• May 31, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International, the world human rights watchdog, has said that up to 80 percent of the Jang Media Group’s distribution in print and on the airwaves has been disrupted by media industry bodies, apparently under the orders of the Pakistani military. The Pakistani authorities should immediately investigate the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military’s premier […]

• May 28, 2014
• Media Ethics

ISLAMABAD: PTI Central Information Secretary Shireen Mazari stated that the Geo/Jang Group apology as an advertisement in their papers was merely an expression of regret over the hurt caused to the armed forces and a large number of viewers implying that the nation as a whole and the civilian government had no issue with the […]

• May 23, 2014
• Media and Governance, Media Ethics

ISLAMABAD: In a strongly worded diatribe, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday alleged that the government was destabilising state institutions by supporting Geo/Jang group, adding that Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was protecting the group. While addressing a press conference on Thursday, PTI Secretary Information Dr Shireen Mazari claimed that there was a strong nexus between Geo/Jang […]

• May 22, 2014
• Media Ethics

All eyes are on Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). No matter how incompetent or troubled it may be, the authority remains responsible for dealing with issues related to the electronic media such as the one making headlines these days. During this tug of war between the country’s biggest media house and the Inter-Services Intelligence […]

• May 22, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

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 […]

• May 19, 2014
• Media Ethics

ISLAMABAD: Sunni Tehreek (ST) chief Sarwat Ijaz Qadri, Shia Ulema Council (SUC) Central President Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) leaders Mufti Muhammad Arif Golravi and Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari, and Pakistan Federal Union of Columnists’ members have expressed explicitly that the Geo TV administration has apologised for the controversial morning show; hence, the […]

• May 18, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

The ongoing saga between Jang Group and the ISI, in which the entire nation – from the Mullahs, to the media anchors, to the politicians, to the judiciary, and even the mango people – is now engulfed, is more than simply about Hamid Mir’s allegations regarding the assassination attempt. The tentacles of this drama of […]

• May 15, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

Approaching the third anniversary of the murder of Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani journalist killed as he investigated the murky relationship between the ISI and Al-Qaeda, little progress has been made with the investigation. In many ways, Shahzad’s case signifies the challenge in Pakistan: brave journalists who face threats from non-state and state actors, and a […]

• May 11, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: Chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), Maulana Samiul Haq, has said it is highly ridiculous to term Jang and Geo as traitor or are working on foreign agenda. He said Jang and Geo always respected the all institutions of national security and gave the status of national heroes and martyrs to […]

• May 11, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was requested on Saturday to intervene and safeguard the national interest by summoning representatives of a media house and ministers to explain why the army and its intelligence wing were maligned on the day when TV anchor Hamid Mir was attacked in Karachi. Petitioner Shafqatullah Sohail also urged the court to […]

• May 10, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Friday referred the issue of complaint against Geo News to the Ministry of Law for legal opinion after the majority of members contended that the authority could not handle it directly. The authority has sought the legal opinion of the ministry on the legality of the […]

• May 10, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

ISLAMABAD: In an extraordinary development, Pemra Member Israr Abbasi, who is considered close to the establishment, after the authority’s crucial meeting on Friday said that the government was committing a suicidal act by not acting against the Geo TV as the ISI had moved a complaint against the channel. Israr, in fact, openly and clearly […]

• May 9, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) disposed of the petition regarding cancellation of licence of Pakistan’s most famous TV channel Geo News and checks on the publications of the Jang Group as the petitioners failed to pursue the case. On the occasion of hearing of the case on Thursday, the petitioners and their counsel did […]

• May 9, 2014
• Media Ethics

PEMRA receives highest-ever 27,389 complaints against TV channels between April 19 and May 6; 11,005 against Geo’s ‘propaganda against the armed forces’, 9,310 against Geo airing ‘Indian content’ Complainants question PEMRA ‘lack of action’, say government in cahoots with Geo TV, also cry foul against Fox News, ARY, Hum TV, Urdu 1 PEMRA likely to […]