Pakistan most dangerous country for

journalists: UN
Masood Haider

Pakistani security officials inspect a DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) vehicle of a
private news channel following an attack by gunmen in Karachi. - AFP/File
UNITED NATIONS: An open and pluralistic media must work in a safe environment without fear of
reprisal, the United Nations said on Saturday in observance of the World Press Freedom Day.
The world body said last year 71 journalists were killed, while another 826 were arrested.
More than 2,000 journalists were threatened or physically attacked last year.
Finland tops the World Press Freedom index for the fourth straight year, closely followed by Netherlands and
Norway, like last year.
Pakistan is still deemed the most dangerous country in the world for working journalists.
On the freedom index the United States is number 46 on the list of 180 countries. Haiti is number 47. Cape
Verde comes in at number 24 and Britain is 33. Russia is number 148, Cuba is 170 and China is ranked at
number 175.
The World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information.
Reporters Without Borders, the sponsors of the index, said some countries have been affected by a tendency
to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to
inform and be informed.
The group said the trend was a growing threat worldwide and endangering freedom of information in countries
regarded as democracies.
In a joint message by Secretary-Genera Ban Ki-moon and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UN Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), said UN bodies are already working together and with other
partners under Unescos leadership to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers
around the world.
World Press Freedom Day, which was designated as May 3 in 1993 by the UN General Assembly, is being
marked in about 100 countries.

Social media has developed so fast we dont know how to handle

it, says expert
By Our Correspondent
Published: October 17, 2012

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"You cant approach a new world with an old strategy and social media is the new world," Yousaf Rasheed, the digital media manager at
Time and Space Media. PHOTO: LINKEDIN

KARACHI: You may casually fling your BlackBerry on your bed or absentmindedly leave it on the dressing table, but
according to Masood Hashmi, the CEO of Orientm McCann Erickson, the device was worth half a city hundreds of years
ago.

Hashmi was one of the many guest speakers invited to a seminar on Tuesday titled Swiss Knife of Social
Media. The event was organised by Navitus, a private management consultancy and training firm. The idea
behind it was to bring together experts on the subject on a single platform. The host, Navitus Adil Hasan,
intermittently chanted the slogan saath rahay ga sari life, swiss knife, swiss knife (it will stay with you all
through your life, swiss knife, swiss knife), hoping that it would catch on.
Hashmi was the first speaker and discussed the history and development of social media. This is a fantastic
age to live in. The media has developed so fast that we dont even know how to handle it. Hashmi emphasised
that people take social media and technology for granted. If you would have given a BlackBerry to the king of
Delhi hundreds of years ago, he would have given you half of the city.
Hashmi said that social media has razed age barriers: a 5-year-old can talk to an 85-year-old hundreds of miles
away. International marketing horizons have also been expanded. If you have an idea, you can sell it no
matter where you are in the world. For instance, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan capitalised
on Facebook and Youtube to launch his political career and promote himself as a leader.
He also explained that old mediums could coexist with new ones. The first newspaper was published in 1830.
After that, when the radio came along, people thought that was the end of newspapers. And in 1982 when the
internet came, people thought that was the end of radios. But all three mediums were able to coexist. Towards
the end of his speech, Hashmi said, Nothing [in my speech] was original. It has all been taken from social
media forums.
The next speaker, Time and Space Medias digital media manager, Yusuf Rashid, also talked about the
salience of social meida. You cant approach a new world with an old strategy and social media is the world.
He also spoke about the importance of content and strategy while using social media to advertise brands.
Rounding up the morning half of the seminar, Adnan Ali talked about ROI, which in the social media circle
stands for return on involvement the benefits accrued from being active on online forums. Unfortunately,
analytical experience needed to expand social media in Pakistan is lacking.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2012.
Cyber Journalism in Pakistan
By Muhammad Luqman Sheikh
DESPITE taking roots in a number of countries of the world including neighboring India, Internet
Journalism is a new term for most Pakistanis, even for the majority of those half a million who use the
magic tool of internet.
With very few web-based newspapers, news portals and news agencies, Pakistan has yet to take
benefit from the information explosion and the advent of Cyber journalism in the world.
Cyber journalism, internet journalism, online journalism, dot journalism or E-journalism, what ever
name you give to this new form of news collection and dissemination, is still something alien to most
Pakistanis as a majority cant even read or write English, the language, considered to be the passport
for the information super highway.
This problem can be overcome by developing Urdu softwares, which may lead to increase in the

computer usage and the Internet subscription in the country.

As different modern dictionaries suggest, online journalism means the writing of stories specifically for
the Web instead of newspaper, radio, television or magazine. It can include the use of text, photos,
graphics, hypertext, audio and video to tell stories.
However, non-interactive internet editions of the traditional print newspapers are also considered part
of online E-journalism.
The major benefits of the online journalism as compared to the traditional newspapers areinteractivity, frequent updating of the news stories with backgrounders and the use of multi-media to
make the news items more comprehensive.
One can find the video, audio and graphic contents on the internet based newspaper or website to
understand the issue in a comprehensive manner.
In Pakistans case, barring some news portals and websites, most of the news sites available in cyber
space are static. It is like monologue, providing no instant opportunity to the reader to respond to
some story or matter.
Newspapers like 'The Nation' have tried to engage the readers through inviting their votes for a
particular issue of international or domestic significance. Otherwise, the newspapers or portals dont
provide much to engage internet users especially the youth.
Similarly, the online journalism has yet to attain the status of a serious form of medium. It can be
done by coming up with exclusive stories and rare information like Tehleka.com, website in India did
some times ago. The internet edition of Al-Jazeera TV, BBC and CNN receive a big number of hits
(readers/visitors) daily due to newsworthy content.
Pakistani news portals and websites can also win the confidence of readers by posting exclusive
stories instead of splashing lifted material from other websites or print media.
Making online journalism popular in Pakistan has also become an uphill task due to the fact that more
than 60% of countrys netizens are making un-productive use of the internet by visiting only
entertainment especially the porno sites.
Last year, government blocked hundreds of such sites. But it is not humanly possible to block millions
of sites containing such material. The online websites and portals can attract internet users only by
putting interesting and valuable material instead of flooding their sites with blogs and personal views.
Another reason for less popularity of online journalism is low rate of computer literacy and an equally
dismal tele-density in the country. ISPs started to provide services in Pakistan in the year 1996.
Today, the ISP market in Pakistan is booming, and new ISPs are being set up at a regular interval.
About 150 ISPs are presently working in the country.
However, the number of internet users and the resultant visitors to the web-based newspapers and
portals can increase only after the increase in the number of telephones.
As far as computer illiteracy is concerned, people are not familiar with the use of computers. Now
there is increasing trend to be equipped with the computer knowledge.
No doubt, the online or E-journalism, which took birth about a decade back, took the information
world with a storm, yet it has also led to some ethical problems.

The breaking news about a scandal in India by Tehleka.com and the showing of execution of hostages
in Iraq by the resistance groups have raised a number of questions about how to regulate this
emerging form of media. So it is necessary to come up with the code of ethics for the internet
journalism before it is too late.
Similarly, the showing of execution of hostages does promote the cause of Iraqis. Yet it also leads to
panic and harassment among the general public especially among those related to the victims.
So there is need of striking a balance between the right to expression and the ethical values of the
society while giving news items on the websites.
In the end, I suggest that the government and the national press should take active steps for the
promotion of online E-journalism as it is our future. I believe that the traditional newspapers will stay,
yet it is necessary to take benefit from new forms of media. It becomes more necessary at times when
media can make or break a nation.
The writer is a noted journalist associated with APP as Senior Reporter, holds M.Sc degree in
International Relations and Certificate in Medical Transcription. His fields of interest are Information
Technology, Economy and Agriculture.
E-Mail: luqman64@yahoo.com
http://pakistantimes.net/2004/09/04/editorial.htm
Journalism in Pakistan
By: ABID ULLAH JAN Published: The Frontier Post, April 6, 1999
Imagine being expected by the government to paint a colorful rainbow of its "democratic progress"
when you have no brushes and only two pots of paint. Welcome to journalist's world in Pakistan. You
either find yourself finger-painting messy and inaccurate piece of work to please the government or
try to understand the root causes of chaos and anarchy and present workable solutions to the neverending problems at hand and suddenly end up in prison on cooked up charges.
The self-appointed President of Pakistan publicly threatened two senior Pakistani journalists, now
living in the US, in front of several hundred Pakistani expatriates at a dinner speech in New York on
Sept 13, 2002. Earlier other journalists were threatened and even thrown out of the President's public
meetings - particularly during his campaign for the sham referendum.
Most of these events pass by without anyone taking note of them because every such incident and the
journalist involved happens to be just another victim of the ongoing spate of democratically
embarrassing onslaught against the press in Pakistan. It suggests that something more disheartening
is at work than an epidemic of insecure leaders tightening the screws on journalists for exhibiting "too
much freedom." Prison now seems to be the only destination of the journalists who failed to learn the
way most of our public -- which has been living under one or another form of dictatorial regime for
decades -- think.
The Press in Pakistan is now systematically being targeted and the government is paranoid of those
journalists who present the "wrong" side of what appears to be progressive and people friendly
policies of a "democratic" government. Having tamed the parliament, presidency, military and
judiciary, no one knows whether the Prime Minister has taken on media critics on his own democratic
instincts, or the crusade is being carried out on the advice of those in Washington who have closed
minds of their own public to seek out the truth and protect convictions, interests and interpretations
which are especially dear to majority of the American?
Such attacks on journalists are not limited to the military dictatorship alone. Rehamt Shah Afridi is till
date paying the price of locking horns with Nawaz Sharif and the US agencies. According to Mir
Shakilur Rehman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Jang Group of Publications, he was directed by
two senior officials close to Prime Minister Sharif to dismiss 16 journalists on his rolls. Mr. Rehman

was told that "nothing adverse should be written concerning their (the Sharif's) loans, business,
personal matters etc," Apart from the raids on The News offices during Nawaz sharif government in
October 1998, plainclothes officials landed up at the office of the Karachi-based monthly Newsline
demanding the home phone numbers and addresses of its correspondents.
The husband-wife couple, who run the weekly The Friday Times, Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin, have
for long been complaining about their phone being tapped and other harassment. According to Mohsin
when they "go to Islamabad, senior government officials jokingly quote bits of [their] conversations"
to them. Still they are lucky to have not been framed like Rahmat Shah Afridi of the Frontier Post -victim of a well-calculated conspiracy that can be professionally hatched against any journalist with as
much perfection and ease as we have witnessed in the case of Rahmat Shah Afridi. And no victim
would ever be able to protect himself or prove his innocence in this lawless land.
I have repeatedly pointed out that Pakistan is an Egypt in making. General Musharraf has sealed that
destiny for Pakistan. A Scottish Journalist working for the English paper The Cairo Times recently
discovered "we do [our work] with a hand tied behind our back," and if you become a victim "you are
guilty until proven innocent." Contrary to the general belief that the more information you have, the
better equipped you will be, but in Egypt, according to Miriam Mesbah, a staff writer for the Egypt
Today magazine, "the attitude is that the more information you have, the greater threat you pose"
and the quick victim you become. Imagine contributing a weekly column or a report each day knowing
that a job well done could end your life or your freedom in prison.
The campaign of harassing the press in Pakistan is being carried out at a time, when unprecedented
number of Pakistanis are questioning the "official stories" on mainline news media and the
government which they serve. PTV and Radio Pakistan have joined the government as one of the least
trusted institutions in the country. Their emphasis is neither on informing or educating the viewers
and listeners regarding the deeply significant events which are now shaping the immediate future, nor
the focus is on exposing the corruption and mismanagement; rather the stress is on producing
anesthetising material to cover up incompetence and sinister designs of a sitting government.
Print media is the only source that is not as much under the civilian dictators' control as the electronic
media is. The idea of taming the press is part of the guidance our ruling party leaders are getting from
their Masters in Washington. Each attempt to muzzle the press has a piece of the big puzzle, and we
do not even know our left foot from our tight when it comes to understanding what's going on. Just
like the news and views on Radio and TV, the government expects the press to craft and design
deceit, distortion and deception in its favour.
Without pondering the impending consequences of the American system of indoctrination through
media, our journalists too are expected to follow the suit with political bias and fluff; so that readers
and listeners in Pakistan lose their interest in substance and perceive news and analysis as mere
entertainment like the Americans and the government continue its perpetual rule like Hosni Mubarak.
Such continuation of power is impossible if the journalists have better data on which to base their
suggestions and recommendation, and those on the receiving end are much better informed about
what those who rule are doing.
Mostly the dictators believe that the insidious invasion of the truth here and there would unleash
resentment rather than satisfaction and any attempt on part of the journalists to inform the public is
seen to be unleashing a sense of peril than power. A democratic regime, claimed to be founded on the
free determination of important choices made by a majority, condemns itself to death if most of the
citizens who have to choose between various options make their decision in ignorance or reality,
blinded by passions or misled by fleeting impressions created by the controlled press. And journalist
would certainly not like to betray their duty by becoming part of a hypocritical game played out by the
government for its survival.
Apart from the cooked up case against Rahmat Shah Afridi, a cold-headed analysis reveals that the
press is not all that innocent either. Although in a democracy the law guarantees freedom of
expression to its citizens; it guarantees neither infallibility, nor talent, nor competence, nor probity,
nor intelligence, nor the verification of facts -- all of which are supposed to be provided by or are the

responsibility of journalists, not of legislators. But when a journalist is criticised because he is

inaccurate or dishonest, the profession as a whole lets out a howl, pretending to believe that the very
principle of free expression is under attack and that a new attempt is being made to muzzle the press.
The press cannot defend itself with the argument that it was merely fulfilling the "task of informing." It
would be just like a restaurant owner who, after serving spoiled food, fend off criticism by exclaiming:
"Please, let me fulfill my mission as a nourisher, that sacred duty! Or are you in favour of starvation?"
Many of our journalist friends have dropped the cloak of impartiality and as a result all of us are
expected to do so. They can see Nawaz Sharif to be an all time ruler but they have serious objection
to Benazir's lifetime chairpersonship, or the vice versa. A sincere journalist needs not to be partial and
affiliated to a single party or leader irrespective of his undemocratic policies and anti-people deeds.
Most of those who launch newspapers or other means of communication do so to impose a point of
view and not to seek the truth. It is simply that when one wants to impose a certain point of view, it is
better to seem to be seeking the truth. Just as, among millions of books that are published, only a tiny
proportion are devoted to literature in the highest, artistic sense of the word, or to the communication
of knowledge, so only a minority of press and communications enterprises are founded and managed
with the primary aim of informing.
Newspapers geared to this particular objective occupy a tiny niche in the gigantic mass of purely
commercial or partisan press. The difference between speaking rationally and talking nonsense is very
clear. Similarly, printing false information and holding a paper from printing information are also very
obvious acts. For a democratic government it is better to accept the inconveniences than to try to
remedy the pro-opposition press related problems by force or by legislation; for public wisdom, fruits
of experience of freedom and the habit of confronting different theses, would take care of discrediting
defamers and factious elements.
Furthermore, another ritual piece of nonsense consists of defining the press as a "counterpower." It is
true that the role of the press is to tell the truth and that the government in power does not much like
the truth when it is unfavourable. But it is also true that the truth is not always unfavourable if spoken
through an impartial mouth. Thus the press has no business claiming to be a counter power by virtue
of a selective automatism and in ever circumstance. Besides, the very notion is absurd, for if things
really happened in this way, and if the government in power invariably deserved to be opposed, it
would be sufficient reason to despair of democracy, for it would mean that a democratically elected
government is always mistaken -- at least in Pakistan -- and therefore that the people electing it are
afflicted with a congenital, incurable idiocy.
Undoubtedly, some of the partisan journalists are indulged in committing the pernicious ill of
disguising opinion as information, but the government need not to subject the whole press to
collective punishment because its agenda of not letting an average Pakistani understand the facts
behind all that glitters is being undermined. It seems to be a bit early, but when Washington and
Islamabad have all the pieces in place, when they have all the power that they need to effect our
national agenda, then we will find out the government's motive of going after the press, like the
people of Egypt, when it's too late. Right from robbing the public of their foreign currency to the
establishment of anti-terrorism and military courts and to the harassment of the press, every step is
in the direction of establishing a one man's "democratic" rule in Pakistan. It has been said, "For a
nation's monetary system to be artificial, its system of justice must also be artificial." Saying, if the
nation's monetary and judicial systems are artificial, the free and independent press must necessarily
be spurious as well, could complete the statement for Pakistan.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA WAR
The fittest is to survive
By AMANULLAH BASHAR
Sep 02 - 08, 2002
People at the helm of affairs have finally arrived to the conclusion that keeping the private sector
away from the ambit of the electronic media may not be possible any more in the face of global

proliferation of Information and Satellite technology. As a result, an array of satellite tv channels have
started invading the target countries with social, political and economic interests..
Although the credit goes to the present government of breaking the ice with the permission to the
private sector in this so far exclusive domain of the government, yet the initiative to this effect was
actually taken by the former information minister Javed Jabbar in the care-taker government of Moin
Qureshi.
Due to bureaucratic complexities and stringent policies, a number of private tv channels have got
registered themselves abroad specially in the United Kingdom. Some of them have already started
their telecast such as ARY, Indus and another is in the process of transmission namely GEO. Although
these channels are known pro-Pakistani as their management originally belongs to this country,
however, they obviously preferred to launch their operations from abroad to remain, what they
described, free from the clutches of social, political and administrative curbs within Pakistan.
Realizing the ground realities, our neighbouring countries especially India has gone a step ahead of us
by allowing foreign investment even in the print media. According to informed sources, as a result of
this Indian policy to allow foreign investment in the print media, a large number of leading publishing
houses are coming in either in the form of joint ventures or to start their own publications.
All the leading foreign news agencies have already opened their full-fledged bureau offices in Pakistan
while leading world television channels have also made arrangements for flow of information from
Pakistan. The situation calls for a decision to allow foreign investment in the print and electronic media
from Pakistan as well which would certainly bring investment at a massive scale, opening job
opportunities and also help promoting Pakistani products abroad.
It may be noted that with the opening of doors of electronic media for the private sector, a large
number of interested parties have approached to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority
for putting up their radio and tv channels in Pakistan. It is however yet to be seen that how many of
them are going to survive in the face of strong competition from local as well as foreign television
channels. Naturally, survival will be for the fittest alone.
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has started receiving a large number of
applications both for setting up radio and television stations in Pakistan.
According to informed sources, PEMRA has so far received 64 applications for setting up radio stations
in private sector, while the last date for submitting applications for the television station is September
20, 2002.
Out of 64 applications for radio transmission, five will be given permission in the initial stage and
almost similar number of tv broadcasting houses will be given permission in the private sector, it is
learnt.
It may be noted that PEMRA has invited applications from Pakistani companies, incorporated under the
Companies Ordinance, 1984 for grant of licence to establish and operate a Satellite Television
Broadcast Station (International Scale) from Pakistan. It is however heartening to note that for the
first time in the history of Pakistan, the area of electronic media which, used to be the exclusive
domain of the public sector has been opened for investment in the private sector.
Practically speaking, it was however the need of the hour to respond to the global trends as the
cutting edge information technology and satellite technology have done away with all frontiers,
borders and all administrative curbs against the spread of information around the world. One has no
option but to accept the ground realities.
According to Information Minister Nisar A. Memon, the government is actively working on different
laws relating to the media, including the press and publication ordinance, access to the freedom of
information and defamatory laws were likely to be promulgated before the installation of new
government as a result of forthcoming National and Provincial elections.These laws were discussed
during the cabinet meeting and expected to be promulgated before October 10. The government
would soon be setting a 100 Kw radio station in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and a 100 Kw short
waves radio transmitter and a radio repeater in Northern Areas to relay programs for Skardu. The
government has also decided to establish a bureau office of Pakistan Television at Gilgit. The PTV

office is most likely to commence working from next month.

Outlining the media policy, the Information Minister has observed that our mission should be to
protect and project Pakistan through information management. He emphasized that it was the
responsibility of the print and electronic media to bring out facts objectively. He said that Pakistan
Electronic Media Regulatory Authority had invited bids for putting up radio in the private sector. The
government was planning to award five radio licences before October 10. He further said that licences
for launching television channels in the private sector would also be given soon.
Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, Chief Justice of Pakistan in a foreword of a book on Mass Media Laws and
Regulations in Pakistan says "all over the world, the citizens' right to acquire knowledge and
information is increasingly being proclaimed and recognized as a fundamental right. The internaional
human rights instruments as well as national constitutions and laws, acknowledge and safeguard this
right." An essential concomitant of this right is to right to freedom of information and freedom of the
press. The right to know and have access to information is essential, not just for the harmonious
development of an individual's personality but also the socio-economic evolution and political
development of the society. Such right is inextricably linked to making the government accountable,
and its dealings and operations transparent, better governance is indeed the central theme and
ultimate objective of the democratic philosophy. James Madison, a founding father of the American
Constitution, linked the right to, and freedom of, in formation to the very survival of the democratic
system. "a popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a
prologue to a farce or tragedy, or perhaps both", said James. His contemporarian and equal in vision
and wisdom, Thomas Jefferson, observed that the freedom of the press is the "enternal vigilance" to
guard the performance of the government. The degree to which the press is free and independent, is
the degree to which it can perform its role as a watchdog on the conduct of the government and its
officials. It helps in preventing the government from showing laxity or inefficiency or becoming
corrupt. As a former Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc. Henry Grundwald wrote "Even a democratically
elected and benign government can easily be corrupted when its power is not held in check by an
independent press".
The right to know, acquire knowledge and information is indeed our cultural legacy, rooted in Islamic
law, philosophy and thought.
PEMRA
Syed Fayyaz Hussain, General Manager, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) while
expressing his views on the liberalized electronic media policy of the government said that the private
sector is being encouraged to keep pace with the global situation of technological advancement. He
said that the private sector in Pakistan which has always risen to the occasion would certainly deliver
the goods in the electronic media sector also. He said that in the face of satellite technology
proliferation around the world which knows no boundaries, limits or frontiers you have to flock
together. However, social responsibility demands that the new TV channels coming in the private
sector are expected to serve the interest of the nation and the country. As an authority we have to
give them a sense of direction however the entire responsibility to promote and protect the interest of
the country lies on these private channels. When asked how the growing number of Pakistani tv
channels would survive economically especially in the face of limited market and economic resources,
he was of the view that it is the test of true professionalism. They would have to carve a place for
themselves in the market. Fayyaz recalled the days when the Information Technology was being
introduced in Pakistan. At that time people had expressed fears that introduction of information
technology may add to the problem of unemployment in Pakistan. Contrary to that fears and
apprehensions, IT helped creating new and diversified job opportunities especially for the youngsters.
He expressed the hope that as a result of private sector participation in the electronic media,
possibilities of new economic dimensions can not be ruled out. Introduction of information technology
in our economy is one of the best precedence to that effect, he observed.
In order to keep pace with the growth, the government has decided to engage the private sector in
the electronic media. So far the TV channels representing Pakistan are not registered within Pakistan.

TV channels like Indus, ARY etc are operating from abroad. He was of the opinion that license to the
private channels may have no negative sign on the economy, instead it will help creating healthy
competition among themselves which consequently improve creditworthiness of the information
quality of the programmes presented by the electronic media in Pakistan.
He reiterated that the policy is to give a sense of direction to the electronic media to promote national
culture, represent a true national colour on the most effective and power mode of transmission to help
building a positive image of the country in and around the world.
MINISTER
Federal Information Minister Nisar A. Memon has also recommended to the business community to
come forward and establish television, radio and sports channels in the private sector.
The minister said that government has recently established Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (PEMRA) which is fully responsible for issuing licences to private TV and Radio channels.
He was of the view that press and electronic media in Pakistan are totally free to write and criticize
government policies as well as give coverage to political opponents, adding the government issuing no
press advice as well.
HISTORY
There was no law specifically enacted to establish Pakistan Television Corporation which was
incorporated as a joint stock company in 1967 and then, upon the Memorandum and papers went
through minor amendments. The entire share-holding rests with the Federal Government.
Shalimar Recording Company Limited (SRC) which operates the STN TV channel is also a joint stock
company in which Government holds 54 per cent shares.
In 1990 SRC awarded an exclusive, monopolistic contract to a private sector company known as
Network Television Marketing (NTM) to provide all programming and advertising to the STN Channel
originally known as PTN i.e. People's Television Network. However, the Media Regulatory Authority
Ordinance 1997 contains a section that excludes the continuation of private monopolies in electronic
media.
Shaheen Pay television, the country's first "wireless" cable TV operates as a corporate enterprise
registered under the Companies Ordinance 1984 in which a foreign investor holds 50 per cent shares,
a Pakistani based group holds 24 per cent shares and the Shaheen Foundation, sponsored by the
Pakistan Air Force for the welfare of retired personnel, holds 25 per cent shares.
In October 1996 a Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had admitted a constitutional petition filed
as public interest litigation by Javed Jabbar and Mubashar Hasan requesting the court to declare that
the air waves of a country being a national asset, the issuance of a licence by the then-Government of
Benazir Bhutto in 1995 to Shaheen Pay TV and to a 3 FM radio stations was an illegal action which was
challenged on the grounds that the award of this licence was made on a non-transparent basis and
that it is monopolistic in nature.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA REGULATORY AUTHORITY ORDINANCE.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a law acknowledges the right of private citizens to use the
air-waves of the country for the operation of privately-owned radio stations and TV stations. Also for
the first time, the law permits electronic media to broadcast news bulletins other than those originated
by the Government-controlled PTV and PBC.
ORDINANCE
Freedom of Information Ordinance 1997 (promulgated January 1997-lapsed in May 1997).
An Ordinance to provide for access by citizens to the public record.
This ordinance enables citizens to obtain a wide range of documents constituting the record of all
public offices including policy statements, contracts and papers relating to transactions, licences,
agreements and official orders given on various subjects.
At the same time it excludes certain types of documents such as noting on files, record of banking
companies, material relating to the personal privacy of an individual etc. the law provides for a simple
and easy procedure to obtain such documentation and also contains a provision for an appeal to an
ombudsman in case the request for a document is declined.

The law enables government to categorize documents as being "classified" and thereby refuse access
to such documentation. Nevertheless this law opens up the public record for the first time to the
citizens and represents a significant advancement in the direction of transparency and good
governance.
As far as the law is concerned the government has paved the way for the good governance through
effective participation of the private sector in Pakistan. In the second phase, the follow up to ensure
effective implementation of the policy and law is also equally important which needs constant
attention of the authorities to make these policies as fruitful for the society.
SUGGESTION
Electronic media is considered as today's most effective and powerful tool for opinion mobilization
across the globe. Relatively speaking, electronic media has grown also in Pakistan but only in its
volume of transmission and assets but pathetically lacks in spirits. Pakistan Television has grown from
one channel to three channels including PTV world transmission which are said to be seen in 52
countries. It is however funny that almost all its transmissions on PTV word are addressed only to the
audience which understand the national or local languages which serves no purpose or point to send
your message around the world.
If you have to mobilize world opinion in respect of your cultural, social, political or economic strength
and to counter the political and cultural invasion of channels hostile against Pakistan at least 50 per
cent of the transmissions should be made in English language.
Durrani to perform ground breaking of APP Media City on Saturday
ISLAMABAD, Nov 9 (APP): 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.
He added that a nine-kanal plot adjacent to NUML University in Sector H-9 has been earmarked for
the APP Media City, which would have state-of-the-art equipment, broadcasting houses, conference
hall, journalists hostel, and other ancillary facilities.
Keeping in view the modern trends in both electronic and print media after the introduction of private
television channels, the APP Media City would also provide training facilities to the print and electronic
media professionals.
He said that the Media City is a part of foresighted leadership of Information Minister Muhammad Ali
Durrani, who has already launched Islamabad Media University, National Press Club, Group Insurance
provision for APP District Correspondents and new induction in APP.
The APP has already introduced video news service for the electronic media while it is already
disseminating news in Urdu, English, Sindhi, Pushto and Arabic languages.
http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.o...ls.asp?uid=228