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RESOURCE CENTER - MEDIA MONITOR |
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Friday December 29, 2006
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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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New York Times lodges protest over harassment of reporter in Pakistan |
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US Newspaper New York Times administration has protested to Government of Pakistan against torture of its journalist and detention of a photographer by Pakistani security officials in Quetta. CPJ an international body working for protection of journalists have also demanded investigation of the incident. New York Times reporter Carlotta Gall told that on 19th December 06, during stay in a hotel in Quetta with a Pakistani photographer, some persons in plain clothes claiming to be special branch officials, entered her room, and wanted a meeting,which she refused. Soon it was known that her Pakistani photographer was taken into custody and his camera and computer was captured. After some time security officials entered the room of the journalist and tortured her. Her possessions were also captured that includes 3 Note Books, Laptop, Satellite Telephone, 2 mobiles and other documents. She contacted State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem who extended cooperation for settlement. Mr. Tariq Azeem told that lady the journalist committed a mistake by visiting dangerous areas without any information to authorities. Daniel Pearl incident was also result of such carelessness, he added.
(Jang-8) (The News-8)
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Probe sought into harassment of NYT journalists |
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for a full investigation into the detention of New York Times (NYT) photographer Akhtar Soomro and the beating of reporter Carlotta Gall in Pakistan on Dec 19. Gall, who covers Pakistan and Afghanistan for the Times, told the CPJ that men who said they were from the special branch of police detained Soomro, a Pakistani national, in his hotel around 8pm, and seized his computer and camera. Four men later broke into her room in a separate hotel, hit her and took away some of her belongings. Gall said she had bruises on her arms, temple, and cheekbone, swelling on her left eye and a sprained knee. “They were extremely aggressive and abusive. The leader, who spoke English, refused to show any ID,” Gall said. The men accused of her of being in Quetta without permission. They said she had been interviewing Taliban members in Pashtunabad, a section of Quetta.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=37264 |
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Harassment of journalists’ condemned |
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Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned the incident of harassment allegedly by the people of an Intelligence Agency with NY Times correspondence and Pakistani press photographer in Quetta. PFUJ also expressed concern over the report of attack on the van carrying copies of the Urdu daily Jang, which were burnt by unknown armed men.
(The News-9)
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PAPRA bill won’t be promulgated through ordinance |
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Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani on Thursday assured the Senate Committee on Human Rights that the Press and Publication Regulatory Authority bill (PAPRA) would not be promulgated through an ordinance. "No law would be enacted without taking all the stakeholders into confidence and the draft of the PAPRA bill would be presented to the cabinet after obtaining comments from all the relevant quarters," he assured a meeting of the Senate committee, which was held here with Senator S M Zafar in the chair. The meeting was summoned by S M Zafar while taking suo moto notice of reports of the government's plan to introduce the PAPRA bill, and after criticism from the stakeholders. Durrani said the government has benefited from criticism by the media, which has helped bring about more transparency and efficiency in its functioning. He said the government and media were "symbols of authority" and the latter was enjoying unprecedented freedom in the history of the country.
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=37232 |
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No media regulatory body planned: govt |
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Faced with a strong opposition from the media, opposition parties and human rights organizations, the government on Thursday denied working on a proposal to establish an authority that would regulate matters pertaining to press and publication. “We are not considering any such proposal (of setting up the authority),” Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told participants of a meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights here. The committee took up the issue of a reportedly proposed bill through which the government wanted to establish an authority to further control the press and also access to information in the country
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http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/29/top9.htm |
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Durrani agrees PAPRA law is dictatorial |
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Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani has agreed that the non-document official paper ‘brief supposed as a proposed draft of Press and Publication Regulatory Authority (PAPRA) law’ was dictatorial and terrifying and categorically disowned the paper.
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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/dec-2006/29/index5.php |
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Durrani denies any PAPRA text under government consideration |
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Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani denies that any PAPRA text is under government consideration. Democracy and media freedom are interlinked to each other. He said that Media has been given remarkable freedom. He was addressing Senate Standing Committee session on Human Rights. He rejected criticism on proposed PAPRA bill and told no such document/ proposal was before government. Government has taken no such decision; parliamentary committees will be taken into confidence before such legislation. He offered that if CPNE and APNS were agreed, Ministry of Information could release ABC report on web site. Senate committee showed satisfaction over Minister’s deliberations about PAPRA.
(Jang -8)(Express -1)(N-Waqt -1)
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Writer in detention over Gitmo memoir |
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The family of Afghan writer Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, co-author of a recently published book chronicling the three years he spent incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay, believe that he has been detained by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. On Sept 29, just weeks after the Sept 3 publication of “The Broken Shackles of Guantánamo”, co-written with his brother and fellow Guantánamo detainee Badruz Zaman Badar, Dost was picked up as he left a mosque in Peshawar, where the family has lived for nearly 30 years.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\29\story_29-12-2006_pg1_5 |
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HRCP opposes media bill |
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The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has said that the authorities envisaged in government’s draft PAPRA bill was not at all needed. We don’t see any justification in regulating the print media when deregulating is order of the day. I. A. Rehman said in a statement.
(Dawn -19)
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Press not free anywhere in world |
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Media is not free at all in the whole world including USA, where it is following government policies. This was stated by Dr. Tyotika Rana Parsad, Chairperson of theDepartment ofJournalism at Southern Illinois University Carhondale USA during a lecture at the department of Mass Communication of the Allama Iqbal Open Univeristy.
(Dawn -19)
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RIUJ polls on Feb03, 07 |
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Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) will hold its annual polls on Feb03, 2007. Decision was taken in executive council meeting chaired by acting president Mr. Anwer Raza.
(Express Page-9)
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