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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Attack on Media
Assault
Police assault PPP activists, female journalists |
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Iaquat Bagh and its surroundings looked like a battlefield after a street-fight between the PPP workers and police. Police baton-charged and brutally tortured PPP workers and also misbehaved with the media persons. The Punjab police did not spare even female reporters from the local and international media. Saddar Circle ASP Farhan Zahid and Margalla police station SHO Naeem Iqbal were seen abusing the protestors and media personnel. media persons were holding megaphones and shouting to prove their identity but the police turned a deaf ear to them. During the scuffle, the female correspondents burst into tears. |
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_ShortNews.aspx?shortid=4820&catid=2&date=11/10/2007&fcatid=14 |
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The Post Photo |
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Ban
BBC, CNN go off air again |
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International news channels BBC and CNN went off the air in the country again on Friday as opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest ahead of a protest rally. Authorities stopped cable operators from broadcasting international and private Pakistani news channels on the weekend, after President Gen Pervez Musharraf imposed the emergency rule. The only television available to most people in the country since then has been the state television. Newspapers have been publishing as normal. BBC and CNN reappeared on cable channels late on Thursday, when they were reporting Gen Musharraf had promised to hold elections by mid-February. But both disappeared again on Friday after reporting that Ms Bhutto was under house arrest and police had sealed off a park in Rawalpindi, where she had been planning a party meeting in defiance of a ban on rallies.
Dawn,
The Post |
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Restriction
Newsmen’s entry into secretariat restricted |
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The Sindh government has imposed a ban on the entry of journalists into the secretariat after office hours and asked all the departments located in the new and old secretariat buildings not to entertain any journalists after the office timings. According to official sources, these instructions have been issued after the imposition of a state of emergency in the country on Nov 3. However, an insider told Dawn that these restrictions had been imposed to avoid any leak of the government strategy which was under review for maintaining law and order. He also said that in the past many journalists taking advantage of their visits to officials were found indulging in misreporting.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/10/local16.htm |
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Media Protest
CPNE gives protest memorandum |
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Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors’ Action Committee headed by CPNE President Syed Fasieh Iqbal handed over a memorandum of protest at the Governor House Sind on Friday. The CPNE delegation included Dr. Jabbar Khattak, Mehmood ul Aziz, Inqilab Matri, Amir Mahmood, Anwer Farooqui, Naseer Hashmi, Owais Aslam Ali and Muzaffar Ejaz. Earlier the CPNE’s Action Committee during a meeting held today strongly condemned the restriction placed on the media following the promulgation of the Emergency in Pakistan.
The meeting of the CPNE Action Committee urged the government at the federal and provincial level that no action be taken against any section of the media and all coercive steps should be withdrawn along with all the amendments in the laws relating to the media in Pakistan. The CPNE Action Committee demonstrating its solidarity for the global observance of protest day against restriction on the media in Pakistan expressed its total support to the demands as made out on November 9 by international media organizations calling for withdrawal of all restrictions on the media along with a very strong plea that media representatives should not be obstructed in the performance of their professional duties. |
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=4 |
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Journalists observe ‘black day’ |
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Journalists observed a ‘black day’ on Friday across Pakistan on the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) to protest curbs on the media and the promulgation of two anti-media ordinances. Journalists set up camps and held meetings, wearing black ribbons and armbands. They also boycotted official functions. Some buildings housing newspaper offices and television channels flew black flags. According to the PFUJ, journalists in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Peshawar, Quetta, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, Bahawalpur, Multan, Gujranwala, Muzaffarabad and a number of other cities observed the day.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/10/nat14.htm |
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Editorial “Media clampdown” |
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“It is important that there is no compromise on editorial integrity for that would sound the death knell for freedom of speech and expression, a vital component of democracy. Both the print and electronic media are aware of their responsibility to provide objective reports and they must be allowed to do their jobs in an impartial and risk-free environment. For this reason alone, the government should withdraw the curbs on the media and restore the broadcast of all channels. It is unjust to deny people the right to information. It is also unfair for cable operators and satellite dish owners who have businesses to run and are being adversely affected by the government’s decisions, for no fault of their own.”
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/10/ed.htm#2 |
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FUJ holds demo |
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Faisalabad Union of Journalists (FUJ) held a protest demonstration here at the press club against the imposition of emergency in the country, ban on private television channels, anti-media ordinance and arrests of civil society representatives in the country.
On the call of PFUJ, local journalists held a demonstration Friday, chanted slogans and staged a sit-in by carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government.
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=127810&catid=2&date=11/10/2007&fcatid=14 |
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Emergency, media curbs condemned |
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An international press freedom organisation on Friday announced that it would support Pakistani journalists who are defying the government’s curbs on the media since the proclamation of an emergency. The Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) said in a press statement, “We support the Pakistani media who is refusing to comply with the censorship imposed by President General Pervez Musharraf on November 3.” “We call on the authorities to stop intimidating the [media] and to rescind two media ordinances that were adopted at the same time as the state of an emergency.” Gen Musharraf has been on the Reporters Sans Frontieres’ list of press freedom predators since 2004. Separately, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Lawyers’ Forum condemned police torture of lawyers and the “illegal” detention of superior judges. Also, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) denounces the emergency rule, and said in a statement that an independent judiciary was important for the country’s stability. The Labour Party Pakistan, in a statement, paid tribute to lawyers’ movement against the regime, and urged labourers to join the lawyers’ movement. The Punjab People’s Students Federation (PSF) paid tribute to Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) students for their efforts against the imposition of an emergency. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg7_2 |
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Journalists protest in Quetta |
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Editors, publishers and journalists on Friday staged a noisy demonstration outside Quetta Press Club condemning the restrictions on print and electronic media. They were shouting slogans against the government, criticising the restrictions placed on press freedom. Most of the journalists were wearing black armbands and some of them carried black flags as a mark of a Black Day against the press curbs. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists made a call to observe the Black Day. Editors and journalists spoke at a meeting held inside the press club vowing to continue their struggle for press freedom.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg7_15 |
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Journalists observe Black Day across country |
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Journalists protest curbs on media
Journalists observed a “black day” on Friday, holding demonstrations across the country to protest the increasing curbs being imposed on the media. They boycotted official functions, set up protest camps, wore black armbands and hoisted black flags at TV channel and newspaper offices and press clubs. The journalists responded to a protest call by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg7_22 |
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Press clubs protest against curbs on media |
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The press clubs of Mardan, Bannu, and Thakht Bhai the other day observed the black day on the call of Federal Union of Journalists (FUJ) to protest against the gagging and blackout of the media. The protest demonstrations were held in which the protestors chanted slogans against the government for curbs on media. They (protestors) hoisted black flags on the buildings of press clubs, and set banners which said "curb on media not- recommended". Journalists also boycotted the government ceremonies' covering.
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=127938&catid=2&date=11/10/2007&fcatid=14 |
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International protest day for Pak media observed |
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CPNE hands over memorandum at Governor's House
The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors’ Action Committee headed by CPNE President Syed Fasieh Iqbal handed over a memorandum of protest at the Governor’s House, Sindh. The CPNE delegation included Dr Jabbar Khattak, Mehmood-ul-Aziz, Inqilab Matri, Amir Mahmood, Anwar Farooqui, Naseer Hashmi, Owais Aslam Ali, Muzaffar Ejaz.
Earlier, the CPNE’s Action Committee during a meeting held today strongly condemned the restriction placed on the media following the promulgation of the Emergency in Pakistan.
The meeting of the CPNE Action Committee urged upon the government at the Federal and Provincial levels that no action should be taken against any section of the media and all positive steps should be withdrawn along with all the amendments in the laws relating to the media in Pakistan. The CPNE Action Committee demonstrating its solidarity for the global observance of protest day against restriction on the media in Pakistan expressed its total support to the demands as made out today November 9, 2007 by the International Global Media Organisations calling for withdrawal of all restrictions on the media along with a very strong plea that media representatives should not be obstructed in the performance of their professional duties. |
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http://nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/nationalnews8.php |
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Journalists protest media curbs |
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Journalists and other media people staged a protest demonstration in front of Islamabad Press Club camp office against the imposition of restrictions on electronic and print media on Friday. A large number of journalists took part in the demonstration. They strongly condemned the recent steps of the government and vowed that restrictions on media, in any form, would not be accepted. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg11_6 |
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Journalists observe black day in Sukkur |
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The journalists of Sukkur observed a black day on Friday in response to the call of the PFUJ to protest against the latest curbs on print and electronic media, the imposition of emergency and the nationwide crackdown on media people, lawyers and human rights activists. A black flag was hoisted on the building of the Sukkur Press Club (SPC), while journalists wore black armbands as mark of protest and continued to boycott official functions for the third day.A meeting was held at the Shamim Shamsi Hall of the SPC where the journalists reaffirmed their determination for carrying out their struggle against the black laws and for protecting human rights and media freedom. The meeting demanded withdrawal of arrest warrant of SUJ President Lala Asad Pathan.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=2 |
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Journalists observe black day countrywide |
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Journalists Friday observed 'black day' throughout the country on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) against the imposition of emergency in the country, ban on private TV channels and new curbs imposed on media. Journalists of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad observed black day on Friday. They (journalists) boycotted all the official functions while black flags were hoisted at the Press Clubs.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_default.asp |
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News ban leaves operators, audience in the dark |
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Cable operators and subscribers have been left in the dark after the ban on news channels imposed by the government since last week. Now cable services subscribers are saying that they plan to stop making payments to cable service providers as they are not receiving their desired channels as contracted to them. “When we started subscription of the channels, we were promised a number of channels, but these have now been denied to us,” said one irate customer. He added that the cut in the number of channels has meant that the contract with the cable operators has been violated and as a protest, “subscribers can and should hold monthly payments to their cable operators.”
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=3 |
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Nation Photo |
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Nawa-i-Waqt Photo
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Media Miscellaneous
Ground breaking of APP Media City today |
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Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani would be the chief guest at the ground breaking ceremony of APP Media City on Saturday (Nov 10).
He would lay the foundation stone of the Media City, at the site adjacent to NUML University in Sector H-9. Unveiling the salient features, Managing Director APP Rai Riaz Hussain said this project is another landmark achievement of the government. He said it is another milestone which fulfills the vision of President Pervez Musharraf in making the national media vibrant, skilled, well-equipped and at par with the modern media trends. “The City is a leap forward towards the professional transformation of the staff of premier news agency of the country and it would help disseminate video news to all the private and public sector television channels,” he said. |
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http://nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/nationalnews3.php |
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TV channels to be allowed if they follow code of conduct |
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Prime Minister Aziz has said It is only the present government which has given so much freedom to media otherwise few years back there used to be only one channel. Now there are 55 TV channels in the country," the prime minister responded to a question.
Shaukat Aziz said the channels, whose transmissions were suspended, did not follow the code of conduct set by PEMRA and resorted to speculations. They (TV channels) will reopened soon after they agree to follow the code of conduct.
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_Ba_ShortNews.aspx?fbshortid=2422&bcatid=14&date=11/10/2007&fcatid=14&bstatus=Archive |
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Media can’t bring democracy, but it can make people bring it’ |
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The media does not have the power to make a non-democratic government evolve into a democratic one; all it can do is facilitate the process through honest reporting, argued Arnold ‘Skip’ Isaacs, an American journalist, who spoke on ‘The role of media in democracy’ to an auditorium full of media science and social science students and teachers in a lecture held Friday at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Karachi.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg7_21 |
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Karachi Press Club bans govt officials from entering premises |
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The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) announced Friday that it would form a broad-based alliance against dictatorship, restrictions on the freedom of expression and the absence of basic human rights and consequently the Karachi Press Club (KPC) would ban ministers from entering its premises and it would reject grants from federal or provincial governments till the Emergency ended.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg12_5 |
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Police ‘search’ for Imran at SKMCH and Geo office |
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Police Friday sealed off a cancer hospital set up by Imran Khan as they sought to track down the PTI leader who escaped arrest under the state of emergency. A police official told AFP that police had cordoned off the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Lahore “to search for Imran Khan”. Khan demanded the reinstatement of fomer chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. “We will continue our struggle,” Khan told private Geo television. Staff at Geo TV said police later came to the channel’s Islamabad bureau to inquire about the interview. “They came and said they were looking for Imran Khan but then they left without searching the office,” reporter Muhammad Tahir said. afp
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\10\story_10-11-2007_pg7_5 |
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Radio
Letter to Editor “Fire at Radio Pakistan” |
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Dr Shireen Khan, ““Asalamalaikum, this is Radio Pakistan….” These words were broadcast at midnight on the 14th of August, 1947 and were so poignant that tears of happiness came to the eyes of those Pakistanis who fought for their new homeland, Pakistan — the Land of the Pure.” |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/10/letted.htm#7 |
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Letter to Editor “Radio station demanded” |
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Muzaffar Chaudhry, Gujranwala, “I want to draw kind attention of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Director General Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation to establish Broadcasting House at Gujranwala. It is a very valid demand of the people of this area.
Gujranwala is a divisional headquarter with a population of over 2.2 million people. It is the fifth largest city of the country and an important centre of cottage and medium-size industry. This division comprises six revenue districts of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Narowal covering a population of 12.5 million. To accelerate socio-economic development of this division, setting up of a broadcasting house at Gujranwala is very important. Unluckily this area has no voice of its own so it is being deprived of its due share in development programmes. It is deplorable on the part of authorities who have established radio stations in some very small towns but continuously ignoring Gujranwala. Authorities are requested to pay heed and immediately establish Radio Pakistan at Gujranwala.” |
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http://nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/letters7.php |
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Music
Govt office burnt, CD shop blown up |
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Some people burnt down the office of the population control department and blew up a CD shop in the early hours of Friday in Gumbat, 38km from here. Officials said some miscreants had broken into the office and burnt furniture, computers, medical equipment and medicines. Officials of the department did not file a complaint with police and launched an internal inquiry about the absence of the watchman at the time of the attack. When contacted, the Gumbat police said they could not register a case till the officials concerned lodged an FIR. Local people said the blast that destroyed the Haroon CD shop in the Saleem market had taken place at about 2am. The bomb had been placed outside the shop. Police registered a case against some unidentified people. More than 100 music centres have been closed in Kohat and the adjoining tribal area of Darra Adam Khel during the last one year for fear of attacks by militants. Police are also being blamed for encouraging miscreants by asking CD shop owners to start alternative businesses. |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/10/nat21.htm |
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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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