Freedom | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

THE YEAR IN COMEDY

Pakistan Press Foundation

Pakistan’s politics repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce. So, while you may initially be inclined to shed tears over it, a better reaction, I humbly suggest, might be to enjoy the absurdities for what they are. It is the greatest comic show, better than anything you could find on Netflix. And it certainly […]


Search Govt believes in freedom of press, speech: PIO

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: Principal Information Officer (PIO) Mian Jehangir Iqbal has said that the government firmly believes in freedom of press and freedom of expression in addition to being aware of the importance of regional press alongside national newspapers and was striving for resolving problems related to these matters. He was talking to editors of local newspapers […]


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Call for making UN suggestions on human rights public

Pakistan Press Foundation

LAHORE: Veteran journalist and human rights activist I.A. Rehman on Sunday urged the government to make the 2017-18 Universal Period Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council public and present it in parliament, explaining that UNHRC recommendations favour the country and its ­people. “The world is not conspiring against Pakistan. The UPR recommendations […]


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Retuning television

Pakistan Press Foundation

Early in the millennium, the private television channels in Pakistan brought a new trend of news bulletins and current affairs talk shows. This no-holds-barred freedom in the post 9/11 environment heralded in its stride undesirable trends alongside positive ones. In response to viewers’ appetite for independent news and bold analyses, the channels aired round the […]


Media coverage

Pakistan Press Foundation

THE Pakistani media’s tragic flaw is that rather than cover the story, it is too often part of the story. So it is again with regards to media coverage of last week’s TLP protests. All stakeholders — the government, the protesters, the public — had strong opinions on how the media should cover the mayhem. […]


‘Self-censorship flourishes in environment of fear and intimidation’

Pakistan Press Foundation

The two-day School of Tomorrow event ‘A World of Tomorrow Reimagined’ kicked off at a hotel on Saturday. The session titled “Freedom of Expression: Where Do We Draw the Line?” was moderated by journalist Mehmal Sarfaraz and had artist Salima Hashmi, Nida Mushtaq of Feminist Collective and senior journalist Ghazi Salahuddin as panelists. Defining the […]


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Internet freedom

Pakistan Press Foundation

IN its 2018 Freedom on the Net report, the democracy watchdog Freedom House has once again found Pakistan ‘not free’ for a seventh consecutive year, indicating a gradual worsening of internet conditions in the country. Between June 2017 and May 2018, Pakistan’s rating fell by two points since the year before, and the country received […]


Pakistan’s internet freedom ranking declined in election year: report

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: The Freedom House has declared Pakistan “Not Free” in terms of internet use for the seventh consecutive year in its global report released on Thursday.The report showed that the country’s ranking had been worsening over the years. The watchdog primarily focused on developments that occurred between June last year and May this year. It […]


Undemocratic regimes want to wipe out press freedom: Bilawal

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD  –  Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday said that impunity for crimes against journalists was an international issue as undemocratic regimes, extremist and anti-people forces are bent upon to wipe out press freedom from the globe. In his message on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists being observed […]


A new press gag plan

Pakistan Press Foundation

WHY is the PTI government keen to revive the N-League scheme to bring the press under a Pemra-like law? Is it because the proposed law is one of the most regressive measures against the print media devised in over a hundred years? In 2017, the press fraternity protested vigorously against a draft law to set […]


HRCP criticises curbs on freedom of movement

Pakistan Press Foundation

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says it is concerned about putting activist Gulalai Ismail on the exit control list (ECL) and confiscation of her travel documents. An HRCP press release says Ms Ismail was taken into custody in Islamabad on Oct 12 in connection with a first information report filed in August […]


Govt plans new body to regulate media: Fawad

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday announced a broad outline of the newly proposed Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PMRA) to oversee print, electronic and social media. The announcement set alarm bells ringing among stakeholders including journalists who complained that they had not been consulted on the issue and expressed scepticism over the government […]


Journalists walk out of KP assembly

Pakistan Press Foundation

Parliamentary journalists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday staged a token walk-out of the house to register protest against the murder of the Haripur based journalist Sohail Khan. The Haripur based journalist had been shot dead after he submitted a formal application with the concerned police station of his district. The deceased was reportedly receiving […]


Media controls in the offing?

Pakistan Press Foundation

The PTI-led coalition government’s proposed draft of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority law reads more like a complete negation of the ruling party’s pledges made in its election manifesto with regard to the media freedom. The objectives of the proposed authority appear to be media control rather than media regulation. More likely those who prepared […]