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RESOURCE CENTER - MEDIA MONITOR |
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Thursday July 12, 2007
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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Attack on Media
Intimidation
Pemra issues notice to FM99 for airing prohibited content |
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The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has issued a show-cause notice to a popular radio channel of twin cities FM99, accusing it of airing prohibited content and promoting anti-state attitude during the Lal Masjid operation days of July 6 and 7. FM99 authorities have decided to defend their position, while the regulator has claimed that the radio channel was broadcasting against a prescribed code of conduct.
According to a show-cause notice, served to the chief executive officer of The Communicators (Pvt) Ltd (FM99), Wasim Ahmed, Pemra has asked the company to immediately stop violation of a prescribed code of conduct and reply before July 21 to the authorities concerned. Pemra has claimed that the channel was breaking clause 1(f) of the Code of Conduct for media broadcasters, which says, "No programme shall be aired which is likely to encourage and incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order of which promotes anti-state attitudes." Show-cause notice further says that the subject violations were pointed out to you telephonically by the Pemra authorities with instructions to stop such violations immediately. However, the violations remain continued unabated. While talking to The Post, Najeeb Ahmed of FM 99 was of the view that show-cause notice was based upon their marathon transmission about Lal Masjid standoff on July 6 and 7.
"Our broadcast was not different and distinguished from the electronic media airing content about the issue, while according to the clause 6.2 of the Pemra laws we are allowed to air local news of the coverage area," Najeeb said. |
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=106905&catid=17 |
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Media in Court
SHC extends stay granted to TV channel |
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The Sindh High Court extended on Wednesday the stay granted in favour of a television channel against adverse action by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority until July 16. Federal government standing counsel Sofia Saeed and Advocate Kashif Hanif appeared for the information ministry and Pemra and sought time for filing comments on behalf of the respondents. A division bench comprising Justices Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Khilji Arif Hussain adjourned the hearing to July 16, when other petitions involving the authority and its amended legal framework would come up for hearing, and extended its interim protective order till that date. The channel, Royal TV, submitted through Advocate Rasheed A. Razvi that it had been on air for long after the completion of its test transmissions. The permission granted to it by Pemra should be deemed to have been confirmed after the satisfactory completion of test transmissions. However, Pemra neither terminated nor extended its permission till June 27 when the channel was issued a show cause notice for termination of its ‘landing rights’. The real reason for the threatened cancellation of its licence was spot coverage of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s visit to Multan, the petitioner alleged.
Dawn,
The News
(Daily Times-A3)
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Media Miscellaneous
BBC Urdu |
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/07/070710_lahore_lalmosque_rs.shtml |
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BBC Urdu |
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/07/070711_gazi_memoir_sen.shtml |
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Lal Mosque: Media visit put off |
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A promised media trip to the site was put off for a day, fuelling speculation that the government was buying time to remove some telltale signs. The authorities’ refusal to allow the media to visit the curfew-bound Lal Masjid area, which has been cordoned off by troops, raised fears a number of women and children might have been killed along with militants. Gen Waheed Arshad said at the briefing that the media team had not been taken to the scene because the second phase of the operation had started clearing the area of the final hardcore of militants putting up a fight to the death.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/07/12/top1.htm |
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Media to be taken inside today |
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Promised tour of the compound for the media was delayed from Wednesday to Thursday, and restrictions on journalists visiting hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained in place.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\12\story_12-7-2007_pg1_1 |
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Media education |
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Prof Robert Jensen, USA, would deliver a lecture on “Media, education and state in contemporary: some critical reflections” at Fasial mosque auditorium of international Islamic University Islamabad at 11 am. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\12\story_12-7-2007_pg1_1 |
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A global corporate hegemony | Media and the War on Terror by Mobeen Ahmed Chughtai |
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“Taking the US as a case study we find that there were 1,500 daily newspapers, 11,000 magazines, 9,000 radio and 1,500 TV stations, 2,400 book publishers, and seven movie studios present in 1986, which accounted for nearly 25,000 media entities. A majority of these were small scale entities dependent on 50 large corporations for resources and broadcasting services. Over the years this number of large corporations has dwindled to what Ben Bagdikian, in his book The Media Monopoly, refers to as “The Big Five”.
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=106887&catid=11 |
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Theater
Indo-Pak theatre festival scheduled |
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Pattan Development Organization’s cultural desk Pattan Lok Nattak (PLN) would hold an Indo-Pak theatre festival from July 13 to July 18 at the Alhamra Cultural Complex, said PLN coordinator William Pervaiz in a press conference on Wednesday. William said that six theatre groups, including one from Chennai and one from New Delhi, comprising 20 performers, would perform in the festival. He said these Indian groups were not renowned because they had been performing in street.
Daily Times,
The Post
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Advertising
Billboards still a threat to lives |
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Bill boards are still seen in various parts of the city and threatening people’s lives as no action has been taken by authorities concerned to remove them.
(Nation-15)
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We’ve been stripped, complain billboard advertisers |
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As expected, billboard advertisers have complained that their business has been severely set back by the city government’s decision to remove the iron and panaflex sheets from the structures after the deaths they caused during the monsoon storms. Advertisers have not been happy. “Due to the city government’s decision to remove the skin sheets, the entire industry has collapsed,” said advertiser Syed Owais Naqvi. He claimed that more than 200 advertisers in the city were involved in this part of the business. He complained that people had also been stealing the iron and panaflex sheets that were left over after the advertisers and the city government removed others. “Besides the panaflex material, around six heavy 25KVA generators worth Rs 5 million installed at different major thoroughfares, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, University Road, Rashid Minhas Road, were stolen,” he said. Now companies are avoiding billboards. “Almost every advertiser in the city has been deprived of millions of rupees as the new contracts to be signed this month have not been fulfilled,” Naqvi added.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C11%5Cstory_11-7-2007_pg12_3 |
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Internet
Internet bandwidth to varsities raised |
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The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has decided to enhance the Internet bandwidth to universities by 4-fold without any extra charges. This will enable high-speed Internet access to the universities for the video conferencing facilities in particular and for other applications in general. This facility is being provided to all public sector universities who have optical fiber access or digital radio systems at their last mile. For private sector institutions, the bandwidth will be doubled without any extra charge. This huge increase in bandwidth by the Higher Education Commission has been made possible through a very positive and education friendly approach by Pakistan Tele Communication Limited senior management, which has given special discounts for educational institutions. The new increased bandwidth will become available in July-August 2007 time frame and will greatly assist students and faculty members in fast access to the latest information over the Internet. |
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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/july-2007/12/nationalnews6.php |
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Telecommunication
30pc population yet to get cellular coverage |
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Despite huge investment in telecom sector, about 30 per cent of the population in the country is still not being provided coverage by the cellular companies, it is learnt. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which regulates the affairs of the telecom sector, the total coverage of the cellular companies is 79 per cent in Punjab, 75 per cent in Sindh, 63 per cent in the NWFP and 34 per cent in Balochistan. Though the operators claim having extensively invested in erecting their cell sites in the country they are not sure when they will be able to cover the entire country. In 2006, the PTA said the cell phone companies covered more sites as compared to the year 2005. Interestingly, a cellular company these days has been giving an impression through advertisements in the media that it has nation-wide coverage. It is considered a business gimmick to attract maximum subscribers and the PTA is supposed to draw a line as what should a company project through advertisements. Usually cell phone subscribers are more concerned with the area coverage of a company. “Though I am concerned with the quality of service my cell company is offering but area coverage matters to me more,” says a subscriber, Muhammad Yaqoob, a businessman by profession. He says he carries different SIMs while travelling to different parts of the country as some areas are covered by one and some by others. Another subscriber Abid Latif says he recently has switched over to another company considering that it has nation-wide coverage but to his disappointment it was not the case. He also complains that cellular phone service remains disrupted on weekends, holidays and occasions like Eid holidays and Basant. “Both coverage and quality of service are important while purchasing a SIM,” he adds. |
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/07/12/nat42.htm |
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Mobile operators battle for top slot |
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The battle of the widest coverage low tariffs and quality services among mobile phone operators is getting heated up day-by-day, which is likely to benefit customers. But still there is a long way to go as 40 percent of the country’s population has yet to be covered. All five mobile operators-Warid Telecom, Ufone, Telenor, Mobilink and Paktel-in Pakistan are in a battle of snatching the number one slot due to the intense competition in the mobile industry of Pakistan. China, the world’s biggest cellular company, is also in the contest now. To win this competition the battle of widest coverage low tariffs and quality services among mobile phone operators is heating up because all of them are eager to cover maximum cities and towns in minimum time span possible. Nowadays cellular companies are spending huge amounts for new advertisement campaigns by introducing different packages for their customers. |
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\12\story_12-7-2007_pg5_12 |
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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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