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RESOURCE CENTER - MEDIA MONITOR |
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Monday September 03, 2007
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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Media Miscellaneous
Letter to Editor “Media aid required” |
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Mohammedi Ibrahim, “That there is no accountability in our country is a known fact. Since the media have played an effective role in the recent past, this platform seems to be the only available option through which accountability of authorities like the DHA can be ensured. However, the media have not taken up the issue yet. It should definitely investigate the affairs of this authority, which has collected massive funds from its residents but fails to show any positive results/improvements. This letter is a call for help; is the media willing to respond?” |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\03\story_3-9-2007_pg3_7 |
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Print Media
PU publish journal of political sciences |
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Punjab University’s political science department has published “journal of political studies” previously titled ‘Al-Siyasa’ said PU spokesman here on Sunday.
(Post-A3)
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PU publishes journal on Kashmir |
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Punjab University’s Kashmiryat department published its bi-annually journal ‘singer mall’ and faculty of sciences also published its research journal “journal of scientific research’ here on Saturday.
(Nation-9)
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Television
Acculturation unavoidable with growth in TV channels |
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Clerics express reservation over policy of openness | Businessmen pleased with high flow of info. Scores of private television channels being beamed by satellite have started influencing Pakistani culture, reveals a study. Due to the government's open-media policy, there has been an explosion of private TV channels over the last seven years. Now, there are more than 50 private TV channels, some of them in local languages, airing programmes on current affairs, news, business and entertainment. The Post talked to a number of people to elicit their views about TV channels. Although the majority of them were pleased with the flow of information that had been helping them tremendously in many ways, a few were highly critical of foreign channels, especially Indian channels, for trying to distort cultural values. |
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/CityNewsT.aspx?dtlid=115975&catid=3 |
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Letter to Editor “ads on TV channels” |
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Hamid Maker, “One is amazed as to how TV channels, especially the leading ones, have abandoned a code of conduct and the interests of their viewers by interrupting programmes, even during the speeches of the president and the prime minister, and bombarding them with second rate advertisements, time checks, etc. Everywhere in the world, there is a regulating body which issues guidelines and a code of conduct for the electronic media, relating to the contents of an advertisement and ensure that it is not unethical, immoral or misleading and the gap between each advertisement, etc. At the same time, socially responsible companies and advertising agencies also have their own set of rules and a code of conduct to ensure that interests of the citizens, especially children, are protected. That is why in most countries advertisements of cigarettes and alcohol have either been banned or restricted to certain times, to discourage and protect the young from these social evils. In Pakistan, it is PEMRA which is supposed to regulate the activities of the electronic media. At the same time, the advertisers also have their own associations which are suppose to regulate the activities of their members. But as is always the case in Pakistan, though the laws, rules, guidelines, etc., exist, like the traffic laws, they are not observed and flouted with impunity. And, as usual, the reason is lack of enforcement and accountability, which like a cancer, more deadly than corruption, has spread throughout the institutions in Pakistan and has gradually destroyed them. What is even more surprising and embarrassing is that the offices of the president and the PM have been diminished and their pictures and speeches are being used to promote shopping malls and other commercial activities. This just shows our mindset and how commercialised our society has become. And what is even more surprising is that the offices of the president and the PM have allowed this gross misuse of their offices. |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/03/letted.htm#2 |
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‘Mr Bean’ dubbed into Pashto a big hit in Pakhtun areas |
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A dubbed version of a popular English comedy serial has been gaining popularity among the fun-starved viewers in Pakhtun areas. The mostly silent and bumbling “Mr Bean” (played by Rowan Atkinson), one of Britain’s most successful comic characters from a serial of the 1990s, has recently become popular in the province and neighbouring Afghanistan due to the dubbing of its episodes into Pashto. The episodes are available on Compact Discs. Zahirullah from Bughdada in Mardan district has been dubbing episodes from the serial and chunks from “Shrek” films in Pashto. He has dubbed 15 CDs since 2002. The public ratings of “Khrash Prash Durha Dabao” and the recently-released album “Ma Mah Shmera Dar Gadyam” are high as both are comical. “I have sold more than 100,000 copies,” Zahirullah told Dawn. |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/03/local8.htm |
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Fateh Khan passes away |
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Radio presenter and PTV anchor Syed Saleh Mohammad Shah, known to his rural audience as Fateh Khan for his popular programme “Fateh Khan ji Katchery”, died here late on Saturday night due to cardiac arrest. He was 70. He remained associated with PTV for around three decades and his TV programme Autaq was also popular among people of rural areas.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/03/local5.htm |
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Movies
Cinema owner accused of ‘uncensored’ songs |
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The Qila Gujjar Singh police registered a case against a cinema owner, its manager and a film producer on a charge of showing ‘uncensored’ songs of a film on Sunday. Details said magistrate Farooq Zaman raided at the Prince Cinema and found that the administration was running two ‘uncensored’ songs of the film ‘Achoo Lahoria’. The magistrate complained to the police who had registered a case against the cinema owner, Safdar Khan, its manager, Malik Aashiq and film producer Chaudhry Yaqoob. However, police had not arrested anyone till the filing of this report (11:42pm). staff report |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\03\story_3-9-2007_pg7_22 |
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Music
Militants ask CD market watchman to quit job |
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The local militants have warned watchman of local CD market to quit the job otherwise he will have to face the music.
(News-3)
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Advertising
PHA lowers billboard size limit |
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Hoardings near monuments will be removed ‘in few days’
The Parks and Horticulture Authority has lowered the maximum allowed size of billboards installed on roofs from 90 feet by 30 feet to 60 feet by 20 feet, officials told Daily Times. No boards above or below the prescribed size range (the minimum allowed size being 10 feet by 20 feet) would be allowed, they said, and publicity boards would not be allowed near heritage sites and on the Lahore Branch Canal. The rules are part of PHA’s new “Publicity Boards Policy” in effect since April 2007. PHA director general Raja Abbas said that the ongoing lease contracts would not be terminated right away, as billboard holders had been given a “grace period” of up to June 30, 2008 to allow them to honour their commitments to their clients. The PHA had sped up its operation against illegal billboards near heritage sites, he said. “A few of them have been removed while the rest will be removed in a few days,” he told Daily Times. “Companies allowed to install boards along Circular Road are already removing them,” he added. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\03\story_3-9-2007_pg13_1 |
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Books
Ghaddar Kon published in Hindi |
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Journalist Suhail Warraich’s book on Nawaz Sharif “Ghaddar Kon” has been published in the Hindi language and will be launched in New Delhi on Sunday (today). The book launching ceremony will be presided over by BJP Leader and former CM Murli Manohar Joshi while Indian politicians and journalists will speaks on the occasion. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s message will also be read on the occasion. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\03\story_3-9-2007_pg7_36 |
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Internet
Internet cafe raided, over dozen booked |
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Police booked more than a dozen people on charges of watching obscene movies following a raid on an internet cafe here on Sunday, officials said. Police have launched a crackdown on internet cafes as part of a campaign to eradicate vulgarity and obscenity from the area. During the anti-obscenity drive a police party raided an internet cafe and arrested over a dozen people. The arrested people have been charged under section 292 of the PPC and section 18 of the Motion Picture Act for allegedly watching obscene movies. The internet users are confronted with problems as the main three Internet cafes of the town are closed and owners of two of these cafes along with more than one dozen net users are in jail. The owners of the internet cafes have demanded of the local and higher authorities concerned to take notice of the matter and stop police from harassing the business community and net users by conducting raids on cafes. |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/03/local36.htm |
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Telecommunication
Obnoxious calls, SMS ruining peace of families |
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Report by Khalid Iqbal, “Obnoxious phone calls have been creating fatal misunderstanding among families especially if the receiver of the call is younger female sibling. Not only such calls but rising ratios of vulgar messages from different mobile numbers are major reason for strained relations between family members.”
(News-19)
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Letter to Editor “Spam SMS” |
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Tehmina Afridi “This is with reference to a recent announcement by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that anyone found guilty of sending obnoxious SMSs will be dealt with strictly. The telephone service providers have claimed that the regulator has told them if this is not checked then the facility of SMS may itself be under threat. SMS is a very useful facility for the average phone user, not least because it much cheaper than making a phone call. By stopping it, the government will be punishing millions of mobile phone users for no fault of their own. The service providers are making huge profits on account of the growing telecommunication industry so all the more reason that they should come up with some sensible and realistic plan for dealing with the spam SMS messages.”
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=70758 |
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Gross irregularities in sale of PTCL shares, Minister claims total transparency |
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The sale of 26 per cent shares of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has turned out to be the most ambiguous financial deal ever carried out in the national history. After a painstaking effort, The News got hold of highly significant documents relating to the deal. A thorough study of the documents that include a ‘Summary for the Cabinet Committee on Privatization of PTCL’ and the agreed ‘Agreement of PTCL’s Sale’ reveals a shocking truth apropos the sale. It is wondered why the agreement pertaining to the conclusion and decisions was not made public. The process of the PTCL’s privatisation was initiated in November 2004, when the Privatisation Commission invited expressions of interest (EoIs) through advertisements in local and international newspapers. Early in January 2005, 18 companies registered their EoIs, of which three qualified for the final bidding, which was held on June 18, 2006. A consortium of Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat) and Dubai Islamic Bank, Etisalat International Pakistan (EIP) gave the highest bid of $1.96 per share, equivalent to Rs 117.01 per share, which translates into $2,598,960,000 ($2.599 billion). The Cabinet Committee on Privatization declared EIP with a bid of $1.96 per share as successful bidder. The price offered by China Mobile was $1.409 billion and SingTel $1.167 billion. Thereafter, the first installment of 10 per cent of the bid price was paid and the SPA (Share Purchase Agreement) was signed on June 30, 2006. The SPA lapsed and legally terminated in September 2005, as EIP could not pay the balance amount within the prescribed period. |
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=70734 |
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Obituary
Columnist dies |
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Rasheed Patel, a known columnist of an Urdu daily newspaper, who died early on Saturday, was laid to rest of Sunday. He was 67. Patel was being treated at NMI Hospital and then the Aga Khan University Hospital. Family brought him home when he started recovering. But, finally he lost the battle early Saturday. His namaz-e-janaza was offered at Sabeel Wali Masjid in Soldier Bazaar and he was buried at Mewa Shah Graveyard. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\03\story_3-9-2007_pg7_16 |
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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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