLD TO EXERCISE MINIMUM RESTRAINT, ZERO TOLERANCE AND 'SHOOT ON SIGHT'!
Hold on tight, this is it! Fauzan you were right...!

2:40 AMThe government sources have confirmed a GO AHEAD with the operation on Lal Masjid. The President has approved action on them. ENTIRE G-6 IS CORDONED OFF EXCEPT EMBASSY ROAD - STAY PUT, STAY SAFE. The students have been told to surrender and come out with arms in the air without the weapons. Paramilitary, Special Ops, and other law enforcement forces have taken up positions around the Lal Masjid. The entire area has been blacked out and there is utter silence all around.

3:00 AMTime till 3:30 given for further ACTION.
Almost half an hour to go (time of IMB is One hour ahead than local PST, BTW)-A For [Pine]Apple

3:10 AMSHOTS FIRED!

3:14 AMSporadic fire from both sides. Ambulances, fire brigades, Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), and sand bags in position!

3:23 AMHeavy casualties expected. Ambulances reportedly fully stocked with first aid and other life saving medical equipment.

3:35 AMHelicopters can be heard in Islamabad's air. Tanks moving around the Blue Area road.And lal masjid's site is no longer blocked

Further problems in Pakistan

Not particular good news coming out of Pakistan at the moment.

General Musharraf issued a decree yesterday which will allow the government to seize broadcasting equipment,close the premises of media organisations and have a carte blanche approach to producing regulations.

It follows events on Sunday when transmissions from two Tv stations were blocked by the government

It is the latest attempt by the military regime to prevent criticism of its suspension of the chief justice earlier in the year which has also seen journalists hassled and demonstrations around media outlets

Media under attack in Pakistan

The current crisis in Pakistan is having a profound effect on the freedom of the country's media.

Back at the end of April,a private television company was accused of inciting by the Pakistan Electronic media regulatory body and was threatened with closure.

Yesterday another private channel came under fire whilst covering disturbances:

Aaj’ TV, a leading television channel of Pakistan, came under gunfire attack for almost six hours on May 12 during clashes between government supporters and opposition activists that took the lives of 36 persons in Karachi, the country’s largest city.The attackers also set ablaze vehicles in the parking lot of the television network. Elsewhere in the city, a number of journalists and cameramen came under attack from security forces and activists.Pakistan has been facing civil unrest since March 9, when president, General Pervez Musharraf, suspended the country’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The incidents of violence on May 12 were sparked by the visit of the Chief Justice to Karachi, where he was to address the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Sindh High Court.Aaj TV was broadcasting live footage of activists brandishing guns and firing at their rivals in front of the offices of the television network. This infuriated the activists who turned their guns on the offices of the television channel, shattered windowpanes causing panic among the staff. Camera operators and journalists in building had to take cover under their tables.
(via Pakistan Press Foundation)