Category: Attack on media

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Media curbs proposed in backdrop of APS attack

Media curbs proposed in backdrop of APS attack

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s standing committee on information has proposed a set of restrictions on mainstream media as well as social media in the wake of the Peshawar school tragedy.

The recommendations were submitted in a report titled “Proposals to strengthen media’s role in combating terrorism”. It is perhaps the first time that any NA panel has proposed measures aimed at regulating social media.

Citing several sections and provisions of existing laws including the Anti-Terrorism Act, the committee recommended that individual journalists be slapped with a penalty in case of any violation. It also called for an “amicable settlement of issues” between the government and media stakeholders —with the panel acting as a bridge.

Recently, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, ruled out the possibility of journalists, politicians and common citizens being tried in military courts. The minister also said that military courts cannot pursue a case without prior approval of the federal government.

But a legal expert pointed out that the recommendations of the parliamentary panel could be problematic for journalists. He said currently there is no constitutional or legal guarantee if a journalist is booked under anti-terrorism laws and then his case would not be referred to military courts. “All assurances by state functionaries are verbal,” he said. According to him, the law discourages discriminatory conduct but this report proposed a “discriminatory recommendation” for penalising a working journalist in case of violation.

The standing committee on information, broadcasting and national heritage held two meetings on 24 December and 30 December 2014, respectively, on an emergency review of media laws, ethical and professional issues with reference to terrorism.

The panel proposed that the government ensure the passage of pending legislation on cyber crime to counter the terrorists’ narrative on social media to avoid Arab spring like situation. The report also referred to websites from where terrorists are disseminating their messages and ensure new membership for their terror network, saying that verification of users is necessary to find the real culprits behind fake Facebook accounts and Google IDs.

The report suggested refresher courses for media persons. It also recommended that services of doctors and psychologists should also be acquired to haul the nation out of depression, stress and trauma.
The committee recommended that a consultative body between government and all representative media meet more often during the so called war time period to discuss issues which required clarity on the counterterrorism narrative.

The committee proposed strict adherence to existing media laws, as well as a refresher course of the same for all media organization staff and politicians. The committee proposed the need for an overall mindset change and capacity building at media houses for implementing laws crucial for ending terrorism.

Citing international best practices, the report also incorporated BBC Editorial Guidelines as potential guidelines and suggested a similar process for Pakistani media. “If the oldest democracy of the world can impose certain restrictions then why not we?” asked MNA Marvi Memon. The report suggested that media should also be assigned to counter Indian narratives regarding border violation.

Mechanism for Social media

The report says social media is fast becoming mainstream because it carries mainstream media content, generates its own content, and has a decisive edge over mainstream media in terms of outreach and speed. Social media has little transparency, identity clarity and controls.

This new media causes durable information flows that define long-term public perceptions of right and wrong, good and bad. There are no rules for opinion, expression. There is no check on fake sites. Anyone can say anything (true or false) and get away with the impact on the populace or individuals.

Express Tribune

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CCP raids PBA office, confiscates record

CCP raids PBA office, confiscates record

Islamabad: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday raided the office of Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) located at Karachi and confiscated relevant record to investigate alleged cartelization among media houses. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that a team of 6 to 7 officials of the CCP from Islamabad reached Karachi to conduct search and inspection of the PBA office.

The relevant record – both the manual and computerised record – has been impounded for further investigation. The CCP has started inquiry into the said case and the record recovered would be examined by the commission. Last month, the CCP had informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that it had initiated investigation against an association of media houses suspected to be involved in management of members’ advertisement business, reflecting a possible collusion among media houses. During the presentation before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, CCP Chairman Dr Joseph Wilson said formal inquiries under section 37 of the Competition Act have been initiated against 4 sectors.

Firstly, an association of automobile dealers is suspected of fixing prices of repair and paint jobs. Secondly, an association of media houses is suspected of managing members’ advertisement business. Thirdly, poultry feed manufacturers are suspected of fixing prices. Fourthly, the cement manufacturers are suspected of collectively fixing prices.

The committee members inquired about the names of the media houses, but the CCP officials said that it would not be appropriate to disclose details in the presence of media in the committee. When the committee members insisted of sharing details of the media case, Mueen Batlay, CCP Member Competition Policy, Research, Cartels and Trade Abuses stated that they are carrying out an investigation into a case of media houses. An association of media houses has been suspected of carrying out in management of members’ advertisement business. If there is an understanding among the media houses to collectively set advertising rates, then there would be no competition in the market. It is a case of suspected collusion and the CCP is examining it threadbare. He added that the case is at an initial stage and investigation is under way. It is a case relating to fiscal year 2013-14.

Business Recorder

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Taliban threaten media of dire consequences

Taliban threaten media of dire consequences

ISLAMABAD: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has threatened the national media of dire consequences for refusing coverage to them.

In a statement issued Monday, spokesman for the proscribed outfit Muhammad Khurasani said that 120 militants of his organization were murdered in the past two days. He accused media and intellectuals of insensitively ignoring the killings of the TTP men. “Media will have to face dire consequences for backing the security forces”, he threatened.

The TTP has claimed responsibility for the Peshawar carnage where148 people mostly schoolchildren were massacred.

Pakistan army has intensified its offensive against the militants in North Waziristan and other parts of the country.

Social media activists have been running a campaign on Twitter with #NoAirTimeforTaliban hashtag to urge anchorpersons and media managers to deny airtime to Taliban and their apologists like Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid fame.

Journalism Pakistan

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International journalist deaths soar in 2014

International journalist deaths soar in 2014

NEW YORK: The gruesome murders of foreign journalists by the Islamic State group contributed to 2014 being a particularly deadly year for international correspondents, an annual review by the Committee to Protect Journalists reported Tuesday.
The CPJ study found that an “unusually high proportion” of the 60 journalists who died reporting from the world’s trouble-spots in 2014 were international journalists.
Among the grim toll were American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, whose horrific beheadings by IS jihadists were published by the group in online videos in August and September.
German photographer Anja Niedringhaus also died after being shot by a police officer while working in Afghanistan covering elections for The Associated Press.
Six international journalists were among five reporters and two media workers killed in Ukraine this year, the first journalism-related killings CPJ has confirmed in the country since 2001.
In total, around a quarter of journalist fatalities in 2014 involved international correspondents – roughly double the usual mortality rate, the CPJ reported.
However despite the high casualty rate of Western journalists, the study found that the “overwhelming majority” of reporters at risk for their work around the world continue to be local.
The CPJ cited the case of Syria, the deadliest country for journalists in 2014 for a third straight year with 17 deaths, as an example of the risks faced by local reporters. Of the approximately 20 journalists estimated to be held hostage by the IS group, most are local, the CPJ said.
In total, some 79 reporters have been killed in Syria since the country’s bloody civil war erupted in 2011.
Syria has now passed the Philippines as the second deadliest place for reporters since the CPJ began keeping its tally of journalist killings in 1992. Iraq is the deadliest.
The CPJ said around half of the journalists killed in 2014 died in the Middle East, with 39 percent of them losing their lives in combat or crossfire.
The latest annual death toll means the past three years are the most deadly period ever recorded by the CPJ.
According to Reuters, the 2014 death toll marks a drop from 2013, when 70 journalists were killed. The CPJ is investigating the deaths this year of at least 18 more journalists to see if they are work-related.
Monitoring Desk adds: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that seven journalists and media workers were killed in Pakistan during the calendar year.
This is down from 2013 when eight journalists and media workers were killed and a very much low from the 20-year highs of 11 in 2010 and 2011.
In the report released on Tuesday, the CPJ said that three journalists, including Shan Dahar (Abb Tak Television), Ghulam Rasool and Irshad Mastoi (Online International News Network) were killed for their work. Since 1992, the CPJ said it has confirmed that 56 journalists in Pakistan had been killed in direct reprisal for their work.
The report said that the motive behind Ijaz Mengal’s (Daily Intekhab) murder in Khuzdar remains unconfirmed. According to CPJ’s data, motives behind the murder of 19 journalists in Pakistan remains unconfirmed with cases stretching back to 1998.
The Nation

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The darkest day in media history

The darkest day in media history

PESHAWAR: Militancy has become a harsh reality for the citizens of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas, a reality habituated.

Like first responders, journalists reach crime scenes and internalise all the gore and blood. And we tend to forget that journalists –like government officials, armed and security forces and members of the general public– are also amongst the victims.

Media personnel deserve appreciation for reporting on these violent acts of terror. Scattered incidents of media personnel coming under attack throughout the region have become commonplace.
One of the most heinous attempts on journalists took place in Peshawar five years ago.

December 22, 2009 has gone down as the darkest day in media history. A large number of journalists had gathered at Peshawar Press Club (PPC) to mourn the demise of Sohail Qalandar, founding resident editor of Daily Express. However, things took a dramatic turn when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the press club’s entrance.

Three innocent lives were lost in this attack. Riazuddin, a police constable, Syed Iqbal Shah, the club’s cashier and an employee of accounts department fell victim to this barbaric attack. Around 19 people, including journalists, cameramen, guests and club employees, were wounded. Yasar Ali and Ayub Khan, two of the club’s employees, were critically wounded and later recovered.

Abid Naveed – a journalist otherwise known as Asfandyar Chamkani who lost his life in an attack on Khyber Super Market in June 2011 –was also injured in the attack.

Unfortunately, Shah succumbed to his injuries at Lady Reading Hospital.

Following the attack, then FC commandant Sifwat Ghayoor reached the site and helped. He remained there till it had been cleared by security officials and the bomb disposal unit. Ghayoor helped carry the body of Riazuddin into an ambulance and ensured it was shifted to a hospital.

Incidentally, Ghayoor died the following year when a suicide bomber rammed into his vehicle in Saddar.
The incident shook the entire nation. Within a few hours, leading politicians and army personnel visited the site. Media organisations, journalists and analysts from across the world condemned the incident.

The PPC came under attack as it had become an important venue where terrorism and extremism was openly denounced. Moreover, it had played a major role in encouraging leaders from various political parties to form the Aman Tehreek. From this forum, they signed the Peshawar Declaration which called for a review of all internal and external policies inherited from military ruler Ziaul Haq.

At the time, the declaration was vehemently criticised. However, the Peshawar Declaration has now been endorsed and upheld in the wake of the barbaric attack on children at Army
Public School.

Nothing can justify the loss of innocent lives on that fated day. Riazuddin had been stationed at the PPC for a long time and shared a close relationship with members. Shah had only joined the club two months before his death.

After the 2008 election, when the Awami National Party seized the reins in K-P, militant attacks became the order of the day. This triggered uncertainty and fear among people. However, Riazuddin had repeatedly assured PPC members that he would protect them at all costs.

“The suicide bombers will have to kill me and go over my dead body to attack you,” he would say. In death, Riazuddin proved his commitment to protect the media from any form of assault. Journalists will never forget his sacrifice.

With a single act of bravery, he saved the lives of over 70 journalists present inside the club.

Express Tribune

http://tribune.com.pk/story/810322/rewind-the-darkest-day-in-media-history/

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Outlawed TTP threatens Pakistan media backing security forces

Outlawed TTP threatens Pakistan media backing security forces

PESHAWAR: Banned militant outfit, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has threatened media houses to face severe consequences over backing security forces of the country.

TTP spokesperson Muhammad Umar Khorasani threatened that media houses would see severe results of backing Pakistan military, local media reported on Monday.

He alleged that the security forces had killed more than 120 workers in two days. Media and intellectual sectors have forgotten to highlight the issue, he added.

It should be mentioned here that the TTP spokesperson released the statement amid large-scale crackdowns commenced by security forces across country after Peshawar massacre.

Political and military leaderships have now brought on one page against terrorism.

The News Tribe

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Attack on media team

Attack on media team

THERE’S no argument that Pakistan is, for a variety of reasons, already amongst the most challenging of terrains for journalists to navigate. Even so, the events that took place during the PTI’s ‘shutdown’ of Lahore on Monday mark a new low; the media team of Geo TV, whose management PTI leader Imran Khan has in recent weeks been censuring from the podium, was shamefully harassed.

Party supporters lobbed plastic bottles and gravel on the reporters, one of whom was a woman, raising slogans and making indecent gestures.

This is not the first time PTI supporters have made this particular media house their target — consider, for example, the fact that while a showdown was under way between the police and party supporters in Islamabad soon after Mr Khan launched his series of protests, the Geo building was singled out by PTI affiliates to vandalise.

That a female reporter was so poorly treated by supporters of a party that is rightly proud of its ability to attract large numbers of women out on the streets is considered by some to be an anomaly.

Yet at another level, the violence is not at all hard to understand. For months now, the PTI leader has been leading the verbal attacks against particularly this member of the media community, hurling threats and giving ultimatums.

While he has stopped short of calling for physical violence to be visited on the owners or employees of the media house, what is the message that the ordinary party supporter and activist walks away with? That media people are legitimate targets, even if their presence at the scene is necessitated by the demands of their profession. While it is true that this particular television channel’s approach to issue- or politics-centred journalism is problematic, in no way can assaults such as that by the PTI be justified.

It is not enough for party leaders to issue condemnations after violence has already taken place; the PTI leadership must unequivocally emphasise that such attacks are abhorrent.

DAWN

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