GENEVA: Fifty-nine journalists have been killed around the world so far this year, in an alarming rise from 2008 that has become a “bloodbath” of the media, a watchdog said on Thursday.
The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said 53 journalists were killed in the first six months, up from 45 in the first half of last year, but highlighted another six killings in July, including Russian journalist and rights activist Natalya Estemirova who was murdered on July 15.
Mexico leads the media blackspots with seven journalists being killed this year, according to the PEC.
It said there were six journalists killed in Pakistan, five each in Iraq, the Philippines, Russia and Somalia, four in Gaza and Honduras, three in Colombia, two each in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Venezuela and one in India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, and Madagascar.
The PEC called upon all UN states, international organisations and NGOs to take action “to stop this bloodbath against journalists”.
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Sunday, July 26, 2009
Another Pakistani journalist's house attacked
New York, July 13, 2009--The house of a second Pakistani journalist working in the border area with Afghanistan was looted and burned on Saturday, according to the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ). The attack was similar to one carried out by Taliban militants on Thursday in the same district, which has been an area of conflict since the government launched an offensive in April.
According to the KhUJ and the English-language daily The News, the home of Behroz Khan, in Balo Khan village in Buner in the North West Frontier Province, had been looted and ransacked a few times in recent months before it was burned over the weekend. Khan is a senior journalist who works for Geo TV and has assisted CPJ investigations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the past.
"The targeting of homes and families of journalists who dare to report professionally is a frightening trend that must be stopped," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "All sides in the conflict in Pakistan must respect the role of journalists in covering the news."
The News reported that Khan had left the area before the most recent attack and CPJ has not been able to contact him. The paper said Buner's district coordination officer and district police officer were not available to comment.
A bomb destroyed the home of Voice of America correspondent Rahman Bunairee in Buner district on Thursday in what was believed to be a retaliatory attack by the Taliban.
The government said on Wednesday that it was winding down its military operations against Taliban militants in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. The offensive, launched in April, has killed about 1,600 combatants, according to the government.
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According to the KhUJ and the English-language daily The News, the home of Behroz Khan, in Balo Khan village in Buner in the North West Frontier Province, had been looted and ransacked a few times in recent months before it was burned over the weekend. Khan is a senior journalist who works for Geo TV and has assisted CPJ investigations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the past.
"The targeting of homes and families of journalists who dare to report professionally is a frightening trend that must be stopped," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "All sides in the conflict in Pakistan must respect the role of journalists in covering the news."
The News reported that Khan had left the area before the most recent attack and CPJ has not been able to contact him. The paper said Buner's district coordination officer and district police officer were not available to comment.
A bomb destroyed the home of Voice of America correspondent Rahman Bunairee in Buner district on Thursday in what was believed to be a retaliatory attack by the Taliban.
The government said on Wednesday that it was winding down its military operations against Taliban militants in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. The offensive, launched in April, has killed about 1,600 combatants, according to the government.
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Pakistani reporter's home destroyed
New York, July 10, 2009--The home of Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Rahman Bunairee in Buner district was leveled by a bomb on Thursday in what was believed to be a retaliatory attack by the Taliban, news reports said.
Citing Bunairee's account, the U.S. government-funded broadcaster reported that "a few dozen militants came to his home in Buner district Wednesday night and told his father that because his son was speaking against militants, they had been ordered to blow up his home." The English-language Daily Times reported that Bunairee's family--including two young children--then vacated the house.
"Despite the government's claims of having secured the area, Pakistani journalists remain prime targets," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "The attack on the home of Rahman Bunairee is one more indicator of the dangers these journalists--and their families--face as they continue to report from this high-conflict area."
CPJ could not reach Bunairee by telephone or e-mail today, but news reports and accounts from VOA colleagues have filled in many details. Bunairee told colleagues that he and his family have relocated to a safe place. He said the attack may have come in retaliation for a recent report that said militants were still patrolling the streets in several villages in Buner--a district in the volatile North West Frontier Province--despite government claims that the Taliban have been largely eliminated in the area, the VOA said.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the government said that its military operations against Taliban militants were drawing to a close in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. It said Pakistani forces had killed about 1,600 combatants since it launched its offensive in April. A few days earlier, the government had encouraged civilians who had fled the fighting to begin returning to the area.
Click here to view source
Citing Bunairee's account, the U.S. government-funded broadcaster reported that "a few dozen militants came to his home in Buner district Wednesday night and told his father that because his son was speaking against militants, they had been ordered to blow up his home." The English-language Daily Times reported that Bunairee's family--including two young children--then vacated the house.
"Despite the government's claims of having secured the area, Pakistani journalists remain prime targets," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "The attack on the home of Rahman Bunairee is one more indicator of the dangers these journalists--and their families--face as they continue to report from this high-conflict area."
CPJ could not reach Bunairee by telephone or e-mail today, but news reports and accounts from VOA colleagues have filled in many details. Bunairee told colleagues that he and his family have relocated to a safe place. He said the attack may have come in retaliation for a recent report that said militants were still patrolling the streets in several villages in Buner--a district in the volatile North West Frontier Province--despite government claims that the Taliban have been largely eliminated in the area, the VOA said.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the government said that its military operations against Taliban militants were drawing to a close in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. It said Pakistani forces had killed about 1,600 combatants since it launched its offensive in April. A few days earlier, the government had encouraged civilians who had fled the fighting to begin returning to the area.
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
Pakistani journalists in frontier region
Following the wounding of a journalist and a driver by Pakistan security forces on Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Pakistan's military today to institute training to prevent such incidents and to discipline troops who fire unwarrantedly.
According to an e-mail message from the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ), troops manning a checkpoint in the Malakand Agency, within the frontier region, fired on AVT Khyber cameraman Malik Imran and the crew's driver, Mushtaq. The area is the scene of ongoing battles between various Pakistani units--some regular army, others from the Frontier Guards--and Taliban fighters.
The KhUJ reported that both men are in stable condition. Two other journalists traveling in the car, AVT Khyber reporter Lihaz Ali and photographer Abdul Majeed Gorayawere (whose affiliation was not given), were not injured. The journalists told KhUJ that their car was fired on after it had cleared the checkpoint.
The Pakistani military did not respond immediately to CPJ's request for comment.
It is imperative that the Pakistani military review its checkpoint procedures and ensure that its soldiers allow journalists to work in safety in conflict areas," Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.
KhUJ's parent organization, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), noted that "such incidents have become the order of the day in conflict areas." PFUJ Secretary General Shamsul Islam Naz said in a statement from Islamabad that the extraordinary security measures adopted by the armed forces in these areas are keeping journalists from highlighting the impact of the fighting on the local populace.
CPJ supported calls from the PFUJ and its subsidiary groups for Pakistani media companies to offer safety training and protective gear for their reporters and other personnel working in combat situations. "Many Pakistani journalists are being thrown into war reporting without proper training or equipment--a problem their employers must address immediately," said Dietz.
On the same day of the incident in Malakand, police in Rawalpindi baton-charged a group of journalists demonstrating to draw attention to the security crisis for journalists reporting in Pakistan's war-torn regions, according to local news reports. In a statement released Wednesday, the PFUJ expressed concern that the heavy-handed police response reflected a growing attitude of indifference by government and law enforcement agencies regarding freedom of expression and the need for journalists to be able to do their work safely.
In a briefing paper in May, CPJ reported that journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country. Threats and attacks from both sides have made reporting from Taliban-controlled areas more dangerous.
In a separate incident on Monday in Islamabad, the media support group Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) reported that three journalists were injured when they were assaulted by workers of the Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of Jamat-e-Islami, a religious political party, during a protest. The demonstrators told three journalists--Syed Mehdi, photojournalist for the daily The Nation, Muhammad Asim, photojournalist for the Daily Jinnah, and Aqeel Qasim Shah, cameraman for Metro One TV station--to stop taking photographs and attacked them when they did not. PPF said Mehdi was beaten with batons and received first aid treatment at a local hospital. Asim suffered minor injuries. Shah's camera was broken and his shoulder was injured.
Click here to view the source
According to an e-mail message from the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ), troops manning a checkpoint in the Malakand Agency, within the frontier region, fired on AVT Khyber cameraman Malik Imran and the crew's driver, Mushtaq. The area is the scene of ongoing battles between various Pakistani units--some regular army, others from the Frontier Guards--and Taliban fighters.
The KhUJ reported that both men are in stable condition. Two other journalists traveling in the car, AVT Khyber reporter Lihaz Ali and photographer Abdul Majeed Gorayawere (whose affiliation was not given), were not injured. The journalists told KhUJ that their car was fired on after it had cleared the checkpoint.
The Pakistani military did not respond immediately to CPJ's request for comment.
It is imperative that the Pakistani military review its checkpoint procedures and ensure that its soldiers allow journalists to work in safety in conflict areas," Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.
KhUJ's parent organization, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), noted that "such incidents have become the order of the day in conflict areas." PFUJ Secretary General Shamsul Islam Naz said in a statement from Islamabad that the extraordinary security measures adopted by the armed forces in these areas are keeping journalists from highlighting the impact of the fighting on the local populace.
CPJ supported calls from the PFUJ and its subsidiary groups for Pakistani media companies to offer safety training and protective gear for their reporters and other personnel working in combat situations. "Many Pakistani journalists are being thrown into war reporting without proper training or equipment--a problem their employers must address immediately," said Dietz.
On the same day of the incident in Malakand, police in Rawalpindi baton-charged a group of journalists demonstrating to draw attention to the security crisis for journalists reporting in Pakistan's war-torn regions, according to local news reports. In a statement released Wednesday, the PFUJ expressed concern that the heavy-handed police response reflected a growing attitude of indifference by government and law enforcement agencies regarding freedom of expression and the need for journalists to be able to do their work safely.
In a briefing paper in May, CPJ reported that journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country. Threats and attacks from both sides have made reporting from Taliban-controlled areas more dangerous.
In a separate incident on Monday in Islamabad, the media support group Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) reported that three journalists were injured when they were assaulted by workers of the Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of Jamat-e-Islami, a religious political party, during a protest. The demonstrators told three journalists--Syed Mehdi, photojournalist for the daily The Nation, Muhammad Asim, photojournalist for the Daily Jinnah, and Aqeel Qasim Shah, cameraman for Metro One TV station--to stop taking photographs and attacked them when they did not. PPF said Mehdi was beaten with batons and received first aid treatment at a local hospital. Asim suffered minor injuries. Shah's camera was broken and his shoulder was injured.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Pakistan’s Journalists Demand a Fair Deal
Journalists from Pakistan’s print and electronic media rallied nation-wide on Monday under the banner of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), to call attention to the continuing crises of livelihoods, job security and physical safety in their profession.
Protests were held in all the major cities of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur.
The PFUJ condemned the continuing failure of media owners to implement the Seventh Wage Award, despite the lapse of seven years since it was notified. With the tenure of the wage award having expired, the PFUJ is also demanding constitution of the overdue Eighth Wage Board.
Other demands include abolishing the contract system of employment in journalism, the enforcement of labour laws, and amendments to the applicable law to bring it in line with international labour conventions
The PFUJ also demands a high-level inquiry into recent activities of a senior official of the Pakistan Federal Government’s Information Department, for alleged abuse of power.
“The IFJ fully endorses the PFUJ’s demands,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said. “These are challenging times for journalism in Pakistan, with job losses mounting and professional morale taking a severe hit.
“Media organisations need to invest more rather than less in quality journalism, since the public demand for information is mounting in a context of growing internal conflict and economic crisis.”
According to the PFUJ, the protests were joined in virtually all cities by the local press clubs.
The demonstrators were unanimous in demanding that media organisations should retract their arbitrary recent actions and reinstate all journalists who had been unfairly dismissed from employment.
“The IFJ calls upon media organisations to meet their obligations toward the professional community of journalists since, as the PFUJ says, the last few years have been a period of unprecedented profitability for the industry,” White said.
“If a fair deal for journalists remained an unrealised hope through the years of the boom, the current economic downturn makes it an absolute imperative.”
Click here to view source
Protests were held in all the major cities of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur.
The PFUJ condemned the continuing failure of media owners to implement the Seventh Wage Award, despite the lapse of seven years since it was notified. With the tenure of the wage award having expired, the PFUJ is also demanding constitution of the overdue Eighth Wage Board.
Other demands include abolishing the contract system of employment in journalism, the enforcement of labour laws, and amendments to the applicable law to bring it in line with international labour conventions
The PFUJ also demands a high-level inquiry into recent activities of a senior official of the Pakistan Federal Government’s Information Department, for alleged abuse of power.
“The IFJ fully endorses the PFUJ’s demands,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said. “These are challenging times for journalism in Pakistan, with job losses mounting and professional morale taking a severe hit.
“Media organisations need to invest more rather than less in quality journalism, since the public demand for information is mounting in a context of growing internal conflict and economic crisis.”
According to the PFUJ, the protests were joined in virtually all cities by the local press clubs.
The demonstrators were unanimous in demanding that media organisations should retract their arbitrary recent actions and reinstate all journalists who had been unfairly dismissed from employment.
“The IFJ calls upon media organisations to meet their obligations toward the professional community of journalists since, as the PFUJ says, the last few years have been a period of unprecedented profitability for the industry,” White said.
“If a fair deal for journalists remained an unrealised hope through the years of the boom, the current economic downturn makes it an absolute imperative.”
Click here to view source
IFJ Demands Protection of Journalists in Pakistan’s North-West
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), in expressing alarm at the rapid deterioration in conditions for journalists and media workers in Pakistan’s war-torn North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
According to the PFUJ, most journalists and media workers in the Malakand division of NWFP have abandoned their professional work. Five daily newspapers have ceased publishing. Very many print and electronic media personnel have had to leave their offices and homes due to the escalation in fighting between Pakistan’s armed forces and insurgents grouped under the banner of the Taliban.
The five newspapers that have closed - Azadi, Khabarkar, Chand, Salam and Shumal - were all published from Mingora, the headquarters of Swat.
Journalists in Swat have had to contend with indiscriminate firing from unidentified assailants, and damage to their vehicles and property.
Several journalists came under intensive rocket attack in Swat’s Continental Hotel last week. They did not suffer physical harm, but the vehicle of one journalist, Fayaz Zafar, was gutted when it was hit by a rocket.
In Buner in late April, a team of journalists covering the military engagement came under hostile fire, in which a correspondent of a private television channel suffered serious injuries.
“The IFJ calls on all sides to the conflict to recognise the non-combatant status of journalists and appeals to media managers to ensure that personnel assigned to the war-affected area are provided with training in safety procedures and all necessary equipment to protect themselves,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“The IFJ also calls on Pakistan’s Government to recognize its obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006), which stresses that national governments must actively protect journalists and media workers reporting in war zones, in accordance with their status as civilians under international law.”
The IFJ joins the PFUJ in expressing great concern at the news blackout from the war zones. The exodus of media personnel is depriving people of Pakistan of fair and unbiased reporting from the region, both on the military operation and the humanitarian situation. The only agency now disseminating information from the area is the Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), which is tasked with presenting only the army’s version of events.
Click here to view source
According to the PFUJ, most journalists and media workers in the Malakand division of NWFP have abandoned their professional work. Five daily newspapers have ceased publishing. Very many print and electronic media personnel have had to leave their offices and homes due to the escalation in fighting between Pakistan’s armed forces and insurgents grouped under the banner of the Taliban.
The five newspapers that have closed - Azadi, Khabarkar, Chand, Salam and Shumal - were all published from Mingora, the headquarters of Swat.
Journalists in Swat have had to contend with indiscriminate firing from unidentified assailants, and damage to their vehicles and property.
Several journalists came under intensive rocket attack in Swat’s Continental Hotel last week. They did not suffer physical harm, but the vehicle of one journalist, Fayaz Zafar, was gutted when it was hit by a rocket.
In Buner in late April, a team of journalists covering the military engagement came under hostile fire, in which a correspondent of a private television channel suffered serious injuries.
“The IFJ calls on all sides to the conflict to recognise the non-combatant status of journalists and appeals to media managers to ensure that personnel assigned to the war-affected area are provided with training in safety procedures and all necessary equipment to protect themselves,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“The IFJ also calls on Pakistan’s Government to recognize its obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006), which stresses that national governments must actively protect journalists and media workers reporting in war zones, in accordance with their status as civilians under international law.”
The IFJ joins the PFUJ in expressing great concern at the news blackout from the war zones. The exodus of media personnel is depriving people of Pakistan of fair and unbiased reporting from the region, both on the military operation and the humanitarian situation. The only agency now disseminating information from the area is the Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), which is tasked with presenting only the army’s version of events.
Click here to view source
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Journalists Flee Swat Valley
Only a few journalists are left in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley to cover the government's military offensive against the Taliban, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), as well as news reports on the website of the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF).
RSF reports that national newspapers are no longer being distributed for safety reasons. Swat residents no longer have access to satellite television since the Taliban damaged the district's only cable distribution network, and journalists are fleeing the area out of fear for their safety.
The authorities have introduced a curfew in Swat and neighbouring districts in a bid to stop the Taliban from reinforcing their positions in the region.
"It is now impossible to get independently-sourced information about what is happening in Swat Valley," RSF said.
Ghulam Farooq, the editor of the local daily "Shamal", told RSF, "All the newspapers based in Swat have stopped publishing for security reasons, because the situation is extremely dangerous. What's more, the curfew makes it impossible for our staff to move about." According to news reports, Farooq and his family have fled Swat.
Swat Press Club president Salahuddin Khan told reporters that journalists had left the valley. "We are leaving Swat as we are under direct threat from all sides," he said. Khan advised all journalists choosing to stay in Mingora, Swat's main city, to work from home.
RSF is demanding the Pakistani authorities give journalists better protection and permits "that allow them to circulate during curfew hours so that they are able to do their job."
Visit these links:
- Journalists flee Swat Valley en masse (RSF): http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=31276
RSF reports that national newspapers are no longer being distributed for safety reasons. Swat residents no longer have access to satellite television since the Taliban damaged the district's only cable distribution network, and journalists are fleeing the area out of fear for their safety.
The authorities have introduced a curfew in Swat and neighbouring districts in a bid to stop the Taliban from reinforcing their positions in the region.
"It is now impossible to get independently-sourced information about what is happening in Swat Valley," RSF said.
Ghulam Farooq, the editor of the local daily "Shamal", told RSF, "All the newspapers based in Swat have stopped publishing for security reasons, because the situation is extremely dangerous. What's more, the curfew makes it impossible for our staff to move about." According to news reports, Farooq and his family have fled Swat.
Swat Press Club president Salahuddin Khan told reporters that journalists had left the valley. "We are leaving Swat as we are under direct threat from all sides," he said. Khan advised all journalists choosing to stay in Mingora, Swat's main city, to work from home.
RSF is demanding the Pakistani authorities give journalists better protection and permits "that allow them to circulate during curfew hours so that they are able to do their job."
Visit these links:
- Journalists flee Swat Valley en masse (RSF): http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=31276
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
BBC launches new language sites
The BBC College of Journalism and the BBC World Service have today launched five new language learning micro-sites, with one more to come soon.
The launches mean the number of language sites from the College of Journalism now totals at 30.We have launched external language sites for our last group: Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian, which will be shortly followed by Turkish. Today's launches will bring up the number of the language sites created for America and Europe to seven. The language sites for Ukraninan were launched last month.
Sixteen months ago it seemed an almost impossible task to create an external language micro-site for all the language services in the World Service, but today it is a reality.
This has been a unique opportunity presented to the language services by the College of Journalism, enabling every service to concentrate on its own language for the first time.
Language experts, senior colleagues and specialists from outside BBC were asked to find consensus for terminologies, style, wording, translation techniques, writing styles for a multimedia platform and much more.
The aim was to create bespoke, unique sites for every language which will serve the need of that particular language. The use of impartial language was the main point for some languages; others concentrated on grammar, spelling, style, pronunciation, translation and original writing.
The College of Journalism site in Portugese for Brazil mainly concentrates on the use of impartial language, accuracy and storytelling. Rogerio Simoes, head of Brazilian Service, believes that: "The College of Journalism site can be a very important tool in our relationship with our audience, as it shows to the user of our site what are the main concerns and principles behind the journalism produced by the BBC. We hope to gradually make it a larger and even more effective reference for members of our audience who want to understand more about BBC's aims and what BBC journalism stands for."
Spanish, For many languages this has been an opportunity to share the BBC editorial values with the audience, the College of Journalism site in Spanish carries the BBC editorial guideline highlighted by an interview with expert. Hernando Alvarez, current affairs editor, says: "Through the Spanish College of Journalism site we have an opportunity to show everyone how and why we are taking the editorial decisions."
Albanian, Language is a living organism which is constantly changing and developing. The language expert on the Albanian site explains the dilemma of foreign words in the media, where is it necessary and when it is destroying the language. The head of Albanian Service, Diana Kola, believes that the unique selling point the BBC output has is its ability to analyze and go under the skin of the story, while at the same time use simple, unpolluted language that is understood by all.
Macedonian, The BBC is delighted to be able to develop this knowledge and share it with journalists across the world.
The head of the BBC Macedonain Service, Zaneta Skerlev, says: "School of Journalism in Macedonian will enrich our online offer with something completely different - how we do what we do best - writing for radio. It is good that we are not selfishly keeping the knowledge, experience and talent - we are sharing that with our listeners and colleagues."
Serbian, The College of Journalism language sites also carry some expert advice from the main College of Journalism English site. We have been able to translate a film by the BBC correspondent Allan Little on how to write for radio in many languages.Creating College of Journalism language micro-sites is a first step and a firm recognition of the fact that journalists broadcasting in languages other than English need a mechanism of support which can also be a reference point for the BBC and non-BBC journalists across the world.
Aleksej Zoric, head Of Serbian Service, believes that the BBC School of Journalism presentation on the BBC Serbian internet pages have the potential of becoming a very useful and instructive tool for the users. For those working in journalism it will clarify the usage of language in radio.
This is the beginning of a very important task: to gather and develop the great knowledge and experience that exist in the language services, an important part of our broadcast life, the knowledge which is linked to the language in which we broadcast.To unify and share the information that we can call the BBC style in Arabic, our way of writing in Farsi, or the in-house style of BBC in Chinese.
Please contact Najiba.Kasraee@bbc.co.uk for further information.
The launches mean the number of language sites from the College of Journalism now totals at 30.We have launched external language sites for our last group: Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian, which will be shortly followed by Turkish. Today's launches will bring up the number of the language sites created for America and Europe to seven. The language sites for Ukraninan were launched last month.
Sixteen months ago it seemed an almost impossible task to create an external language micro-site for all the language services in the World Service, but today it is a reality.
This has been a unique opportunity presented to the language services by the College of Journalism, enabling every service to concentrate on its own language for the first time.
Language experts, senior colleagues and specialists from outside BBC were asked to find consensus for terminologies, style, wording, translation techniques, writing styles for a multimedia platform and much more.
The aim was to create bespoke, unique sites for every language which will serve the need of that particular language. The use of impartial language was the main point for some languages; others concentrated on grammar, spelling, style, pronunciation, translation and original writing.
The College of Journalism site in Portugese for Brazil mainly concentrates on the use of impartial language, accuracy and storytelling. Rogerio Simoes, head of Brazilian Service, believes that: "The College of Journalism site can be a very important tool in our relationship with our audience, as it shows to the user of our site what are the main concerns and principles behind the journalism produced by the BBC. We hope to gradually make it a larger and even more effective reference for members of our audience who want to understand more about BBC's aims and what BBC journalism stands for."
Spanish, For many languages this has been an opportunity to share the BBC editorial values with the audience, the College of Journalism site in Spanish carries the BBC editorial guideline highlighted by an interview with expert. Hernando Alvarez, current affairs editor, says: "Through the Spanish College of Journalism site we have an opportunity to show everyone how and why we are taking the editorial decisions."
Albanian, Language is a living organism which is constantly changing and developing. The language expert on the Albanian site explains the dilemma of foreign words in the media, where is it necessary and when it is destroying the language. The head of Albanian Service, Diana Kola, believes that the unique selling point the BBC output has is its ability to analyze and go under the skin of the story, while at the same time use simple, unpolluted language that is understood by all.
Macedonian, The BBC is delighted to be able to develop this knowledge and share it with journalists across the world.
The head of the BBC Macedonain Service, Zaneta Skerlev, says: "School of Journalism in Macedonian will enrich our online offer with something completely different - how we do what we do best - writing for radio. It is good that we are not selfishly keeping the knowledge, experience and talent - we are sharing that with our listeners and colleagues."
Serbian, The College of Journalism language sites also carry some expert advice from the main College of Journalism English site. We have been able to translate a film by the BBC correspondent Allan Little on how to write for radio in many languages.Creating College of Journalism language micro-sites is a first step and a firm recognition of the fact that journalists broadcasting in languages other than English need a mechanism of support which can also be a reference point for the BBC and non-BBC journalists across the world.
Aleksej Zoric, head Of Serbian Service, believes that the BBC School of Journalism presentation on the BBC Serbian internet pages have the potential of becoming a very useful and instructive tool for the users. For those working in journalism it will clarify the usage of language in radio.
This is the beginning of a very important task: to gather and develop the great knowledge and experience that exist in the language services, an important part of our broadcast life, the knowledge which is linked to the language in which we broadcast.To unify and share the information that we can call the BBC style in Arabic, our way of writing in Farsi, or the in-house style of BBC in Chinese.
Please contact Najiba.Kasraee@bbc.co.uk for further information.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Taliban warn media against hostile coverage
The Tehreek-e-Taliban in the troubled Swat region of Pakistan has warned newspapers and TV channels against publishing or broadcasting news against the Taliban.
In a poster issued on 28 April 2009, the Taliban warned the media of dire consequences if they did not stop "propaganda" against the struggle of Taliban "for the enforcement of Shariah" in Malakand Division. Copies of the poster were posted outside the offices of a number of newspapers and private TV channels.
The poster addressed to "all editors of private and official news agencies, journalists and columnists" said, "you have a key role in changing the direction of the society, bringing revolution and making public opinion," and added that it is "your responsibility to give space in your columns, editorials and headlines, to such news which creates positive results and represents the aspirations of the people of Malakand. Our two-year struggle was purely meant for the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl (Islamic system of justice) and we have no other objective."
The poster claimed that the tone of media coverage had changed over the previous one week and added "this changed tone of the media shows that journalists are either lured by the pro-West polices of media or are doing so under pressure."
The poster said the Taliban would go to the Shariah court to file cases against the media if such reporting was not stopped. The poster added: "The media's biased coverage was giving the impression that Taliban were sabotaging the Nizam-e-Adl. Journalists would be responsible for the grave consequences if they did not stop working on that agenda."
The warning comes amidst growing nationwide criticism of the Taliban for violating the peace deal and resumption of armed patrolling in Dir and Buner districts of Swat even after the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) expressed concern over the threat which is tantamount to intimidation of the media and media personnel.
In a statement the PFUJ said if this tendency was allowed to develop, all non-state actors would start telling the media to project their particular point of view, and the media would not be able to play its due role as envisaged in the Constitution of Pakistan.
The PFUJ appealed to the Taliban's leadership and government to realize their moral responsibilities and to ensure the protection of journalists and create a "conducive environment," for fair and factual reporting. The PFUJ pointed out that media would not succumb to pressure from any group, government or Taliban for reporting as per their mandate.
Click here to view source
In a poster issued on 28 April 2009, the Taliban warned the media of dire consequences if they did not stop "propaganda" against the struggle of Taliban "for the enforcement of Shariah" in Malakand Division. Copies of the poster were posted outside the offices of a number of newspapers and private TV channels.
The poster addressed to "all editors of private and official news agencies, journalists and columnists" said, "you have a key role in changing the direction of the society, bringing revolution and making public opinion," and added that it is "your responsibility to give space in your columns, editorials and headlines, to such news which creates positive results and represents the aspirations of the people of Malakand. Our two-year struggle was purely meant for the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl (Islamic system of justice) and we have no other objective."
The poster claimed that the tone of media coverage had changed over the previous one week and added "this changed tone of the media shows that journalists are either lured by the pro-West polices of media or are doing so under pressure."
The poster said the Taliban would go to the Shariah court to file cases against the media if such reporting was not stopped. The poster added: "The media's biased coverage was giving the impression that Taliban were sabotaging the Nizam-e-Adl. Journalists would be responsible for the grave consequences if they did not stop working on that agenda."
The warning comes amidst growing nationwide criticism of the Taliban for violating the peace deal and resumption of armed patrolling in Dir and Buner districts of Swat even after the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) expressed concern over the threat which is tantamount to intimidation of the media and media personnel.
In a statement the PFUJ said if this tendency was allowed to develop, all non-state actors would start telling the media to project their particular point of view, and the media would not be able to play its due role as envisaged in the Constitution of Pakistan.
The PFUJ appealed to the Taliban's leadership and government to realize their moral responsibilities and to ensure the protection of journalists and create a "conducive environment," for fair and factual reporting. The PFUJ pointed out that media would not succumb to pressure from any group, government or Taliban for reporting as per their mandate.
Click here to view source
Journalist arrested, detained overnight
Dilawar Jan, a reporter in the Peshawar bureau of the daily "The News", was picked up by intelligence agency personnel from his office on the evening of 28 April 2009 in a bid to force him to disclose the source of news filed by him about an impending military operation in Buner. He was released on the morning of 29 April after refusing to be pressured into disclosing his source.
Jan told PPF that three personnel of an intelligence agency came to "The News" Peshawar office around 7:00 p.m. (local time) and started questioning him about the source of a news item which he had filed about a military operation in Buner.
Jan said that when he refused to disclose the source, the agency personnel took him to their office and interrogated him about the source of the news. He said he told them that as a responsible journalist it would be unethical to identify his source.
After some time, they blind-folded him and transferred him to another place for further interrogation, but he stuck to his position. Jan said that they did threaten him, but did not torture him. "Ultimately, they left me near my office," he said.
After one hour of Jan's detention, two of his journalist colleagues, Bukhar Shah and Mushtaq Yusufzai, went to the intelligence agency office to seek Jan's release. The agency personnel demanded that they disclose the name of Jan's news source, but they also refused. After waiting there until past midnight, they returned unsuccessfully.
The group editor of "The News", Shaheen Sehbai, has in a statement urged the security officials and the army not to target journalists if they cannot keep their operations a secret. They should look inwards and stop information leaks in their system, instead of victimizing media persons. He said Jan had done nothing unprofessional or irresponsible.
On 29 April, a meeting held at the Peshawar Press Club attended by members of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Khyber Union of Journalists (KHUJ) strongly condemned the harassment of the journalist.
Click here to view source
Jan told PPF that three personnel of an intelligence agency came to "The News" Peshawar office around 7:00 p.m. (local time) and started questioning him about the source of a news item which he had filed about a military operation in Buner.
Jan said that when he refused to disclose the source, the agency personnel took him to their office and interrogated him about the source of the news. He said he told them that as a responsible journalist it would be unethical to identify his source.
After some time, they blind-folded him and transferred him to another place for further interrogation, but he stuck to his position. Jan said that they did threaten him, but did not torture him. "Ultimately, they left me near my office," he said.
After one hour of Jan's detention, two of his journalist colleagues, Bukhar Shah and Mushtaq Yusufzai, went to the intelligence agency office to seek Jan's release. The agency personnel demanded that they disclose the name of Jan's news source, but they also refused. After waiting there until past midnight, they returned unsuccessfully.
The group editor of "The News", Shaheen Sehbai, has in a statement urged the security officials and the army not to target journalists if they cannot keep their operations a secret. They should look inwards and stop information leaks in their system, instead of victimizing media persons. He said Jan had done nothing unprofessional or irresponsible.
On 29 April, a meeting held at the Peshawar Press Club attended by members of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Khyber Union of Journalists (KHUJ) strongly condemned the harassment of the journalist.
Click here to view source
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Coverage, resources available on media in Fiji
Anyone interested in following developments on the deteriorating media environment in Fiji can access a variety of Web sites providing media coverage with different perspectives than those offered by the mainstream press.
Foreign and local news media in Fiji have come under harsh controls imposed by the political regime since April 10. According to Pacific Media Watch, the regime gagged Radio Australia broadcasting repeater stations in Fiji, imposed censorship and intimidated, detained and deported journalists.
The following Web sites are operated by students and staff of the Pacific Media Centre (PMC) of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in New Zealand.
Pacific Media Centre News Blog
Pacific Media Watch
PMC on YouTube
Pacific Media Centre websiteCafe Pacific
Foreign and local news media in Fiji have come under harsh controls imposed by the political regime since April 10. According to Pacific Media Watch, the regime gagged Radio Australia broadcasting repeater stations in Fiji, imposed censorship and intimidated, detained and deported journalists.
The following Web sites are operated by students and staff of the Pacific Media Centre (PMC) of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in New Zealand.
Pacific Media Centre News Blog
Pacific Media Watch
PMC on YouTube
Pacific Media Centre websiteCafe Pacific
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Police fail to arrest newsman’s killers
Local journalists and different political organizations took out a protest rally here on Monday from local press club to protest against the police failure to arrest the killers of late Journalist Zubair Ahmed Mujahid and threats of dire consequences given to local journalist Rashid Saleem.
Protesters led by senior journalist Saleem Azad, carried banners and placards, marched through main roads while they raised slogans against the police and strongly condemned the threats of dire consequences given by unknown persons to journalist Rashid Saleem.
They reached at market chowk where speaking at the protesters Saleem Azad, Rashid Saleem, Mehmood Sultan Chandio, Moulana Mufti Shareef Saeedi, Javed Junejo, Moulana Hafeezur Rehman Faiz, Asghar Narejo , Zila Naib Nazim Dr Zafar Ahmed Kamali and others have strongly condemned the threats of dire consequences given to local journalist Rashid Saleem and demanded the district administration to ensure arresting of the culprits involved in murder of journalist Zubair Ahmed Mujahid.
Click here to view source
Protesters led by senior journalist Saleem Azad, carried banners and placards, marched through main roads while they raised slogans against the police and strongly condemned the threats of dire consequences given by unknown persons to journalist Rashid Saleem.
They reached at market chowk where speaking at the protesters Saleem Azad, Rashid Saleem, Mehmood Sultan Chandio, Moulana Mufti Shareef Saeedi, Javed Junejo, Moulana Hafeezur Rehman Faiz, Asghar Narejo , Zila Naib Nazim Dr Zafar Ahmed Kamali and others have strongly condemned the threats of dire consequences given to local journalist Rashid Saleem and demanded the district administration to ensure arresting of the culprits involved in murder of journalist Zubair Ahmed Mujahid.
Click here to view source
Reporter dies as a result of shooting injuries
Reporters Without Borders is appalled to learn Wasi Ahmed, a newspaper reporter based in Khuzdar, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, died on 16 April 2009 in a Karachi hospital as a result of the injuries he received in a shooting on 11 April. TV reporter Muhammad Khan Adil was injured in a bombing on 10 April in the same province, where tension is high following the murder of three Baloch leaders.
"The abduction and murder of three Baloch leaders and the constant threats against Baloch journalists and human rights activists are unacceptable, but they must not be used as grounds for acts of revenge against the press," Reporters Without Borders said.
"We urge all parties, above all the Baloch armed groups and the security forces, to show the utmost restraint and not treat the media as targets," the press freedom organisation added.
"There is an urgent need for the government to restore calm in Balochistan. To this end, it must not allow human rights violations to go unpunished."
The Khuzdar correspondent of the Quetta-based "Balochistan Express" daily newspaper, Ahmed was shot in the stomach in front of a newsstand on 11 April. The newspaper vendor was also injured in the shooting. It is suspected that the attack was carried out by a Baloch armed separatist group and that Ahmed, who was from Punjab province, was the target.
Adil, a reporter for Dunya TV, was injured by a roadside bomb on 10 April.
This latest violence against journalists in Balochistan comes less than two months after Jan Muhammad Dashti, the owner and editor of the Baloch daily "Asaap", was seriously injured in a shooting as he was driving to work in the provincial capital, on 23 February.
A Quetta-based journalist told Reporters Without Borders: "Baloch journalists are targeted by the security forces while journalists from the Punjab are targeted by Baloch separatist groups. We are trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea."
Click here to view the source
"The abduction and murder of three Baloch leaders and the constant threats against Baloch journalists and human rights activists are unacceptable, but they must not be used as grounds for acts of revenge against the press," Reporters Without Borders said.
"We urge all parties, above all the Baloch armed groups and the security forces, to show the utmost restraint and not treat the media as targets," the press freedom organisation added.
"There is an urgent need for the government to restore calm in Balochistan. To this end, it must not allow human rights violations to go unpunished."
The Khuzdar correspondent of the Quetta-based "Balochistan Express" daily newspaper, Ahmed was shot in the stomach in front of a newsstand on 11 April. The newspaper vendor was also injured in the shooting. It is suspected that the attack was carried out by a Baloch armed separatist group and that Ahmed, who was from Punjab province, was the target.
Adil, a reporter for Dunya TV, was injured by a roadside bomb on 10 April.
This latest violence against journalists in Balochistan comes less than two months after Jan Muhammad Dashti, the owner and editor of the Baloch daily "Asaap", was seriously injured in a shooting as he was driving to work in the provincial capital, on 23 February.
A Quetta-based journalist told Reporters Without Borders: "Baloch journalists are targeted by the security forces while journalists from the Punjab are targeted by Baloch separatist groups. We are trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea."
Click here to view the source
Monday, April 20, 2009
Complicated issue of plot allotments in Islamabad!
- By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
IslamabadHow plots are being allotted in posh and expensive sectors of Islamabad is an interesting phenomena and new facts are throwing light on this process.
In one case the officer who allots plots to others has himself acquired an expensive plot, and says he has the right to do so.Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) Director General Sher Afzal, however, said that the plot was allotted to him in accordance with rules.
But interestingly before he got the plot in Sector I-8, the FGEHF Executive Committee offered plots to CDA chairman and all the six CDA members in other sectors.But these offers were not meant to bribe CDA for getting the plot in I-8 sector, Mr Sher Afzal told ‘The News’.
According to official documents, Sher Afzal, who is responsible for allotting plots to federal government employees from junior cadres to federal secretaries, is a grade-19 officer, who was appointed as the foundation’s DG in January this year but had joined the FGEHF six months back. No plots were available then in sector I-8 with FGEHF.
CDA provides required plots to FGEHF in sector I-8 measuring 600 square yards to officers in Grade 20 and above but still a Grade-19 officer got one because he is head of the FGEHF.
Currently FGEHF is making allotments to federal government employees in sector G-14. However, according to DG Sher Afzal, plots could also be allotted in other sectors if available.
The location wise value of plots in the capital city Islamabad is very different from other cities as according to real estate experts the prices of plots existing in luxurious sectors like I-8 are extremely high than those existing in far flung sectors like G-14.
According to one such expert the price of 600 square yard plot in sector I-8 is Rs30 million while that a plot with the same measurement in sector G-14 is merely Rs3 million to Rs4 million.
When Sher Afzal was asked that plots to other federal government employees were being allotted in sectors G-13 and G-14, how could he allot himself a plot in sector I-8, he replied that as plots were available in sector I-8 so he got one.Asked that according to information with ‘The News’ plots in sector I-8 were in fact not available and that he had offered 7 plots to top CDA officials including CDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood, member finance Saeed-ur-Rehman, member administration SM Farooqi, member P&D Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari, member engineering Tahir Shamshad, member environment Mazhar Hussain and member Estate Brigadier (r) Asad Munir and in return demanded plots in Sector I-8, Sher Afzal replied that these plots were offered to these CDA officials, but this offer was never meant to bribe them to create more plots in I-8.The DG, FGEHF told this correspondent last Wednesday that CDA chairman and CDA members had accepted the offer and were ready to get their plots.
However, on Monday he said that all the members and chairman have now refused to accept the offer.‘The News’ had also learnt reliably that all the CDA officials were ready to take the plots, but when they came to know the scandalous nature of the whole episode and learnt that media had started probing it, they dropped the idea to take these plots.CDA members Briggadier (r) Asad Munir and Saeed-ur-Rehman told ‘The News’ that they were not availing the plots offered by FGEHF.
Sources close to members SM Bokhari and Tahir Shamshad say that these two members are also not willing to avail the offer. Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari was of the view that he didn’t avail any plot so far, but offer of FGEHF was not in a good spirit and FGEHF) should not lay ambiguous conditions for it.Mazhar Hussain was of the view that though he has already taken a plot back in 1985 from CDA, he will only avail this opportunity if there is nothing wrong legally in availing it.
“If I will avail the offer, I will avail publicly and not secretly,” Mazhar said.CDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood told ‘The News’ that he was never officially offered a plot by the FGEHF. “Verbally some officials offered me a plot, which I refused and will not accept it,” he said.While giving his response to ‘The News’, Sher Afzal said: “Allotments of plots to the officers of FGEHF are made on the basis of one per cent quota only to those employees who have served 10 years in government and have served in FGEHF for not less than six months. In my case I have more than 13 years service and I have completed six months of mandatory service in FGEHF.
No deviation from the rules and law has been made in my case. Everyday we issue dozens of allotments to federal government employees, and if one allotment has been made as per rules in my favour, it is not a major event.” Sher further added: “Executive committee of housing foundation in its 105th meeting has confirmed category-I allotment in my favour.” Asked that he was only a Grade-19 officer and could not get a Category-2 plot, how he had managed to get a plot for Grade-20 and higher officials, Sher Afzal replied that the Executive Committee had allotted him the plot in Sector I-8.
On the other hand head of the executive committee and federal secretary housing and works GM Sikandar, while talking to ‘The News’ said that executive committee never allotted any plot to Sher Afzal in sector I-8. “He may himself have allotted the plot to himself,” Sikandar said.Another member of the executive committee, Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari, who is also member planning CDA, said that executive committee members were not aware that Sher Afzal was in grade-19 rather they were considering him a grade-20 employee as he was DG, FGEHF which is a grade-20 post.
He too said that executive committee has nothing to do with the allotment to Sher Afzal in sector I-8. He said that he was even unaware that whether executive committee has permitted Sher to get a category-I plot.
Click here to view the source
While doing the story, the reporter spoke to Mr Nazir Naji, who abused the reporter. The conversation was recorded and splitted in three files, links are available below:
Conversation-One Conversation-Two Conversation-Three
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Taliban partially lift ban on cable TV broadcasting in Swat valley
Reporters Without Borders calls on the Pakistani authorities and Taliban leaders to ensure that cable TV operators in the Swat valley are able to resume broadcasting of both Pakistani and international TV stations without delay.
On 5 April 2009, Taliban leaders gave cable TV operators the green light to resume broadcasting "Islamic" and Pakistani TV stations, but foreign news and entertainment channels continue to be banned. "We have been given permission to resume cable distribution services but on certain conditions," a cable operator in the Swat valley city of Mingora told Reporters Without Borders after meeting Taliban leader Maulana Shah Dauran.
The Movement for the Enforcement of the Sharia banned TV broadcasting in the Swat valley in mid-2008. The office of one cable TV operator was even bombed by the Taliban.
Reporters Without Borders said: "The authorities have a duty to help the Swat valley population enjoy the same news media as the rest of the country's inhabitants. Failure to do this will bode ill for respect for the free flow of news and information in the valley, now subject to Islamic law."
The Taliban ban on TV news broadcasting by cable was condemned by Reporters Without Borders in a report on press freedom in the Swat valley released on 2 April: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30742
Click here to view source
On 5 April 2009, Taliban leaders gave cable TV operators the green light to resume broadcasting "Islamic" and Pakistani TV stations, but foreign news and entertainment channels continue to be banned. "We have been given permission to resume cable distribution services but on certain conditions," a cable operator in the Swat valley city of Mingora told Reporters Without Borders after meeting Taliban leader Maulana Shah Dauran.
The Movement for the Enforcement of the Sharia banned TV broadcasting in the Swat valley in mid-2008. The office of one cable TV operator was even bombed by the Taliban.
Reporters Without Borders said: "The authorities have a duty to help the Swat valley population enjoy the same news media as the rest of the country's inhabitants. Failure to do this will bode ill for respect for the free flow of news and information in the valley, now subject to Islamic law."
The Taliban ban on TV news broadcasting by cable was condemned by Reporters Without Borders in a report on press freedom in the Swat valley released on 2 April: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30742
Click here to view source
Kidnapped journalist escapes his abductors
Khawar Shafiq, "Daily Waqt" correspondent in the city of Faisalabad, managed to flee from his abductors on 11 April 2009, four days after he was abducted from his village.
According to press reports, Shafiq said he was kidnapped by three men who shoved him into a car and made him sniff some liquid, after which he lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a dark room and was without his cell phone, cash and other belongings.
Shafiq claimed his kidnapping was linked with his opening of a Daniel Pearl Foundation in Faisalabad. He said during his captivity, his captors asked for the addresses and details of Pakistani journalists who had been awarded fellowships by the Daniel Pearl Foundation in the US.
According to earlier press reports, Shafiq was questioned by an intelligence agency about the Centre of Interfaith Studies that he had established. Two computers in Shafiq's office were stolen a week before his abduction.
In late March, the US Consulate's Principal Officer, Brian D. Hunt, inaugurated the centre and the US consulate provided 100 books on inter-faith topics.
Shafiq claimed that on 11 April, his kidnappers told him that he would be presented before the 'Sheikh', who would decide his fate. Two captors armed with pistols got him in a car and after travelling on a bumpy road for about one-and-a-half hours, the car broke down. He claimed that while his captors were busy repairing the car, he got out of the car and ran away, taking advantage of the darkness.
After running for one kilometre, he got on a bus and called his colleagues from the bus stop. Shafiq arrived in Faisalabad on 12 April, where he was reunited with his family.
Click here to view source
According to press reports, Shafiq said he was kidnapped by three men who shoved him into a car and made him sniff some liquid, after which he lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a dark room and was without his cell phone, cash and other belongings.
Shafiq claimed his kidnapping was linked with his opening of a Daniel Pearl Foundation in Faisalabad. He said during his captivity, his captors asked for the addresses and details of Pakistani journalists who had been awarded fellowships by the Daniel Pearl Foundation in the US.
According to earlier press reports, Shafiq was questioned by an intelligence agency about the Centre of Interfaith Studies that he had established. Two computers in Shafiq's office were stolen a week before his abduction.
In late March, the US Consulate's Principal Officer, Brian D. Hunt, inaugurated the centre and the US consulate provided 100 books on inter-faith topics.
Shafiq claimed that on 11 April, his kidnappers told him that he would be presented before the 'Sheikh', who would decide his fate. Two captors armed with pistols got him in a car and after travelling on a bumpy road for about one-and-a-half hours, the car broke down. He claimed that while his captors were busy repairing the car, he got out of the car and ran away, taking advantage of the darkness.
After running for one kilometre, he got on a bus and called his colleagues from the bus stop. Shafiq arrived in Faisalabad on 12 April, where he was reunited with his family.
Click here to view source
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Hindu extremists attack Pak journalists in India
NEW DELHI: The extremists of a Hindu religious organisation, Shri Ram Sena attacked a group of Pakistani journalists here on Wednesday.
According to an Indian news channel, the Shri Ram Sena extremists thronged New Delhi’s International Center where a meeting of Indo-Pak Forum was going on. They thrashed visiting Pakistani journalists and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans.
Senior Pakistani journalist Rahimullah Yousufzai was busy going through an article published in an Indian newspapers when the poignant incident took place.
Later, an Indian journalist told Geo news that the person shown in the video footage was a Shri Ram Sena extremist and not a Pakistani journalist.
Click here to view the source
According to an Indian news channel, the Shri Ram Sena extremists thronged New Delhi’s International Center where a meeting of Indo-Pak Forum was going on. They thrashed visiting Pakistani journalists and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans.
Senior Pakistani journalist Rahimullah Yousufzai was busy going through an article published in an Indian newspapers when the poignant incident took place.
Later, an Indian journalist told Geo news that the person shown in the video footage was a Shri Ram Sena extremist and not a Pakistani journalist.
Click here to view the source
Monday, April 13, 2009
Election train for BBC reporters
BBC Worldwide, one of the oldest news services in the world, has planned to send 30 reporters on a special train journey to report on the lok Sabha elections to its 20-million-strong audience in India. It has already worked out the logistics with the Indian Railways.
The election train, according to BBC, will begin the journey on April 25 from New Delhi and will cover Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna and Allahabad, before returning to the capital on May 13.
BBC World Service executive editor for South Asia, Nazes Afroz said, “The purpose of travelling across the nation with a team of 30 reporters from our various language services and various media forms like TV, online and radio, is to investigate the key themes surrounding the elections and what Indians want from the polls.”
He pointed out, “We covered the US presidential elections, travelling across the nation over six weeks on a bus and used a boat to cover the recent Bangladesh national polls. We realised that if one has to properly capture the mood of India, taking a train is the best way.”
Equipped with communication devices like satellite phones, the reporters will alight from the train at places to get in-depth understanding of situations. “Our reporters will use mobile Internet, but the reports will not be live. Although satellite phones can’t be used from moving trains, we cam generate a lot of material on our laptops and use them later,” Afroz said.
Besides, the journey will help BBC reporters ascertain India’s place in the global economy. He said, “The world wonders how India is managing to still grow at a rate of around six per cent.
There has not been a meltdown here, but a slowdown. And people want to know how.”
The election train, according to BBC, will begin the journey on April 25 from New Delhi and will cover Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna and Allahabad, before returning to the capital on May 13.
BBC World Service executive editor for South Asia, Nazes Afroz said, “The purpose of travelling across the nation with a team of 30 reporters from our various language services and various media forms like TV, online and radio, is to investigate the key themes surrounding the elections and what Indians want from the polls.”
He pointed out, “We covered the US presidential elections, travelling across the nation over six weeks on a bus and used a boat to cover the recent Bangladesh national polls. We realised that if one has to properly capture the mood of India, taking a train is the best way.”
Equipped with communication devices like satellite phones, the reporters will alight from the train at places to get in-depth understanding of situations. “Our reporters will use mobile Internet, but the reports will not be live. Although satellite phones can’t be used from moving trains, we cam generate a lot of material on our laptops and use them later,” Afroz said.
Besides, the journey will help BBC reporters ascertain India’s place in the global economy. He said, “The world wonders how India is managing to still grow at a rate of around six per cent.
There has not been a meltdown here, but a slowdown. And people want to know how.”
Kidnapped journalist escapes
BAHAWALPUR: Khawar Shafiq, a Faisalabad-based journalist who `went missing’ while going to home at Chak No 14, Ram Dewali on Sargodha Road in Faisalabad on Tuesday night, fled his captors’ custody in Liaquatpur, 120 kilometres from here, on Saturday night.
On arrival in Bahawalpur, Mr Shafiq claimed that he fled while the car (KHN-2627) he was being transported to some unspecified location by his captors broke down near Mauza Jindoo Pir on Liquatpur-Channigoth Road.
Mr Shafiq said he was kidnapped by three bearded men from his village on April 7 evening. The kidnappers bundled him into a white car and soon he was administered some liquid spiked with intoxicants and afterwards he fell unconscious.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself on a charpoy in a dark room and was without his cell phone, cash and other belongings. He said his captors treated him inhumanly.Mr Khawar claimed that his kidnapping was linked with the opening of the office of the Daniel Pearl Foundation in Faisalabad.
The foundation founded by Daniel’s father Dr Judea Pearl was set up in the memory of Mr Pearl who was killed in Pakistan a few years ago.
US Consulate principal officer Brian D. Hunt had inaugurated the office and the US consulate had also provided the office with 100 books on Jews and other inter-faith matters.He said during his confinement his captors grilled him on this matter and “my links with Jews and Hunt”.
Sometimes, they also tortured him and asked the addresses and details about those six Pakistanis, including some TV anchors, who had been awarded fellowships by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.Mr Shafiq claimed the kidnappers had told him that he would be presented before the ‘Sheikh’, who would decide his fate.
During his captivity, Mr Shafiq said, it felt that he had been detained in some rural area, where he could hear ‘azaan’ or prayer calling in the morning.He said the kidnappers claimed themselves as the members of an “Islamic Soldiers’ Front”.On Saturday after Maghrab prayers, the two captors asked him to change his dress.
Armed with pistols, they got him on the car and after traveling on some bumpy road for about one-and-a-half hour, the car broke down. He claimed that while his captors were busy repairing the fault, he got off the car and started strolling along the road.Soon he ran away from the scene taking advantage of the darkness.
After covering over one kilometer, he got a bus coming from Rahim Yar Khan. The bus conductor informed him that he was near Jindoopeer Adda, where he disembarked from the bus and took shelter in a shop of an ex-serviceman.Inside the shop, he phoned his colleagues in Bahawalpur and Faisalabad.
He said his captors also came to the adda in search for him but the shopkeeper hid him in the rear portion of the shop. Later, Mr Shafiq arrived in Bahawalpur and on Sunday, he was finally reunited with his family in Faisalabad.
Source: Dawn
Date:4/13/2009
Click here to view the source
On arrival in Bahawalpur, Mr Shafiq claimed that he fled while the car (KHN-2627) he was being transported to some unspecified location by his captors broke down near Mauza Jindoo Pir on Liquatpur-Channigoth Road.
Mr Shafiq said he was kidnapped by three bearded men from his village on April 7 evening. The kidnappers bundled him into a white car and soon he was administered some liquid spiked with intoxicants and afterwards he fell unconscious.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself on a charpoy in a dark room and was without his cell phone, cash and other belongings. He said his captors treated him inhumanly.Mr Khawar claimed that his kidnapping was linked with the opening of the office of the Daniel Pearl Foundation in Faisalabad.
The foundation founded by Daniel’s father Dr Judea Pearl was set up in the memory of Mr Pearl who was killed in Pakistan a few years ago.
US Consulate principal officer Brian D. Hunt had inaugurated the office and the US consulate had also provided the office with 100 books on Jews and other inter-faith matters.He said during his confinement his captors grilled him on this matter and “my links with Jews and Hunt”.
Sometimes, they also tortured him and asked the addresses and details about those six Pakistanis, including some TV anchors, who had been awarded fellowships by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.Mr Shafiq claimed the kidnappers had told him that he would be presented before the ‘Sheikh’, who would decide his fate.
During his captivity, Mr Shafiq said, it felt that he had been detained in some rural area, where he could hear ‘azaan’ or prayer calling in the morning.He said the kidnappers claimed themselves as the members of an “Islamic Soldiers’ Front”.On Saturday after Maghrab prayers, the two captors asked him to change his dress.
Armed with pistols, they got him on the car and after traveling on some bumpy road for about one-and-a-half hour, the car broke down. He claimed that while his captors were busy repairing the fault, he got off the car and started strolling along the road.Soon he ran away from the scene taking advantage of the darkness.
After covering over one kilometer, he got a bus coming from Rahim Yar Khan. The bus conductor informed him that he was near Jindoopeer Adda, where he disembarked from the bus and took shelter in a shop of an ex-serviceman.Inside the shop, he phoned his colleagues in Bahawalpur and Faisalabad.
He said his captors also came to the adda in search for him but the shopkeeper hid him in the rear portion of the shop. Later, Mr Shafiq arrived in Bahawalpur and on Sunday, he was finally reunited with his family in Faisalabad.
Source: Dawn
Date:4/13/2009
Click here to view the source
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Webb on the Web: Why Are You a Journalist?
By Amy Webb, IJNet Digital Media Consultant
This week's column is slightly less techy, but with all the changes happening to global media I thought it would be a good time to offer you a self-assessment. The goal is to help you learn a little more about why you're in journalism, what your interests are and how to work to your strengths.
If you're someone whose job is in peril, this assessment will help you figure out what to do next. For those of you at training organizations, you can adapt this self-assessment for the journalists you work with so that you can better understand their individual needs and challenges.
Section One: What are your interests?Sit down with a couple of magazines and newspapers that you already have at your home or office. If youʼre paper-free, think about what you listen to and watch. Go to your computer and pull up the networkʼs websites. If you get most of your information online, pull up 10 of your favorite websites.
Now, carefully go through your pile of stuff. Either tear out or print the stories that you like best. You might like them because of the way they sound or read. But you might also like a certain feature, or graphic element or maybe even just the subject matter. Take an hour or so to identify what you like. Once youʼre finished, spread out your clippings on a table or even on the floor.
Then answer the questions below:
1. Can you easily categorize the kinds of stories you preference? Are they all about politics? Do they all have the same number of words? Were they all built using Flash? Make a list of the similarities below:
2. What was it about these particular clippings that you liked? Was it the same style of writing or the same broadcast manner? Maybe it was the color scheme? Make a list of "whyʼs" below:
3. How often would you say that you think about the items on this list on a daily basis? For example, if you indicated that you really like stories built in Flash, how often do you seek out other content built that way? Have you been motivated to learn Flash on your own? Have you visited web tutorials or purchased books?
Section Two: How well do you work with your interests?Do you currently report/write/produce/research/teach about any of the topics you indicate as your interests?
1. If so, explain how youʼre doing that - and be objective. Would a third-party observer agree with you?
2. Could you build your interests into the work you do or want to do? For example, if you really like Baltimore professional athletics, could you somehow cover them at your current job? If not, what is preventing you?
Section Three: What are your skills?1. List your daily schedule. Be brutally honest and detailed.(Example: 8a-9a, follow up on phone calls and email using Skype and Gmail.)
2. Make a list of the skills you identify from the table above. What software do you know? What social networks do you use? What communications skills do you have?
3. Have you ever taught others to use any of those skills? Could you teach someone else?
Section Four: Combine!Now, list all of your interests in detail and think about the skills that might apply. For example, you might be greatly interested in public records and the information that can be gleaned from them. How might you access those records? A database on the Internet? What skills would you need to create one yourself? Or, you could be interested in fashion news, and maybe you have very good audio recording skills. Could you combine audio plus some photos and reporting to develop a weekly webcast about fashion?
Section Five: Action PlanNow, letʼs determine how best to move forward.
1. Who do you know? Who works in the fields of your interest? Who has the skills that you think you lack? Is there a website or product similar to what youʼre interested in? Create a list below of at least five people and their contact information. Next, pick a specific date when youʼll contact them. This is importasend that email or make the call.
2. What will it take to start that new job/ begin work on that new project? Whatʼs holding you back? Identify your perceived obstacles below. Take an objective look - are those real obstacles, or just excuses?
Click here to read all of Amy Webb's columns.
Amy Webb is a digital media consultant and head of Webbmedia Group, LLC. Find more multimedia tips and ideas at her blog, http://www.mydigimedia.com. You can also follow Amy on Twitter and delicious. Webbmedia Group is a vendor-neutral company. Any opinions expressed about products or services are formed after testing, research and interviews. Neither Amy Webb nor Webbmedia Group or its employees receives any financial or other benefits from vendors.
This week's column is slightly less techy, but with all the changes happening to global media I thought it would be a good time to offer you a self-assessment. The goal is to help you learn a little more about why you're in journalism, what your interests are and how to work to your strengths.
If you're someone whose job is in peril, this assessment will help you figure out what to do next. For those of you at training organizations, you can adapt this self-assessment for the journalists you work with so that you can better understand their individual needs and challenges.
Section One: What are your interests?Sit down with a couple of magazines and newspapers that you already have at your home or office. If youʼre paper-free, think about what you listen to and watch. Go to your computer and pull up the networkʼs websites. If you get most of your information online, pull up 10 of your favorite websites.
Now, carefully go through your pile of stuff. Either tear out or print the stories that you like best. You might like them because of the way they sound or read. But you might also like a certain feature, or graphic element or maybe even just the subject matter. Take an hour or so to identify what you like. Once youʼre finished, spread out your clippings on a table or even on the floor.
Then answer the questions below:
1. Can you easily categorize the kinds of stories you preference? Are they all about politics? Do they all have the same number of words? Were they all built using Flash? Make a list of the similarities below:
2. What was it about these particular clippings that you liked? Was it the same style of writing or the same broadcast manner? Maybe it was the color scheme? Make a list of "whyʼs" below:
3. How often would you say that you think about the items on this list on a daily basis? For example, if you indicated that you really like stories built in Flash, how often do you seek out other content built that way? Have you been motivated to learn Flash on your own? Have you visited web tutorials or purchased books?
Section Two: How well do you work with your interests?Do you currently report/write/produce/research/teach about any of the topics you indicate as your interests?
1. If so, explain how youʼre doing that - and be objective. Would a third-party observer agree with you?
2. Could you build your interests into the work you do or want to do? For example, if you really like Baltimore professional athletics, could you somehow cover them at your current job? If not, what is preventing you?
Section Three: What are your skills?1. List your daily schedule. Be brutally honest and detailed.(Example: 8a-9a, follow up on phone calls and email using Skype and Gmail.)
2. Make a list of the skills you identify from the table above. What software do you know? What social networks do you use? What communications skills do you have?
3. Have you ever taught others to use any of those skills? Could you teach someone else?
Section Four: Combine!Now, list all of your interests in detail and think about the skills that might apply. For example, you might be greatly interested in public records and the information that can be gleaned from them. How might you access those records? A database on the Internet? What skills would you need to create one yourself? Or, you could be interested in fashion news, and maybe you have very good audio recording skills. Could you combine audio plus some photos and reporting to develop a weekly webcast about fashion?
Section Five: Action PlanNow, letʼs determine how best to move forward.
1. Who do you know? Who works in the fields of your interest? Who has the skills that you think you lack? Is there a website or product similar to what youʼre interested in? Create a list below of at least five people and their contact information. Next, pick a specific date when youʼll contact them. This is importasend that email or make the call.
2. What will it take to start that new job/ begin work on that new project? Whatʼs holding you back? Identify your perceived obstacles below. Take an objective look - are those real obstacles, or just excuses?
Click here to read all of Amy Webb's columns.
Amy Webb is a digital media consultant and head of Webbmedia Group, LLC. Find more multimedia tips and ideas at her blog, http://www.mydigimedia.com. You can also follow Amy on Twitter and delicious. Webbmedia Group is a vendor-neutral company. Any opinions expressed about products or services are formed after testing, research and interviews. Neither Amy Webb nor Webbmedia Group or its employees receives any financial or other benefits from vendors.
Journalists hold protest
KARACHI - The journalist community on Thursday held a pro-test demonstration over restricting them from getting the media coverage of Sindh High Court (SHC) reference bench for the martyred lawyers.The reporters and cameramen reached the courtroom for the coverage of martyred case but the security personnel stopped them without any justification.
The full court reference was held over the killing of five lawyers in different incident in the metropolitan during the lawyers’ movement, including April 9 incident that was presided over by chief justice of SHC Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.
The lawyers condemned such action, but none of them put the matter during the reference as they showed their ignorance. Interestingly, some of the lawyers’ leaders have claimed that they raised the issue before the participants as well as the chief justice of SHC and boycotted the reference, but no initiative was taken.
Soon following the reference, the media representatives gathered in the court building and recorded their protest. At this, president of Bar Rasheed A Rizvi, secretary Munir-ur-Rahman and others showed their unawareness about the incident.
On the occasion, Rasheed A Rizvi called administrative officer of high court of Sindh Syéd Sadaqat Au to inquire about the authority who ordered to restrict the media-men but the official refused to expose the motif be-hind the matter, saying that he was bound to keep it secret.
Rizvi expressed that the said reference was originally the pro-gram of the bar and they hosted it. So without taking the bar into confidence, such action should not be taken by the government as well as the high court officials, adding that none of the higher authority has right to interfere in any such event.
Such violation of law and order would not be tolerated next.On the other side, after attending the said reference, Munir A Malik condemned the behavior of court officials and said that the media has been a part of the lawyers’ grand movement, so it should not be neglected at any cost, rather, the media men should be respected and treated with Prestige.
Click here to view the source
The full court reference was held over the killing of five lawyers in different incident in the metropolitan during the lawyers’ movement, including April 9 incident that was presided over by chief justice of SHC Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.
The lawyers condemned such action, but none of them put the matter during the reference as they showed their ignorance. Interestingly, some of the lawyers’ leaders have claimed that they raised the issue before the participants as well as the chief justice of SHC and boycotted the reference, but no initiative was taken.
Soon following the reference, the media representatives gathered in the court building and recorded their protest. At this, president of Bar Rasheed A Rizvi, secretary Munir-ur-Rahman and others showed their unawareness about the incident.
On the occasion, Rasheed A Rizvi called administrative officer of high court of Sindh Syéd Sadaqat Au to inquire about the authority who ordered to restrict the media-men but the official refused to expose the motif be-hind the matter, saying that he was bound to keep it secret.
Rizvi expressed that the said reference was originally the pro-gram of the bar and they hosted it. So without taking the bar into confidence, such action should not be taken by the government as well as the high court officials, adding that none of the higher authority has right to interfere in any such event.
Such violation of law and order would not be tolerated next.On the other side, after attending the said reference, Munir A Malik condemned the behavior of court officials and said that the media has been a part of the lawyers’ grand movement, so it should not be neglected at any cost, rather, the media men should be respected and treated with Prestige.
Click here to view the source
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Journalist missing after threats
FAISALABAD: Khawar Shafiq, a journalist, went missing on Tuesday night. According to his family, they had heard nothing about him for the past 24 hours.
The missing of Shafiq, who works for Daily Waqt, Lahore, has sent a wave of panic among journalists. They have called upon the government to trace his whereabouts.
A meeting of journalists at the Faisalabad Press Club was told that Mr Shafiq was being harassed by employees of a secret agency and he had taken his colleagues into confidence about the threats.
Mr Shafiq had left the press club at 6pm on Tuesday, but did not reach home.
Members of the press club have informed police about the disappearance of Khawar Shafiq.
Click here to view source
The missing of Shafiq, who works for Daily Waqt, Lahore, has sent a wave of panic among journalists. They have called upon the government to trace his whereabouts.
A meeting of journalists at the Faisalabad Press Club was told that Mr Shafiq was being harassed by employees of a secret agency and he had taken his colleagues into confidence about the threats.
Mr Shafiq had left the press club at 6pm on Tuesday, but did not reach home.
Members of the press club have informed police about the disappearance of Khawar Shafiq.
Click here to view source
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
KUJ's protest demo at KPC
Following a countrywide call of the PFUJ to condemn the massive retrenchment of journalist from various print and electronic media outlets, Karachi Union of Journalists held a protest demonstration at Karachi Press Club on Tuesday to press the media owners to halt the economic killing of journalists.
A large number of AXED JOURNALISTS and members of various units of KUJ were present on the occasion holding play cards and banners inscribed with slogan for repatriation of axed journalist, implementation of 7th Wage Award, asking Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo-moto action of journalist’s hardships and condemning the media owners.
The demonstration was addressed by veteran leader of PFUJ, Mr. Minhaj Burna, General Secretary KUJ Amin Yousuf , Member FEC PFUJ Rabiah Baig and vice president KUJ Zaheer Khan.
Addressing a charged and slogan / chanting journalist, KUJ leaders asked the Chief Justice Iftikar Muhammad Chaudhary to take suo-moto notice of massive economic slaughtering of journalists and hold the media owners accountable for this.
The speakers asked the government to pressurize the media owners for immediate implementation of 7th Wage Board Award which is pending in the courts for the last seven years.
They condemn the media owners for using flimsy / clumsy pretexts to delay the implementation of wage award and also for axing journalist. Speakers demanded of the government to conditionally the issuance of government advertisement to all media outlets with implementation of wage award and repatriation of axed journalist.
Speakers also demanded of the government to announce the formation of 8th wage board award as per requirement of 1973 constitution of Pakistan.
Click here to view source
A large number of AXED JOURNALISTS and members of various units of KUJ were present on the occasion holding play cards and banners inscribed with slogan for repatriation of axed journalist, implementation of 7th Wage Award, asking Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo-moto action of journalist’s hardships and condemning the media owners.
The demonstration was addressed by veteran leader of PFUJ, Mr. Minhaj Burna, General Secretary KUJ Amin Yousuf , Member FEC PFUJ Rabiah Baig and vice president KUJ Zaheer Khan.
Addressing a charged and slogan / chanting journalist, KUJ leaders asked the Chief Justice Iftikar Muhammad Chaudhary to take suo-moto notice of massive economic slaughtering of journalists and hold the media owners accountable for this.
The speakers asked the government to pressurize the media owners for immediate implementation of 7th Wage Board Award which is pending in the courts for the last seven years.
They condemn the media owners for using flimsy / clumsy pretexts to delay the implementation of wage award and also for axing journalist. Speakers demanded of the government to conditionally the issuance of government advertisement to all media outlets with implementation of wage award and repatriation of axed journalist.
Speakers also demanded of the government to announce the formation of 8th wage board award as per requirement of 1973 constitution of Pakistan.
Click here to view source
Countrywide protest
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and all affiliated Unions have strongly protested against massive scale sacking of media persons from Newspapers and TV channels on the call of PFUJ. Countrywide protest rallies were held in all major cities and towns attended by large number of Journalists and Newspaper workers belonging to print and electronic media. They chanted slogans against economic massacre of media persons by media owners and demanded of immediate implementation of 7th wage award. Journalists in one voice rejected all the unjust and cruel acts to remove media workers without any cogent reason. Protest rallies were held in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Abbotabad and other parts of the country.
The PFUJ has urged government to take notice of brutality of media owners and non implementation of 7th wage award. “Owners are oppressing the media workers by sacking of hundreds of journalists from different newspapers and private TV channels and resorting other illegal and unlawful tactics for depriving legitimate rights of media workers. Government must act promptly to stop media owners from victimization and arbitrary acts against journalists. Hostility against media workers may trigger severe disappointment among media persons, it can demoralize the sprite of media men committed for freedom of expression, rule of law and true democracy in country.”
The PFUJ organized main rally from PFUJ Secretariat which ended at National Press Club Islamabad. Rally was led by President PFUJ Pervez Shuakat, Secretary General Shamsul Islam Naz and attended by the journalists from Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists and members national press club. Protestors chanted slogans against media owners their victimization and demanded immediate implementation of 7th wage award.
Click here to view source
The PFUJ has urged government to take notice of brutality of media owners and non implementation of 7th wage award. “Owners are oppressing the media workers by sacking of hundreds of journalists from different newspapers and private TV channels and resorting other illegal and unlawful tactics for depriving legitimate rights of media workers. Government must act promptly to stop media owners from victimization and arbitrary acts against journalists. Hostility against media workers may trigger severe disappointment among media persons, it can demoralize the sprite of media men committed for freedom of expression, rule of law and true democracy in country.”
The PFUJ organized main rally from PFUJ Secretariat which ended at National Press Club Islamabad. Rally was led by President PFUJ Pervez Shuakat, Secretary General Shamsul Islam Naz and attended by the journalists from Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists and members national press club. Protestors chanted slogans against media owners their victimization and demanded immediate implementation of 7th wage award.
Click here to view source
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Taliban suspected in attack on Radio Pakistan
Reporters Without Borders condemns a pre-dawn attack with explosives on 3 April 2009 on Radio Pakistan Wana, a state-owned radio station in South Waziristan, part of the Tribal Areas adjoining the Afghan border. The attack, which destroyed the station, was almost certainly carried out by Taliban activists but their motive is unknown.
"Waziristan has clearly become a lawless region not just for ordinary citizens but for journalists in particular," Reporters Without Borders said. "This station had already been forced to cut back to the minimum because of repeated Taliban harassment and was no longer broadcasting any programmes that could have been the subject of debate."
The press freedom organisation added: "The Pakistani government has set up many state radio stations in the Tribal Areas, where the Taliban threaten journalists and ransack media offices. We urge the authorities to accept that they have a duty to protect journalists and prevent attacks on the media so that press freedom can be established in the Tribal Areas."
Officials said gunmen surrounded Radio Pakistan Wana at around 2 a.m. on 3 April, broke down the doors and took the transmission equipment. The militants blew up the building after taking equipment away, an official said. A local government official who asked not to be identified told Reporters Without Borders: "The Taliban are suspected of destroying the radio station and taking equipment early this morning."
This was the third armed attack on Radio Pakistan Wana since its creation in 2004. The first one came just a few days after it began operating. The second one was in 2006. It is the only radio station in the area and the only source of entertainment for South Waziristan's inhabitants.
Residents told Reporters Without Borders that the station stopped broadcasting music two years ago after being threatened by the Taliban. Since then, it had only been broadcasting reports about development projects, sports news and Islamic instruction.
Click here to view source
"Waziristan has clearly become a lawless region not just for ordinary citizens but for journalists in particular," Reporters Without Borders said. "This station had already been forced to cut back to the minimum because of repeated Taliban harassment and was no longer broadcasting any programmes that could have been the subject of debate."
The press freedom organisation added: "The Pakistani government has set up many state radio stations in the Tribal Areas, where the Taliban threaten journalists and ransack media offices. We urge the authorities to accept that they have a duty to protect journalists and prevent attacks on the media so that press freedom can be established in the Tribal Areas."
Officials said gunmen surrounded Radio Pakistan Wana at around 2 a.m. on 3 April, broke down the doors and took the transmission equipment. The militants blew up the building after taking equipment away, an official said. A local government official who asked not to be identified told Reporters Without Borders: "The Taliban are suspected of destroying the radio station and taking equipment early this morning."
This was the third armed attack on Radio Pakistan Wana since its creation in 2004. The first one came just a few days after it began operating. The second one was in 2006. It is the only radio station in the area and the only source of entertainment for South Waziristan's inhabitants.
Residents told Reporters Without Borders that the station stopped broadcasting music two years ago after being threatened by the Taliban. Since then, it had only been broadcasting reports about development projects, sports news and Islamic instruction.
Click here to view source
صحافیوں کی برطرفیوں پر احتجاج
دنیا بھر کی صحافی یونینوں کی تنظیم انٹرنیشنل فیڈریشن آف جرنلسٹس نے پاکستان کے مختلف اخباری اداروں اور ٹیلی وژن چینل کی جانب سے صحافیوں اور اخباری کارکنوں کی برطرفیوں پر احتجاج کیا ہے اور میڈیا مالکان سے کہا ہے کہ وہ اپنے کارکنوں کے ساتھ احترام سے پیش آئیں اور ملک کے مزدور قوانین کی پاسداری کریں۔
آئی ایف جے نے دعوی کیا ہے کہ اسے میڈیا کے جن اداروں کے سیکڑوں صحافیوں اور اخباری کارکنوں کی اچانک برطرفیوں کی شکایات ملی ہیں ان میں ٹی وی چینلز ڈان نیوز، نیوز ون، چینل فائیو، آج، جیو، سماء کے علاوہ اخبارات آج کل، جناح، خبریں، دی پوسٹ، الشرق اور پاکستان آبزرور شامل ہیں۔
'مالکان کو اپنے سرمایہ کاروں کو یہ بات سمجھانی چاہیے کہ ایسی کمپنیاں ہی ان کے مفاد میں ہیں جو اپنے عملے پر سرمایہ لگاتی ہیں نہ کہ وہ جو مختصر مدت کے لئے پیسے بچانے کی خاطر ملازمتوں میں کٹوتی کرتی ہیں۔‘
Monday, April 6, 2009
IFJ Stands in Solidarity With Sacked Media Workers in Pakistan
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed by the sackings of media personnel at television stations and newspapers across Pakistan and calls on media owners to treat their workers with respect and to abide by Pakistan’s labour laws.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate, reports that hundreds of journalists and media workers in all major cities of Pakistan have been sacked with little warning since the beginning of the year. Many retrenched workers have received no explanation or been told their retrenchment is due to “financial constraints”.
Complaints about abrupt sackings have been received from workers at television stations Dawn News, News One, Channel 5, Aaj, GEO and Samaa, as well as Aaj Kal, Daily Jinnah Khabrian, the Post, Alsharq and the Pakistan Observer newspapers.
The IFJ draws the attention of Pakistan’s media owners to the February 2009 Hong Kong Declaration, in which leaders of journalists’ associations and trade unions from across Asia-Pacific, attending an IFJ regional meeting on the global financial crisis, urged media houses to recognise that drastic cost-cutting only leads to a vicious downward spiral, in which media companies, workers and the wider public suffer.
The declaration calls on media owners to work with labour organisations to protect the rights, security and living conditions of media workers, and to devise and implement appropriate measures for sustaining quality media businesses during times of financial hardship.
“We urge media executives to invest in the future of journalism by building new audiences and wisely managing the introduction of new technologies and tools that allow journalists to tell their stories in new ways. News executives need vision and courage to do this,” the declaration said.
Click here to view source
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate, reports that hundreds of journalists and media workers in all major cities of Pakistan have been sacked with little warning since the beginning of the year. Many retrenched workers have received no explanation or been told their retrenchment is due to “financial constraints”.
Complaints about abrupt sackings have been received from workers at television stations Dawn News, News One, Channel 5, Aaj, GEO and Samaa, as well as Aaj Kal, Daily Jinnah Khabrian, the Post, Alsharq and the Pakistan Observer newspapers.
The IFJ draws the attention of Pakistan’s media owners to the February 2009 Hong Kong Declaration, in which leaders of journalists’ associations and trade unions from across Asia-Pacific, attending an IFJ regional meeting on the global financial crisis, urged media houses to recognise that drastic cost-cutting only leads to a vicious downward spiral, in which media companies, workers and the wider public suffer.
The declaration calls on media owners to work with labour organisations to protect the rights, security and living conditions of media workers, and to devise and implement appropriate measures for sustaining quality media businesses during times of financial hardship.
“We urge media executives to invest in the future of journalism by building new audiences and wisely managing the introduction of new technologies and tools that allow journalists to tell their stories in new ways. News executives need vision and courage to do this,” the declaration said.
Click here to view source
Taliban extend deadline for Canadian journalist
Monday, April 6, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban have extended deadline till April 5 for killing a Canadian Muslim woman journalist to agree to their demands for the release of prisoners.
Khadija Abdul Qahaar, 55, previously known as Beverly Giesbrecht, was kidnapped from near Bannu on Nov 11 when she was visiting the region for a documentary.
Taliban had set March end for her release but a Taliban statement distributed in Miranshah, the centre of North Waziristan tribal region last night said that the Canadian Pakistani authorities did not contact them. The statement said that the Canadian journalist was a spy and had come to the tribal area for espionage on Taliban.
In a video the Canadian Muslim journalist said that the militants would kill her if their demands were not met. Khadija Abdul Qahaar had converted to Islam in response to the US “war on terror” that followed 9/11.
“We have very short time now. And I am going to be killed,” Khadija Abdul Qahaar said in the video, which was delivered to journalists in Miranshah. In her first video last month she confirmed that she had been kidnapped by Taliban and had pleaded for her release. Taliban in a statement said that Khadija Abdul Qahaar is not a journalist but ‘she had come to the tribal regions on espionage mission. “We will kill her if our demands were not accepted,” the statement said.
The statement was delivered in the Miranshah press club by unknown persons. “Her murder is justified under Sharia laws,” the statement said.
It said that a deadline of March 30 was set for acceptance for the demands but neither the Canadian government nor Pakistani authorities have established any contact. “We had extended the deadline till April 3 at the request of the local journalists,” the statement said, adding “We are now again extending deadline till April 5”. Office-bearers of the Miranshah Press Club last week had issued a statement, making appeal to the captors to free the Canadian journalist.
Click here to see the source
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban have extended deadline till April 5 for killing a Canadian Muslim woman journalist to agree to their demands for the release of prisoners.
Khadija Abdul Qahaar, 55, previously known as Beverly Giesbrecht, was kidnapped from near Bannu on Nov 11 when she was visiting the region for a documentary.
Taliban had set March end for her release but a Taliban statement distributed in Miranshah, the centre of North Waziristan tribal region last night said that the Canadian Pakistani authorities did not contact them. The statement said that the Canadian journalist was a spy and had come to the tribal area for espionage on Taliban.
In a video the Canadian Muslim journalist said that the militants would kill her if their demands were not met. Khadija Abdul Qahaar had converted to Islam in response to the US “war on terror” that followed 9/11.
“We have very short time now. And I am going to be killed,” Khadija Abdul Qahaar said in the video, which was delivered to journalists in Miranshah. In her first video last month she confirmed that she had been kidnapped by Taliban and had pleaded for her release. Taliban in a statement said that Khadija Abdul Qahaar is not a journalist but ‘she had come to the tribal regions on espionage mission. “We will kill her if our demands were not accepted,” the statement said.
The statement was delivered in the Miranshah press club by unknown persons. “Her murder is justified under Sharia laws,” the statement said.
It said that a deadline of March 30 was set for acceptance for the demands but neither the Canadian government nor Pakistani authorities have established any contact. “We had extended the deadline till April 3 at the request of the local journalists,” the statement said, adding “We are now again extending deadline till April 5”. Office-bearers of the Miranshah Press Club last week had issued a statement, making appeal to the captors to free the Canadian journalist.
Click here to see the source
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Journalists stage protest
Journalists staged a protest in front of the Karachi Press Club on Friday, April 3, 2009, against the laying off the employees from electronic and print media.
The protest was organized by the Karachi Press Club while journalists belonging to both the factions of the Karachi Union of Journalists i.e. Burna and Dastoor, participated in the protest. The participation jointly by the members of two KUJs showed the unity of journalists and seriousness of the issue.
They held placards and banners condemning the management of those institutions from where the newsmen were laid off. They vowed to wage struggle for the just rights.
The protest was organized by the Karachi Press Club while journalists belonging to both the factions of the Karachi Union of Journalists i.e. Burna and Dastoor, participated in the protest. The participation jointly by the members of two KUJs showed the unity of journalists and seriousness of the issue.
They held placards and banners condemning the management of those institutions from where the newsmen were laid off. They vowed to wage struggle for the just rights.
Monday, March 30, 2009
11 journalists killed in 2009
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) research indicates that 11 individuals have been killed in 2009 because of their work as journalists. They either died in the line of duty or were deliberately targeted for assassination because of their reporting or their affiliation with a news organization.
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2008, the most dangerous year for journalists in Pakistan
Islamabad, Dec.31 (ANI): The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has termed 2008, as the most dangerous year for journalists in Pakistan.Eight journalists were killed in different incidents in 2008 in Pakistan.The recent upsurge in militant activities the NWFP has proved deadly for journalists to work in the region, with areas like Swat and Bajour remaining the most dangerous for reporting.PFUJ has also criticised the government for its failure to tackle the issue, by failing to prosecute or probe any suspect in connection with the killing of the journos.The organization has blamed both the government agencies and non-state actors for rise in violence.“Pakistan is getting dangerous and dangerous for journalists particularly for at least 200 journalists working in the tribal areas. The situation may worsen in the coming months,” The Daily Times quoted the journalists union, as saying.There has been a rise in attacks on journalist in Pakistan recently. Journalists who are involved in unravelling misdeeds of political leaders, militants or the mafia are being increasingly targeted in the country.Mohammad Ibrahim of Express TV was killed for interviewing chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The interview was never aired nor was his case ever investigated.Similarly, a correspondent of Royal TV was killed allegedly by the drug mafia after he did a special report on drugs in Pak Punjab.Several reporters working in Peshawar have admitted that they are receiving death threats regularly.
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Pakistan 10th most unsafe country for journalists
New York, Mar 24 (ANI): Journalists are no more safe in Pakistan as they are killed regularly, having no freedom to work and the 2009 Global Impunity Index of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recent survey ranks Pakistan 10th among 14 countries.
Other countries in the region India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh also figure on the index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.
The already murderous conditions for the Press in Sri Lanka and Pakistan deteriorated further in the past year, the CPJ said.
Were distressed to see justice worsen in places such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Our findings indicate that the failure to solve journalist murders perpetuates further violence against the Press, Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, said in a statement.
Countries can get off this list of shame only by committing themselves to seeking justice, The Nation quoted Simon, as saying.
On Pakistan, CPJ said: In a deteriorating security situation, journalists have come under threat from a wide range of militant religious and criminal organisations, some with links to Pakistani intelligence.
Three unsolved murders were reported in 2008, bringing the decade total to 10 and moving Pakistan up two places on the index. Impunity Index Rating: 0.062 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
CPJs Impunity Index, compiled for the second year, calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a countrys population, The Nation reports.
CPJ examined every nation in the world for the years 1999 through 2008. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.
Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on this Index, a threshold reached by 14 countries this year. Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia top the Impunity Index. (ANI)
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Other countries in the region India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh also figure on the index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.
The already murderous conditions for the Press in Sri Lanka and Pakistan deteriorated further in the past year, the CPJ said.
Were distressed to see justice worsen in places such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Our findings indicate that the failure to solve journalist murders perpetuates further violence against the Press, Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, said in a statement.
Countries can get off this list of shame only by committing themselves to seeking justice, The Nation quoted Simon, as saying.
On Pakistan, CPJ said: In a deteriorating security situation, journalists have come under threat from a wide range of militant religious and criminal organisations, some with links to Pakistani intelligence.
Three unsolved murders were reported in 2008, bringing the decade total to 10 and moving Pakistan up two places on the index. Impunity Index Rating: 0.062 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
CPJs Impunity Index, compiled for the second year, calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a countrys population, The Nation reports.
CPJ examined every nation in the world for the years 1999 through 2008. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.
Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on this Index, a threshold reached by 14 countries this year. Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia top the Impunity Index. (ANI)
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IFJ mourns killing of journalist
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is extremely concerned by the failure of authorities in Pakistan to fully investigate the killings of journalists, after another journalist was murdered last night.
Raja Assad Hameed, a senior reporter for the daily Nation and Waqt TV Channel, was shot four times by unidentified assailants as he arrived at his home in Rawalpindi, reports the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate. He died in hospital.
The PFUJ said the motive for the murder is unclear.
The IFJ joins the PFUJ in demanding that Pakistan’s Government direct local authorities to conduct a full investigation and to bring the culprits to justice.
However, it is disturbed to learn that authorities have not properly investigated the abduction and targeted murder of GEO correspondent Mussa Khankhel in Swat Valley on February 18.
The PFUJ suggests the failure of authorities to investigate Khankhel’s murder is reason to doubt the sincerity of the Government in its promise to protect media personnel.
“The Government of Pakistan must act on its stated commitment to defend media rights, including the right of media personnel to be protected against targeted violence,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“Offering to provide compensation after violence has been committed is an insufficient response in dealing with the level of violence directed against the media in various parts of Pakistan.”
The murder of Assad follows another killing of a journalist this week. Tariq Malik, a young correspondent for Dawn News, was shot dead on March 24 in what appears to have been a street robbery unrelated to his professional work.
Members of the PFUJ will hold a rally this weekend to protest continuing violence against journalists and to appeal again to the authorities to take serious action.
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Raja Assad Hameed, a senior reporter for the daily Nation and Waqt TV Channel, was shot four times by unidentified assailants as he arrived at his home in Rawalpindi, reports the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate. He died in hospital.
The PFUJ said the motive for the murder is unclear.
The IFJ joins the PFUJ in demanding that Pakistan’s Government direct local authorities to conduct a full investigation and to bring the culprits to justice.
However, it is disturbed to learn that authorities have not properly investigated the abduction and targeted murder of GEO correspondent Mussa Khankhel in Swat Valley on February 18.
The PFUJ suggests the failure of authorities to investigate Khankhel’s murder is reason to doubt the sincerity of the Government in its promise to protect media personnel.
“The Government of Pakistan must act on its stated commitment to defend media rights, including the right of media personnel to be protected against targeted violence,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“Offering to provide compensation after violence has been committed is an insufficient response in dealing with the level of violence directed against the media in various parts of Pakistan.”
The murder of Assad follows another killing of a journalist this week. Tariq Malik, a young correspondent for Dawn News, was shot dead on March 24 in what appears to have been a street robbery unrelated to his professional work.
Members of the PFUJ will hold a rally this weekend to protest continuing violence against journalists and to appeal again to the authorities to take serious action.
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Journalists, newsmen laid off
Friday, March 27, was the very bad day for those working for DawnNews as the organization has laid off 76 of its people across the country including Karachi.
The Secretary of the Karachi Press Club, Mr. A.H. Khanzada is among those laid off by the DawnNews TV channel. Many of the journalists had received the termination letter by courier in the morning. They felt the way they were laid off humiliating.
The ruthless action by the DawnNews management has spread the wave of anger among the journalists.
It is not the first time that the owners of the news organization have carried out the “economic murder” of journalists. A little bit earlier, many journalists have been laid off by AAJ TV, Geo TV, daily Al-Sharq and the daily Aaj-kal.
A couple of day, 30 newsmen, laid off by the Aaj-kal, staged a protest demonstration over the economic murder of newsmen. They asked the government to intervene.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and Karachi Union of Journalists have not issued any statement on this issue so far.
The Secretary of the Karachi Press Club, Mr. A.H. Khanzada is among those laid off by the DawnNews TV channel. Many of the journalists had received the termination letter by courier in the morning. They felt the way they were laid off humiliating.
The ruthless action by the DawnNews management has spread the wave of anger among the journalists.
It is not the first time that the owners of the news organization have carried out the “economic murder” of journalists. A little bit earlier, many journalists have been laid off by AAJ TV, Geo TV, daily Al-Sharq and the daily Aaj-kal.
A couple of day, 30 newsmen, laid off by the Aaj-kal, staged a protest demonstration over the economic murder of newsmen. They asked the government to intervene.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and Karachi Union of Journalists have not issued any statement on this issue so far.
Ghausi is no more
Sabihuddin Ghausi, a veteran journalist and Assistant Editor of DailyDawn, died in sleep here early on Thursday morning. He was 65.
He was laid to rest after Zuhr prayers at the graveyard near the milk plant on Sir Shah Suleman Road. Soyem will be held on Saturday after Asr prayers at the Ghafooria Mosque (Pakola Wali Masjid) in Garden East.He has left behind a widow, two older brothers and an older sister.
Mr Ghausi was admitted to hospital on Feb 8 after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was discharged after two weeks.Sabihuddin Ghausi hailed from Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat. His father was a sessions judge in the Junagarh High Court and before the annexation of the princely state by New Delhi, he served as revenue commissioner in Manavadar.
After the Indian occupation, the family migrated to Pakistan.Mr Ghausi was a thorough professional and committed himself to fighting for freedom of the press from the outset. A yearning for social change also informed all his writings.He earned his bachelor’s degree from Islamia College, Karachi.
After earning a masters degree from the University of Karachi, he joined the Habib Bank as an officer, but found the job unfulfilling. So he resigned and opted for a career in journalism, joining Daily Sun, Karachi, in 1970.
The tutelage of Shamim Ahmad, the founding editor of the newspaper, enabled him to master the nuts and bolts of the trade in no time.
After the closure of the Sun, he joined the Pakistan Press International (PPI), a news agency. Here another acclaimed journalist Javed Bokhari helped him reach new heights. Before switching over to daily Dawn, Karachi, in 1988 he also worked for daily Muslim, Islamabad, (now defunct), daily Business Recorder and Morning News, Karachi.The guidance of Ahmad Ali Khan, the editor of Dawn, and S.G.M.
Badruddin was enough to bring out the best in Mr Ghausi.Dedication to work did not, however, keep him away from the wider world.A hunger for contributing to journalists’ welfare, as well as to alleviating the misery of the masses, saw him working with seasoned campaigners like Asrar Ahmad, Minhaj Barna and Nisar Usmani.He also suffered joblessness and imprisonment during Gen Ziaul Haq’s martial law, but never compromised on principles.
He was elected President of Karachi Union of Journalists twice and President of Karachi Press Club four times. Economics and politics were Mr Ghausi’s forte. Television channels used to prize his piercing analyses on current affairs.
Source: Karachi/DawnDate:3/27/2009
He was laid to rest after Zuhr prayers at the graveyard near the milk plant on Sir Shah Suleman Road. Soyem will be held on Saturday after Asr prayers at the Ghafooria Mosque (Pakola Wali Masjid) in Garden East.He has left behind a widow, two older brothers and an older sister.
Mr Ghausi was admitted to hospital on Feb 8 after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was discharged after two weeks.Sabihuddin Ghausi hailed from Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat. His father was a sessions judge in the Junagarh High Court and before the annexation of the princely state by New Delhi, he served as revenue commissioner in Manavadar.
After the Indian occupation, the family migrated to Pakistan.Mr Ghausi was a thorough professional and committed himself to fighting for freedom of the press from the outset. A yearning for social change also informed all his writings.He earned his bachelor’s degree from Islamia College, Karachi.
After earning a masters degree from the University of Karachi, he joined the Habib Bank as an officer, but found the job unfulfilling. So he resigned and opted for a career in journalism, joining Daily Sun, Karachi, in 1970.
The tutelage of Shamim Ahmad, the founding editor of the newspaper, enabled him to master the nuts and bolts of the trade in no time.
After the closure of the Sun, he joined the Pakistan Press International (PPI), a news agency. Here another acclaimed journalist Javed Bokhari helped him reach new heights. Before switching over to daily Dawn, Karachi, in 1988 he also worked for daily Muslim, Islamabad, (now defunct), daily Business Recorder and Morning News, Karachi.The guidance of Ahmad Ali Khan, the editor of Dawn, and S.G.M.
Badruddin was enough to bring out the best in Mr Ghausi.Dedication to work did not, however, keep him away from the wider world.A hunger for contributing to journalists’ welfare, as well as to alleviating the misery of the masses, saw him working with seasoned campaigners like Asrar Ahmad, Minhaj Barna and Nisar Usmani.He also suffered joblessness and imprisonment during Gen Ziaul Haq’s martial law, but never compromised on principles.
He was elected President of Karachi Union of Journalists twice and President of Karachi Press Club four times. Economics and politics were Mr Ghausi’s forte. Television channels used to prize his piercing analyses on current affairs.
Source: Karachi/DawnDate:3/27/2009
Journalists slam colleagues' murder
MULTAN, March 27: Journalists demonstrated on Friday in Multan and Faisalabad against the killing of their colleagues in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Unidentified men killed DawnNews reporter Tariq Javed Malik in Lahore and The Nation’s Raja Asad Hameed in Rawalpindi.In Multan, the Multan Press Club and the Multan Union of Journalists staged a rally, led by Jamshaid Rizwani, Mazhar Javed, Gohar Javed, Jabbar Mufti and Irtaza Malik. The participants paid rich tributes to the slain journalists and demanded early arrest of the killers.Activists of the Pakistan Muslim League-N led by Tariq Naeemullah and workers of Pattan Development Organisation led by Sarwar Bari and Abdul Saboor also participated in the protest.
Speakers said journalists had always been victimised by the oppressors and the killing of both journalists was an attack on the freedom of the press. They said that the murder of journalists had proven that the media was not free and that law and order situation was worsening in Pakistan day by day.The speakers said the murder of the journalists happened due to the negligence of the government.
They demanded security arrangements for all journalists besides compensation for the heirs to those reporters who lay down their lives in the line of duty.FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Union of Journalists staged a protest rally against the killing of Raja Asad.The rally was led by PFUJ President Huma Ali, secretary Mazhar Abbas and Faisalabad Press Club president Shahid Ali started from the press club.
Wearing black armbands, the journalists chanted slogans against the killing of Raja Asad and for journalists’ protection.Mr Ali and Mr Abbas said five journalists had been killed in the country in last five months and the government had done nothing to arrest the criminals.
They said the journalists would decide their future course of action to stage a sit-in outside the president’s and governor’s secretariat.
Unidentified men killed DawnNews reporter Tariq Javed Malik in Lahore and The Nation’s Raja Asad Hameed in Rawalpindi.In Multan, the Multan Press Club and the Multan Union of Journalists staged a rally, led by Jamshaid Rizwani, Mazhar Javed, Gohar Javed, Jabbar Mufti and Irtaza Malik. The participants paid rich tributes to the slain journalists and demanded early arrest of the killers.Activists of the Pakistan Muslim League-N led by Tariq Naeemullah and workers of Pattan Development Organisation led by Sarwar Bari and Abdul Saboor also participated in the protest.
Speakers said journalists had always been victimised by the oppressors and the killing of both journalists was an attack on the freedom of the press. They said that the murder of journalists had proven that the media was not free and that law and order situation was worsening in Pakistan day by day.The speakers said the murder of the journalists happened due to the negligence of the government.
They demanded security arrangements for all journalists besides compensation for the heirs to those reporters who lay down their lives in the line of duty.FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Union of Journalists staged a protest rally against the killing of Raja Asad.The rally was led by PFUJ President Huma Ali, secretary Mazhar Abbas and Faisalabad Press Club president Shahid Ali started from the press club.
Wearing black armbands, the journalists chanted slogans against the killing of Raja Asad and for journalists’ protection.Mr Ali and Mr Abbas said five journalists had been killed in the country in last five months and the government had done nothing to arrest the criminals.
They said the journalists would decide their future course of action to stage a sit-in outside the president’s and governor’s secretariat.
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