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A daily review of media coverage of media and communications issues. |
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Media groups regret efforts to stifle press freedom |
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The International Press Institute, the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, has expressed serious concerns about the pressure exerted by the Pakistan government on the Dawn Group of Newspapers, the country’s largest publisher of English-language newspapers and magazines. Another international media organisation, Reporters Sans Frontieres, has expressed similar concerns, urging the government to abandon its efforts to stifle those who criticise its policies. In a letter to President Pervez Musharraf, the IPI urged the president to ensure that the government withdrew the advertising cuts on publications belonging to the Dawn Group and looked at ways of creating procedures that ensure advertisements were distributed in an open and transparent manner.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/nat27.htm |
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Convict in Daniel Pearl case ‘tortured’ |
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KARACHI: Shiekh Mohammad Adil, a convict in the US journalist Daniel Pearl kidnapping and killing conspiracy case, may die after being subjected to torture by Hyderabad jail authorities, his elder brother told the Sindh High Court (SHC ) on Friday. Adil’s brother, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, appeared before SHC’s division bench comprising Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, hearing the appeals of his brother and other appelants, including the main convict Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, against the conviction. Sheikh Aslam prayed to the court that his brother be examined by the medical board and a case be registered against jail officials for torturing him.
(The News)
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http://thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=4 |
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SHC seeks report on alleged torture |
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The Sindh High Court directed the Hyderabad Jail Superintendent on Friday to submit a report within three days after an inquiry into the alleged torture of the convict in a US journalist murder case in his jail.
(Daily Times) (The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=90023&catid=2&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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Illegal radio station shut |
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The authorities have shut down an illegal FM radio station set up by clerics in the capital. Madressah students and hard-line clerics had set up the station on Wednesday to propagate their strict version of religion. The authorities reacted quickly to shut it down. “We took action as soon as the issue was brought to our notice. We have stopped the transmissions,” a spokesman for the electronic media regulator said. He said further action would be taken if warranted.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/top13.htm |
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Two video shops blown up in Kohat |
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Unidentified miscreants torched the office of a cable television network and blew up two video shops in Kohat on Thursday night. The locals suspected militants behind the incident but the local police chief denied, saying the attackers were non-professional young boys below the age of 20. It is learnt that attackers forcibly entered the office of a cable television network in Chakkar Kot Bazaar and after sprinkling kerosene oil set it on fire at around 9 pm on Thursday night. The criminals escaped and the locals extinguished the fire.
(The News) (Nawa-e-Waqt – Back Page) (Daily Express – Back Page) (Daily Jinnah)
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http://thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=7 |
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Cable operator’s office, CD shop attacked |
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Petrol bombs were thrown into a cable operator’s office on the Rawalpindi road and a CD shop opposite the Kohat airbase was destroyed by an explosion, officials and witnesses said on Friday. In the Bahawalnagar locality, armed men lobbed the petrol bombs into the cable operator’s office on Thursday. It caused fire which destroyed the equipment. The owner, Kamran, told police that the armed men had asked him to get out of the office and then hurled the bombs into the office and destroyed the machinery.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/top9.htm |
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FM Radio Station to start functioning soon: DG PBC |
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Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Director General Ashfaq Ahmad Gondal has said that a public sector FM radio will start functioning in April and its programmes will be listened by the listeners within radius of 50km. Talking to newsmen here, he said that another FM radio station would be setup in Bit Shah (Shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhattai RA in Sindh) which would start functioning during the month of May.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=89906&catid=2&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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Balanced reporting to be guiding principle for journalists |
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The two-day media workshop on 'Conflict Reporting' organised by the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) in collaboration with International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) concluded here Friday. During the workshop, the participants shared their viewpoints regarding correct reporting on conflicting issues, saying impartiality, objectivity and balanced reporting should be the guiding principles of a journalist.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=89955&catid=2&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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PFUJ, Apnec vow to defend wage award |
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The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation (Apnec) have severely criticised a statement issued by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) after its annual general meeting on March 29. They have called upon the government to immediately withdraw all ‘concessions’ given to newspaper owners because of their categorical announcement that they would not implement the seventh wage board award.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/nat7.htm |
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Durrani greets newly elected APNS office-bearers |
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Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani Friday warmly felicitated the newly-elected office-bearers of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS). In a congratulatory message to APNS President Hameed Haroon, Senior Vice-President Imtinan Shahid, Secretary General Muhammad Aslam Kazi and other office-bearers, the minister said their election was evidence of the trust of the APNS General Council in them.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=89938&catid=17&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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100 lawyers, journalists yet to testify in police mistreatment case |
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Over 100 more lawyers and journalists have filed affidavits with a judicial tribunal of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to get their statements recorded as witnesses to police mistreatment of protesting lawyers and journalists at a Lahore rally on March 17. The tribunal of LHC’s Justice Zahid Hussain was supposed to submit its inquiry report to the Supreme Court on Friday, but Punjab Additional Advocate General (AAG) Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain told an SC bench that a number of lawyers and journalists still wanted to record their statements. He asked the bench to extend the one-week deadline for the compilation of the report.
(Daily Times)
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\31\story_31-3-2007_pg7_10 |
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Service structure loopholes worry IT professionals |
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PESHAWAR, March 28: Information technology professionals working in various provincial government departments on Friday complained that the service structure designed for their cadre had various career-affecting lacunae. Many IT professionals told this correspondent that the government had declared the Establishment Department to be their administrative department under new rules.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/nat22.htm |
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Progress linked with computer literacy |
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Sindh IT Adviser Noman Saigol said that every possible effort was being made to promote computer literacy in the country. He was speaking at a programme held at the University of Karachi, says a statement issued here on Friday. The adviser spoke of the vital position of students in the realms of information technology. Mr Saigol said that the government wanted to increase computer literacy in the country so as to make rapid progress. He pointed out that IT information centres had been established equipped with the latest computers.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/local12.htm |
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Music academy to be named after Bazmi |
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An official of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, announced that the institution would name its forthcoming music academy after renowned music director Nisar Bazmi in recognition of his lifelong services to the music and film industries of Pakistan.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/local25.htm |
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Finding the right solution: Letter to the Editor by Umad Mazhar |
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There is an inbuilt antagonism in the capitalist system: the benefit of one (or more) industry or industries is generally at the cost of some other industry or industries. The present state of our film industry is not only due to poor standards but there are many other factors at the root of this depressing state of affairs.
(Dawn)
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http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/31/letted.htm |
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The Media comes of Age: The Nation column by Fakir S. Ayazuddin |
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The happenings of last week throughout the country, leading upto the running battles through the streets of the major cities of Pakistan, were covered by all the media channels in all the real time drama, that is possible, on TV. The outstanding coverage of GEO was a brilliant display of journalism at its very best. I was proud that a Pakistani channel has now joined the ranks of BBC and CNN,
in first class reporting of the current news, local and international. So when the CJ story did break, the Media was ready and they moved as quickly as any of the international giants. The coverage and commentary was superb. The events and the story themselves were of epic proportions, with a huge impact on the body politic of the country.
(The Nation – Column)
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http://nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2007/31/columns2.php |
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‘Mergers in mobile phone industry expected’ |
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There are possibilities of mergers in the mobile phone industry in Pakistan in the next two to three years, reducing the number of mobile phone companies to two to three. Motorola Pakistan Country Manager Nadeem Safdar said while talking to a group of journalists here on Friday.
(Daily Times)
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\31\story_31-3-2007_pg7_20 |
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Pakistani sensuality: Letter to the Editor by Sami Kureshi |
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Wrapping Capri cinema in religious banners to safeguard the passing by youth is comical. I suppose most of the marchers get their jollies through the Internet anyway.
(Daily Times)
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\31\story_31-3-2007_pg3_7 |
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Big billboards for big bills by Afshan Amin |
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It is an eyesore to see every street of the main routes and lanes of Karachi filled with billboards. Instead of planting trees and contributing to make a healthier environment, it seems that everybody is interested in commoditising their product and talking about monitory benefits.
(Daily Times)
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\31\story_31-3-2007_pg3_7 |
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Avenues of information: Letter to the Editor by Nadia Salim |
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While freedom of expression and the right to knowledge demand that the people be given access to several avenues of information, there is also a need to provide reading material so that the mind can assimilate, understand and analyse through the written word. Scholarship, and consequently excellence, in any field cannot be achieved without strong reading habits, and the government must help in cultivating these by looking after public libraries, providing them with sufficient funds and encouraging their use.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_LetNews.aspx?dtlid=89933&catid=4&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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FM Listening: Adieu Mr. Hashmi |
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Life is continuously changing and people come and go unbidden as we progress through this long relentless worldly journey. It is not for us to decide as to when they enter or exit from different segments of their life but it is up to us to cherish their memories instead, to appreciate their work and their thoughts. It is always these 'special figures' in our lives that play such wonderful roles that we forge connections with them. The FM industry in Pakistan is still in its juvenile stages, I would not dare be bold enough to call someone an icon in this field. Yet there are still some people who have shined out so bright and left their mark in the industry, not only due to the ingenuity of their styles, but also because of the magic in their voices. And if this isn't enough, the intensity of their emotions also has quite an effect on people. The great Sohail Hashmi is, was, and will always without a doubt be one of them.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=89945&catid=17&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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Efforts being made to promote computer literacy |
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Advisor to the Sindh chief minister on literacy, Naoman Saigal said Friday every possible effort was being made to promote computer literacy in the country. Speaking at a programme held at the Karachi University campus, the advisor highlighted the importance of students in the realms of information technology. He said: "we want to make everyone computer literate to develop an economically vigorous society."
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_NatNews.aspx?dtlid=89913&catid=2&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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PTA to host SATRC workshop from April 02 |
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Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is hosting South Asian Telecommunications Regulators' Council (SATRC) workshop on "Interconnection in Convergence" from April 2-4, 2007. This is a training workshop in which about 18 delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and representatives from Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Secretariat will participate.
(The Post)
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/Arc_BizNews.aspx?dtlid=89866&catid=7&date=03/31/2007&fcatid=14 |
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Zindagi ka morr aur mobile: Jang Column by Azeem Sarwar |
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Azeem Sarwar writes about the invention of telephone and its changing shapes from telephone of a cell phone.
(Daily Jang – Column)
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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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