Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Media Freedom under attack by Pakistan’s Government, the military and the judiciary

Pakistan Press Foundation

Three television channels of Pakistan’s most watched and most influential media network Geo TV, was ordered to be taken off air and shut down for a period of 15 days on the instruction of the country’s intelligence agency the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). Continuing the attack Geo TV was also baselessly fined a sum of […]


Geo/Jang group tenders apology to ISI, armed forces

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: In the backdrop of an attack on life of Hamid Mir – senior journalist and anchorperson – Geo TV network and Jang media group on Monday tendered apology to Pakistan’s armed forces and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for hurling allegations on ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam. In a published apology in English daily The […]


Members of Pakistani regulator try to close TV station illegally

Pakistan Press Foundation

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the order issued yesterday by three members of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) closing three Geo Television channels – Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment – and cancelling their licences. The order was rapidly disowned by PEMRA in a press release that said it was issued […]


PM praises ISI for its sacrifices

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: In his first formal interaction with the country’s top spymaster, the prime minister on Monday openly defended the premier intelligence agency in the wake of allegations leveled against him following the April 19 gun attack on television anchor Hamid Mir. Nawaz Sharif praised the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in ensuring the “protection […]


Outpouring of solidarity with army, ISI

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Amidst seething anger over the vilification of Pakistan Army and its premier spy agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence – by Geo TV, rallies were staged in all major towns and cities of the country to express solidarity with the national security institution. In the metropolis, various political and politico-religious parties – including Sunni Ittehad […]


Perception of govt-army rift disappearing

Pakistan Press Foundation

Senior journalist and anchorperson Kamran Khan has said that the perception of a rift between the government and the Army is disappearing now and there is evidence that the government and the Army are on the same page on all the important issues. Some television channels are attempting to settle scores by raising questions on […]


Government moves to cancel license of country’s largest television network

Pakistan Press Foundation

In the aftermath of allegations and counter allegations following the April 19 attempted murder of popular anchor Hamid Mir, Pakistan government sought to ban the country’s largest television channel on the complaint initiated by the country’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. On April 22, 2014 the federal Ministry of Defence filed a reference with Pakistan […]


Government-army-media triangle

Pakistan Press Foundation

The Ministry of Defence has on Tuesday sought the revocation of the licence of a private TV channel over the Hamid Mir affair by moving a complaint to the National Electronic Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). It may be recalled that after the prominent journalist was shot in Karachi on Saturday, his TV channel broadcast his brother […]


The Hamid Mir case: ‘In Pakistan, they used to censor journalists – now they shoot us’

Pakistan Press Foundation

On Saturday in Karachi, one of Pakistan’s most famous journalists survived being shot six times. Soon after, the TV news channel he works for blamed the feared Inter-Services Intelligence agency for the attack. Author Mohammed Hanif reports on a fourth estate under siege More than a hundred bouquets line the lobby of the private ward […]


Deadlines, headlines & red lines

Pakistan Press Foundation

ABRAR Tanoli. Ayub Khattak. Shan Dahar. Bakhtaj Ali. Razik Baloch. Almost no-one knows who these persons are, not even a very big chunk of Pakistan’s 18,000-strong community of working journalists. They were all working journalists who were killed in targeted attacks in the last 12 months. Three other media workers — Waqas Aziz, Khalid Khan […]


Attack on Hamid Mir

Pakistan Press Foundation

The attempted assassination of TV anchor and journalist Hamid Mir in Karachi on Saturday, April 19, 2014, is a grim reminder of the dangers facing media persons in Pakistan. Not for nothing has it been dubbed the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Clearly, the schedule and travel plans of Hamid Mir were […]


Hamid Mir & Media Ethics

Pakistan Press Foundation

The shooting of the high profile journalist and TV personality Hamid Mir on Saturday, led as it rightly should have, to a frenzy in the media. The news channel, Geo News, to which Mir belongs was the frontrunner in reporting after the incident. In a country where the narrative on democracy is newly maturing, the […]


Popular television anchor Hamid Mir shot, injured in Karachi

Pakistan Press Foundation

Hamid Mir, Senior journalist and anchor person of Pakistan’s popular talk show “Capital Talk” on leading television channel “Geo News” was seriously injured in a gun attack on April 19, 2014 at about 5:30 pm in Karachi, the capital city of Sindh province. No case has been registered and no one has claimed the responsibility […]