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RESOURCE CENTER - MEDIA MONITOR |
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Friday June 29, 2007
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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Attack on Media
Ban
PEMRA bans Royal TV transmission |
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The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority on Thursday banned the transmission of Royal TV. Royal TV CEO Zahoor Ahmed Wattoo told a private TV channel that PEMRA had served a notice on Royal TV owners, terming the channel transmission illegal. He said PEMRA also said that no licence had been issued to the channel. He said his TV channel had been made to pay the price for speaking the truth. He said the ban would be challenged in the high court. “We have fulfilled all formalities to start the transmission and also have deposited landing rights fees,” Wattoo said. A PEMRA spokesman denied that Royal TV had been banned. No transmission of any TV channel has been banned, he said, adding that Royal TV had requested PEMRA for its up linking. He said the request was rejected due to incomplete papers submitted by the channel.
(Express-1)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/MainNewsT.aspx?bdtl_id=6301&fb_id=2&catid=14 |
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Media Protest
PFUJ warns against control of media in name of ethics |
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Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Thursday warned against any censorship on the media in the name of ‘code of ethics’, which the government is trying to enforce prior to the presidential and general elections. The PFUJ in a statement said in the last two or three weeks the government used all kind of tactic to gag the press, particularly the private TV channels with a clear intention to maintain pressure in order to check the criticism on president, prime minister and other institutions involved in politics.
The apex body of the journalists also regretted the way Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) submitted its ‘code of ethics’ in haste without taking other stakeholders and civil society into confidence.
It believed that the recent meetings of the media owners with the president, prime minister and federal information minister for several hours in this regard were nothing but an attempt to impose censorship on free flow of information. The PFUJ hoped that the Pakistan Broadcasters Association would withdraw its code of ethics, submitted to the government and will not submit name to the government for any further negotiations without taking all the stakeholders into confidence. |
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8734 |
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Media Miscellaneous
‘No press advice, censorship’ |
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There is neither any “press advice”, nor censorship in Pakistan and our media is free to comment, criticise and review the government’s performance, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani while addressing a workshop titled ‘Media as the Element of National Power’ at the National Defense University here on Thursday. He said the government not only acknowledged but also encouraged constructive and positive criticism by the media. “We believe that objective criticism helps the government in evaluating its performance and taking corrective measures,” he said. Terming the 1959 take over of Progressive Papers Limited by the then government as the first major attack on media, the minister said that leaders in the past did not miss any opportunity to gag the press. “Whether it be the Press and Publications Ordinance of 1960, the nationalisation of newspapers in ZA Bhutto’s era, or the martial law orders of Zia’s regime, all were meant to suppress and control the freedom of expression,” he said, adding that even the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif – which came to power through vote - frequently resorted to twisting the arm of the media on flimsy reasons. “But the present government under the visionary leadership of President Pervez Musharraf has taken key initiatives for opening up media in the country,” he added.
(News-9) (Express-1)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\29\story_29-6-2007_pg7_11
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/29/nationalnews6.php
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PPP slams ban on Royal TV |
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The Pakistan People’s Party has flayed the government for blocking the transmissions of Royal TV channel. In a statement issued on Thursday, PPP Secretary Information Sherry Rehman, said that the government was trying to intimidate media since March 9 judicial crisis. Condemning the latest clampdown on the channel, she described it as ‘another instance of a panicky regime working overtime to control self-inflicted damage.’
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\29\story_29-6-2007_pg7_44 |
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Bar associations condemn ban on Royal TV |
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Bar Associations of Pakistan including Supreme Court Bar Association, Pakistan Bar Council, Sindh and Azad /Jammu Kashmir Councils Thursday strongly condemned the ban on Royal TV channel and demanded immediate renunciation of the decision.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/29/index16.php
http://www.thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=104780&catid=17
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‘Reference against CJP has changed judiciary, media’ |
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TV personality Talat Hussain said on Thursday that after March 9 the course of the judiciary and media had changed. He told the Lahore High Court Bar Association that before the presidential reference against the chief justice, the expectations of TV viewers were different, but now they wanted to know more about the truth behind the judicial crises. He said the issue had forced TV channels to sacrifice their airtime for the news. He defended the position of private TV channels when told that TV was not airing the rallies taken out by lawyers. “A professional journalist is not concerned by a specific agenda or ideology. If he or she is, they will lose objectivity, which was against professional,” he added. He said that on May 12, when people were killed in Karachi, and the media covered the events, the government got alarmed and forced TV channels to decrease coverage of the chief justice.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\29\story_29-6-2007_pg13_4 |
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Journalists visit Air Headquarters |
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The participants of the National Media Workshop, being conducted at the National Defence University, Islamabad, visited the Air Headquarters here Thursday. Air Commodore Aslam Pervaiz, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) briefed the participants on "Pakistan Air Force; Challenges and Response." The delegation includes journalists from electronic and print media. President of National Defence University Lt Gen Raza Muhammad Khan and the faculty members were also present on the occasion. The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) hosted the visit. The members of the workshop took keen interest in the briefing. Later, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, answered the questions posed by the participants.
(Nation-15)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=104783&catid=17 |
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Letter to Editor Freedom of Media |
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Luqman Rehman, “ERE is much talk about the new regulations by Pemra regarding the freedom of the media. In all honesty, the freedom — or rather the misuse of the freedom — that the media (electronic in most cases) enjoys sets no examples. I don't think any media anywhere in the world can gain from showing live pictures of dying people on the streets. You don't even see that in Baghdad, or in the most troubled places elsewhere in the Middle East. The role of the media is to air news and not create biased opinions as is happening in Pakistan. I think there needs to be a check. As for the regulations, these too must not be about blocking content, and proper freedom of the media to air content must be defined and upheld.”
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/29/letted.htm#8 |
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The Express column |
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Columnist Abdul Qadir Hassan comments, “Now every journalist from Lahore can own house, Journalists colony is big facilitation for media community.”
(Express-Column)
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Spinning truth, brokering lies by Sherry Rehman |
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“The conceit maintained by government interlocutors that increasing the space for media to grow represents a quantum leap in the quality of media output experienced in general, is both spurious and misleading.”
(Friday Times-4)
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New rules for new realities by Mushahid Hussain |
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“Owing to number of factors the nexus between media moguls and the establishment has loosened. President Musharraf has allowed a more open and relaxed society to flourish and he is presiding over a reinvented establishment worldview.”
(Friday Times-4)
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Why blame the media? By Shafqat Mahmood |
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“People have become so used to seeing live events and national issues debated on TV that any attempt to curtail has and will backfire. We are finally on the threshold of discovering our true potential as a nation.
(Friday Times-5)
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No absolute media freedom: Tariq Azeem |
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Friday Times interviews State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem, “there is no such thing as absolute or total media freedom. Nowhere in the world does media have absolute freedom.”
(Friday Times-8)
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Television
Samsung introduces 70 inches LCD TV |
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Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd has introduced the largest (70 inch) commercially available full high-definition LCD TV in Korea. The new TV boasts Samsung's very best image enhancement technologies and employs a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) backlight instead of the conventional Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) version. Moreover, Samsung's unique local dimming technology enables the LED backlight to be turned off in dark image areas, delivering a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000:1 at the same time, power consumption are lowered by as much as fifty percent.
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/CorpNewsT.aspx?dtlid=104700&catid=8 |
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Movies
Indian film referred to Censor Board |
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Indian film ‘Awarapan’ has now been referred to approval of full board of members of Pakistan Film Censor Board for censors. Three members of the Censor Board viewed the film on Wednesday but did not clear it. Now all members of the Board are expected to see it for final decision. Whether it is allowed or disallowed exhibition, it has brought to the fore supporters and opponents of Indian films in a face off situation. The Film Directors Association of Pakistan and many producers are opposing screening of the film while the Film Exhibitors Association of Pakistan is in favour of its exhibition. Sohail Khan, the Pakistani investor of the film who has applied to the Censor Board for allowing its screening in the country, talking to The Nation on Thursday evening the Board would see the film on Friday or Saturday for final decision. “We meet all the legal requirements for its screening in Pakistan and hopefully it will be exhibited from July 6 after censors,” he said. The FDAP in a statement have alleged that Sohail Khan distributed Rs 5 million among the high officials of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Censor Board to get it censored. “The producer of the film is an Indian national Mukesh Bhatt and it is directed by Mohit Suri. This film has nothing to do with Pakistan or our culture rather it is against the interest of Pakistan. The Association has decided to go on strike and march to the Governor House if ‘Awarapan’ or any other Indian film is released in Pakistan,” says a statement issued by the Association. Aslam Dar, Shahid Rana, Younus Malik, Altaf Hussain, Hassan Askari, Syed Noor, Javed Faazal, Shahzad Rafiq, Rashid Dogar, Masood Butt Daud Butt, Imtiaz Qureshi and Saeed Ali Khan have issued the statement. Chairman Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association Jehanzeb Baig and cinema owner Nasir Ismail are of the view that allowing Indian films exhibition is the only hope of survival of film and cinema industry. |
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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/29/localnews6.php |
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Music
Three CD shops blown up |
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Three CD shops were blown up in the Matani locality late on Wednesday night, police said. The shops, located in different markets of the Mattani Bazaar, were completely destroyed in the blasts. Owners of the shops, Akhtar Munir, Hamayun and Iftikhar told the police that they had not received any prior letters or calls for the closure of their businesses. The police have registered a case against unknown culprits. This is the fourth incident of attacks on CD and video shops in the city. Earlier, video and CD shops were attacked on March 18, June 12 and 15.
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/29/nat14.htm |
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Books
CDA library not updated for long |
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Less reading habit prevails in today's society but when someone does not want to give you a chance to read the updated material among those institutions includes the CDA which has not updated its libraries since long. Surprisingly, the CDA's only library has not been updated since long which was established in 1960 at the Iqbal Hall, G-7. The CDA has almost 14,000 employees but none of CDA's officers bother to develop libraries. The library is meant for only professional purposes as it has books related to different subjects like history, literacy, engineering, law and sciences. |
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=104776&catid=17 |
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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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