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RESOURCE CENTER - MEDIA MONITOR |
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Friday June 01, 2007
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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Censorship
PEMRA ‘stops’ ARY TV’s broadcast in Islamabad, Pindi |
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The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has “strictly directed” the cable operators in Rawalpinid and Islamabad not to air ARY television, the channel quoted the cable operators association as saying on Thursday. The cable operators later stopped airing ARY television’s broadcast in the two cities. According to the channel, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said he was unaware of any such orders by PEMRA.
(Nawa-i-Waqt-8)
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg7_54 |
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Intimidation
Restrictions likely on live TV coverage: Media asked to behave |
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The government on Thursday decided to invoke some existing laws to curb unhindered media coverage, particularly electronic media’s live coverage of outdoor events while, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani warned newspapers and private television channels against crossing what he termed ‘legal limits’. Addressing a news conference here on Thursday, Mr Durrani made it clear that the government was annoyed over the live coverage of a recent seminar at the Supreme Court in which several fiery speeches were made, punctuated with anti-government slogans. “An element clearly violated the limits that the Constitution and the law of the land put on every citizen about protecting the honour and respect of the judiciary and the armed forces,” he said, indicating that such moves warranted action. The minister did not specify the possible actions which the government intended to initiate but warned that Pemra laws, especially the ones about controlling the live coverage of events, would be applied. Information ministry officials said the government, while using some Pemra laws, was planning to make it mandatory for televisions channels to seek prior permission for live coverage of outdoor events. If applied strictly, the government may restrict all live coverage, particularly of events like opposition rallies or events relating to the judicial crisis. A government petition, pending in the Supreme Court, criticises the slogans raised at the seminar by lawyers. “The events of the past two months have brought into sharp focus the issue of freedom with responsibility and a matter of concern for everyone within the government or outside it,” the information minister said.
(Post-1) (Jang-1)
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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/1/index5.php |
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Journalists protest over fake case against colleague |
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Dozens of newsmen staged a protest demonstration and a three-hour sit-in outside DPO Ghotki’s office on the National Highway on Thursday, following the registration of a fake case against a journalist. The journalists led by Latif Leghari and Allah Warrayo Bozdar chanted slogans against the police. The journalists told DPO Iqbal Dara that SHO Daharki Aslam Leghari has registered a fake case of robbery against president press club, Daharki, Tanveer Mahar. The DPO sought three days time to investigate the matter and promised that the SHO in question would either be suspended or transferred. The highway blockade was then ended.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=58604 |
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Media Protest
CPJ deplores threats to journalists |
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has deplored the death threats made to three Karachi journalists by unknown elements. In a statement issued in New York on Wednesday, the Committee took note of reports that three Pakistani journalists had been left “bullet messages” — unmarked envelopes containing a single bullet — in or on their cars while they were parked outside the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday evening. The Karachi Union of Journalists has declined to identify the three men, for fear of further jeopardising their safety, the statement added. “This is clearly another escalation in the attempt to intimidate Pakistani journalists — a pattern of behaviour that we have seen accelerate in recent months,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator. “Once again, we call on the government to actively take steps to protect Pakistan’s journalists, and address this atmosphere of intimidation,” he stressed.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg7_23 |
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Media rights groups concerned over threats to journalists |
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International media rights groups have expressed serious concern over threats to senior journalists in Karachi and have urged the government to protect press freedom by protecting journalists. Three international news agency employees in Karachi—AFP bureau chief Mazhar Abbas, AFP photographer Asif Hasan and AP correspondent Zarar Khan—found envelopes containing live bullets inside their vehicles late at night on Tuesday. “Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the increase in such threats against journalists, which come amid mounting political tension,” it said in a press statement on Thursday. Abbas, who is also secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, told Reporters Without Borders that the governor of Sindh was made aware of the incident. Calling it the most serious threat he has ever received, Khan hailed the unity being displayed by the press community, many of whose members staged a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club shortly after the bullets were found. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it “takes note of the provincial government’s announcement of an investigation and says leaders of the radical Muhajir Rabita Council (MRC) should be quickly questioned”.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg7_22 |
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Muhajir Rabita Committee denounces threats to journalists |
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The Muhajir Rabita Council (MRC) has condemned the veiled threats given to three journalists who found bullets in envelopes in their cars seats Tuesday night. The act was referred to as “shameful” by MRC Vice President Yaqoob Bandhani, General Secretary Tasaduq Hussain, Finance Secretary Raeesa Mohani, and Information Secretary Minhaj ul Arfeen. “The MRC is comprised of Muhajir elders and it believes in peaceful struggle,” a joint statement released Thursday said. The MRC leaders said that it was a conspiracy against Muhajirs and was aimed at paving the way for another operation against them. “Muhajir elders and youth must understand the aims and objectives behind the bullet-threats to journalists and unite to counter the nefarious designs of the enemies,” the statement said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg12_3
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/local8.htm
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Threats to newsmen |
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Threats to journalists would only give further imputes to struggle for freedom and democracy, National Workers Party Secretary General Akthar Hussain said in a statement on Thursday condemning the ‘bullet’ message to certain media men.
(Dawn-2)
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HRCP slams president’s Jhelum ‘tirade’ |
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The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that President General Pervez Musharraf’s “needless attack on the media” in Jhelum was likely to embolden various elements, within the administration and outside, to further curtail the freedom of expression and thought. In a statement issued on Thursday, the HRCP said that “the regime is in panic, but the crisis it has created for itself cannot be overcome by gagging the media and targeting journalists”. The statement lamented that while addressing army officers at Jhelum on Wednesday, Musharraf had devoted considerable time to a tirade against the media, especially TV channels. The HRCP added in its statement, “The relevance of this unmerited attention to the media... cannot be fathomed. There is a serious danger that such unprovoked assaults on the media will further embolden both state functionaries and non-state troublemakers to increase their efforts at browbeating journalists.” The statement condemned the incidents of the six-hour-long shooting on Aaj TV and the beating up of a news agency’s chief. It also cited the incident in which bullets, wrapped in threatening letters, were left in vehicles belonging to two senior journalists of Karachi. The HRCP stated, “It is not enough to condemn the cowardly incident.” The commission added in its statement, “The reported decision to ban demonstrations outside the Karachi Press Club seems to suggest at least one objective of threatening journalists has been achieved.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg7_40
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/top17.htm
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Daily Times Editorial: The army and the people |
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“It is true that the recent picture of Pakistan presented by the national media has been anything but sanguine. General Musharraf says: “a section of the electronic media has been spreading despondency, distortion and ambiguity and the achievements of the government are being submerged by the propaganda of vested interests aimed at personal and political gain”. This is a serious allegation but unfortunately it is indefensible, given the near-universal media consensus on the malfunction of the state for many months. In fact the Lal Masjid affair, which has cast a deep gloom over Pakistan, actually began in 2005. In such situations, there will always be a tension of choice between the moral compulsion of not spreading gloom and the duty to inform the people of the facts.”
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg3_1 |
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The News Editorial “Role of Media” |
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“This has two main aspects: the first is to be a mirror to what happens in the society and environment around it and to present a depiction of events that is as close to the truth and reality as possible while the second is to act as a watchdog and monitor over the actions and policies of the various institutions of the state so that the public good/interest can be furthered. It is because of the second aspect that the media can end up having a somewhat strained relationship with the government of the day, especially since the latter will tend to dictate to it by often using the 'in-the-national-interest' reference. However, it does not serve the public or national interest if the media begins to toe the official line because if it does that it loses its independence and credibility and becomes another arm of the state -- which it is not.”
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=58541 |
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Nation Editorial “Dealing with Media” |
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“Few would disagree with the President that media needs to report events and make comments with a sense of responsibility. In fact freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. That this is all the more important in view of the unprecedented capacity of the electronic media to influence the public mind is also widely understood. This said, one has to admit that the function of the media is to reflect reality as it is, with warts and all. It is here that it comes into conflict with the ruling parties, which often develop a tendency to view reality with rose-tinted glasses. What is more they are keen to keep any lack of performance or bungling of a situation on their part away from the limelight. As elections draw near, rulers tend to get jittery at every report that does not conform to the official truth. It is not uncommon to resort to traditional levers like press advice and threats of stoppage of the public and private sector advertisements.”
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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/1/editorials1.php |
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Nawa-i-Waqt Editorial “President’s Advice to media and actual facts” |
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“Media only projects incidents. It is responsibility of media and government to follow code of conduct. Media plays positive role and reports incidents.”
(Nawa-i-Waqt- Editorial)
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Media in Court
Suo motu notice on journalists’ harassment |
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Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Javed Iqbal on Thursday took suo motu notice of recent incidents of harassment and intimidation of journalists and scheduled a hearing on the matter in the Supreme Court on Monday. “This application is converted into a petition and the same will be fixed in court on Monday” said the acting CJP while taking suo motu notice on an application by the Press Association of the Supreme Court. A PAS delegation filed the application in the chamber of the acting CJP on Thursday and he instantly ordered that the application be considered a formal petition. The application states the journalists’ community in Pakistan is facing insecurity as many cases of harassment and intimidation have been reported recently in the backdrop of the present judicial crisis. The application refers to recent threatening messages, including phone calls and envelopes containing live bullets, received by journalists.
(Post-1) (Khabrian-1)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg1_5
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/top7.htm
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=58585
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Media Miscellaneous
Media overstepping limits: Durrani |
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The government on Thursday warned the media against highlighting what it said military-specific ‘derogatory’ statements by the politicians and lawyers during their comments on the presidential reference filed against Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Speaking at a press conference here, information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said that those ‘violating’ the code of conduct formulated by the Supreme Court would be punished under PEMRA Ordinance 2002 and the Constitution. “No new rules are being formulated to restrain the media, especially the electronic channels, from glorifying the ‘nonsensical’ statements of the CJP’s lawyers and leaders of political parities and those found guilty would be punished under the rules enshrined in the PEMRA Ordinance 2002,” warned Mohammad Ali Durrani. To a question, he said the private channels should have taken permission from PEMRA before airing some live talk shows and current affairs programmes. The minister asked the media to strictly follow the PEMRA rules while airing programmes particularly those concerning the army, the judiciary and other state institutions. He criticized the media for their ‘irresponsible behavior’ in the ongoing judiciary crisis. Admitting that freedom of press was the backbone of a democratic society, he lamented that some media organizations were taking undue advantage of the freedom. Durrani credited the government with giving an unprecedented freedom to the media. Pointing to the role of the media during the ongoing judicial crisis, he said they should have shown more responsibility by not using ‘unethical’ words as the matter was sub judice.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg7_16
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8235
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Govt opposes adjournment motion in BA |
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An adjournment motion submitted by opposition members in the Balochistan Assembly on threats received by three Karachi-based journalists was not admitted on Thursday owing to strong opposition by ministers of the PML and the MMA and the treasury bench’s stand that the matter related to Sindh. Presiding over the session, Deputy Speaker Muhammad Aslam Bhootani said: “It is for the house to decide and discuss the content of the motion and for expressing solidarity with media personnel. We should not confine the matter to a particular area because national newspapers have been highlighting the issues of Balochistan.” Opposition members Kachkol Ali Baloch, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Dr Shama Ishaq, Rehmat Baloch, Shafique Ahmed Khan and Sardar Azam Musakhel criticised a Karachi-based organisation and said that democratic forces should back media and judiciary which were playing an important role in protecting the rights of the people. They urged the treasury members to cooperate in admitting the motion in order to give a clear message to the people that the Balochistan Assembly was behind the journalist community. They demanded that the motion should be turned into a resolution supporting freedom of the press.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/nat15.htm |
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CJ rallies live coverage banned |
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The television channels have been directed by Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) that there will be no coverage of the chief justice trial related activities including coverage of rallies, holding talk shows and commentaries, said reliable source. Express reports that government is considering new policy for live transmission for private channels.
(News-1) (Express-1) (Jang-8)
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Anwer refutes any change in Pemra rules |
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Federal Information Secretary Syed Anwer Mehmood has said that government was neither introducing any change in Pemra rules nor planning to impose any ban on electronic media. Transfer of Pemra control will increase efficiency of the Pemra. It will improve coordination with media. He ruled out any change in Pemra rules or any bar on electronic media. He was talking to Khabrain.
(Khabrian-8)
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Seminar’s live coverage was the last straw |
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The live coverage of Saturday's hard-hitting seminar of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) by leading satellite TV channels has proven to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. The official decision is the "strict implementation of the Pakistan Electronic Media Electronic Authority (Pemra) rules" about live transmissions, which means denial of permission for up-linking facility in future for coverage of all activities that will be detrimental to the government. An immediate consequence is that moment-to-moment coverage of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's scheduled travel in a cavalcade from Islamabad to Abbottabad on Saturday (June 2) to address the bar is going to be unlikely. More is apparently in store especially for private channels, and the government, in the words of an official, will not hesitate to decisively move against any one of them if it finds that remarks made in any of its talk shows are violative of the Supreme Court orders or deride the armed forces. Before the government's patience finally ran out, there had been a strong build-up in influential circles, including the presidential camp, that some TV channels were going too far in blowing up the judicial mess that the government has itself created by filing a reference against Justice Chaudhry. A senior official went to the extent of saying that no enemy of Pakistan, including its neighbour, needs to do anything to destabilise the homeland because certain elements in the country are precisely doing what its foes always wanted to do.The government's anger against TV channels continued to mount as the electronic media cosntantly provided live coverage to Justice Chaudhry's arrivals and departures at the apex court building to attend the hearings of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the activities of the surging crowds that had been gathering outside the premises to welcome the top judge.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8239 |
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Ban on live coverage an attempt to control media |
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PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal has condemned any attempt to ban live coverage by private channels. He termed the attempt a government desire to control media. Government can’t face truth, and now conspiring different tactics to curb freedom of expression.
(Nawa-i-Waqt-8)
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Govt lawyer skips press club program |
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Justice ® Malik Abdul Qayyum counsel for the federation in Supreme Court in chief justice case, did not turn up in meet the press program of Rawalpindi Islamabad press club. A large number of media persons kept waiting for senior lawyer who did not even inform the press club office bearers about unavailability.
(Dawn-19)
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Aik dhakka aur, one push more |
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Dawn columnist Ayaz Ammir comments, “The media has produced its own heroes –– reporters and anchorpersons, who have brought not only the drama and excitement of this struggle into living rooms across the country, but also its meaning and significance. This is the first tele-movement in the country’s history, its impact such that entertainment programmes have had to yield place to judicial and political news. When the CJ goes to address a bar association, the nation, glued to its TV sets, travels with him.”
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http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/ayaz.htm |
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APNS mourns Mirza’s death |
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Hameed Haroon, President and Mohammad Aslam Kazi, Secretary General, All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) on behalf of the office bearers and members of the executive committee have expressed their profound grief over the sad demise of Tahir Mirza, the former editor of Daily Dawn. They observed that in him, the newspapers industry lost a veteran journalist, editor and a profound columnist. He was a decent person and a man of high calibre who served the print media for many decades. The APNS office bearers have stated that the demise of Mirza was loss for the profession which was deprived of a talented and disciplined editor and columnist. The APNS office bearers prayed Almighty Allah for eternal peace to the departed soul and patience and courage for the bereaved colleagues and family to bear the great loss.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=58570 |
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Tribute paid to Tahir Mirza |
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In the death of Tahir Mirza, not only the journalist fraternity but society as well has lost a torch-bearer of decency, human values and a cultured human being who will always be missed by colleagues, particularly in their hours of trial and tribulation. Paying homage to their former colleague, speakers at a condolence meeting of the KUJ’s Dawn Unit, held here in the paper’s newsroom on Thursday, recalled their association with the man who left the organisation when he was at the peak of his career and showed no sign of a fatal disease. Zubeida Mustafa said Tahir Mirza had great qualities as a human being and as a journalist. His pleasant personality, courtesy and thoughtfulness made him an easy person to work with. He excelled as a leader-writer and commentator who took his work seriously. His understanding of politics showed a deep insight and intellect, she said.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/nat12.htm |
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Music
Music to the (deaf) ears |
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Music is played on volumes so high in public areas like there is no tomorrow. Playing loud music in public areas is a legal offence and yet, related authorities do not take any action. Music is played loudly in public transport vehicles, markets areas, restaurants and shrines. Daily times conducted a survey in which people opined about loud music played in public areas. Some women said their babies got irritated when music was played loudly in buses. People were generally of the view that it affected their hearing. Here is what a few people had to say.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg13_11 |
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Advertisement
Tobacco ads on television banned, Billboards at shops to be smaller |
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The government has imposed an almost complete ban on all types of tobacco advertisements in the electronic media, said Federal Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan here on Thursday. “Tobacco advertisements in electronic media will be allowed only between 3am to 4am, while earlier this permission was from midnight to 6am,” Khan told a press conference in connection with ‘No Tobacco Day’. Khan said that under the ‘Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Smokers’ Health Ordinance 2002’, all types of tobacco advertisements in electronic media would be banned. “We are also going to restrict tobacco ads in the press and at the shops,” said Khan. He added that the tobacco industry would have remove all billboards from shops by the end of the 2007 and from May 31, 2007, the size of new boards for tobacco ads would not be more than one square foot. He said that the Ministry of Health would expand its advocacy meetings with district nazims to fully implement the ban on smoking in district assemblies, offices, schools and public transport. He also appealed to people not to smoke at public places and said that the government was trying its best to implement the ordinance banning smoking in public.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/01/nat4.htm |
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Walk participants demand ban on smoking ads in media |
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The participants of a walk, organized by Al-Mustafa Welfare Society, demanded a ban on tobacco advertisements in print and electronic media. The students and teachers of various schools, and social workers participated in the walk from Nagan Chowrangi to Board Office, to mark the World No Tobacco Day on Thursday. In Chakiwara, Lyari, a demonstration was organised by the Sahar Foundation. A member of the Sahar Foundation, Rafique Shah, blamed the police for supplying drugs to addicts. He also said that a ban on smoking in parks exists, but the police extorted money from the violators instead of enforcing the law strictly.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg12_9 |
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Books
Book launch at Islamabad Club disallowed |
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Dr Ayesha Siddiqa launched her book “Military Inc Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy” on Thursday after she said she was forced to change the venue at the last minute due to government pressure. The book was initially scheduled to be launched at Islamabad Club, but the venue was changed after the club refused to allow the function at the last movement, the author said. Dr Siddiqa said the government had asked all hotels not to allow the book-launch. “When asked for a function to launch the book, the hotel managers replied that their halls were only for marriage functions,” she told the launch ceremony at an NGO’s office.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\01\story_1-6-2007_pg1_8 |
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Copy Rights
HEC in process of acquiring software to curb plagiarism |
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Higher Education Commission is in process of acquiring quality software to automatically compare the materials against international literature and quickly reviewed copied thesis. This is part of commission’s plan to establish plagiarism detection cell in order to monitor all PhD thesis and research publications.
(News-19)
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DISCLAIMER: The contents, including news and headlines, in this newsletter are reproduced from their respective publications ad verbatim as a public service to media observers. Internews does not author the contents and these, therefore, do not necessarily reflect organizational policy.
Updated at 11:00 PST (06:00 GMT) |
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