A mindset that believes that any criticism of one’s action or any questioning of one’s motives is tantamount to threatening the country only goes to show the excessively high regard some institutions hold themselves in – at the cost of others. True patriotism, borne out of love for country, demands that those who hold power be held accountable and are subject to tough questioning. What is happening now in the form of the threat to Geo TV could affect anyone else, any other media body in the future. Games of one-upmanship must not be played and petty politics abandoned. There were reports that Defence Minister Khwaja Asif was opposed to approaching Pemra. He too has come in for a lot of flak after some of his old speeches surfaced and were played ad nauseum on television. The government should be able to play its role without being intimidated or influenced by any quarters and by standing on the side of what lies within our constitution. The government and the military both need to ensure that they act in the interest of the country and its people as a whole. What we need at this time is good sense, reason and fair play above all else. What is of paramount importance is to defend the freedom of the media and ensure it can function as a means to bring news and opinion of every kind to people. Tolerance for this opinion must increase. A blanking out of screens could only worsen the situation we already face and add to the lack of transparency we already suffer from in a country where too many secrets lurk.

The News

In the notice, the Pemra directed chief executive officer (CEO) of Geo News to appear before it for personal hearing on May 6 at 11:00am at its headquarters here.

The Pemra said in the notice that a complaint was received on Tuesday from the Ministry of Defence, initiated by the Directorate General ISI with CDs (video recording) and a copy of transcript.

It said that after firing on the car of anchorperson Hamid Mir, the channel launched a “malicious campaign” airing “false accusations” against the ISI and its senior officers.The notice said it had been further alleged by Deputy Director General ISI that the “reporting made and programmes aired can’t be viewed as a single event. GEO Network had a history of acting illegally in furtherance of anti-Pakistan agenda.”

The Pemra noted in the notice that “whereas the content of the complaint and video recordings provided by the complainant appear to be in violation of the Section 20 of the Pemra Ordinance, Rule 15 of Pemra rules, 2009 read with clause (d) (e) (g) (h) and (j) of Pemra Code of Conduct as well as Regulation 18 (i) (c) of Pemra (Television Broadcast Station Operation Regulations), 2012 and clause 29 of the terms and conditions of the licence, you had signed.”

The News

The Pemra charged Rs1 million fine from over 20 television channels during the last over three years. “Pemra took cognisance where violations of code of conduct of the authority were committed,” Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rashid in a written reply to a question in the National Assembly said on Wednesday.

He said the programming content being aired on private satellite TV channels is generally in accordance with the prescribed code of conduct devised under Pemra Rules 2009 as well as social, cultural and religious values of the country.

The minister said in certain cases, where violations were committed, Pemra took cognisance. In some instances fines were imposed on these TV channels and licence of one TV channel was also proposed to be revoked. However, the said channel obtained stay order from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the matter is currently sub-judice.

The television channels who faced fine from Pemra include XM, one million, Jalwa, one million, Apna TV, one million, Geo Ent, one million, TV One, one million, Oxygen, one million, Play TV, one million, Koh-e-Noor, one million, Express Ent, one million, Hum TV, one million, Silver Screen, one million, Filmax, one million, Film World, one million, Filmazia, one million, KTN, one million, Sachal, one million, Starlite, one million, Sindhi TV, one million, Aruj TV, one million, Khyber News, one million, ARY News, one million, Geo Entertainment, one million, Geo Super, one million, A-Lite, one million, Ravi TV, one million, Channel-5, one million, Rohi TV, one million, Royal TV, one million, N-Vibe, one million, Silver Screen, one million, Film World, one million, Filmax, one million, Filmazia, one million, Starlite, one million, Filmazia, Rs0.5 million, and Silver Screen, Rs500,000.

To another question from Sheikh Salahuddin of the MQM, the Pervaiz Rashid said Pemra has also identified a few advertisements as indecent and vulgar but was not empowered to censor these advertisements. He said Pemra takes cognisance on such violations and unethical advertisements.

Pemra has issued advices, warnings and notices to its licensees for refraining from airing such advertisements. In some instances, fines were also imposed on these satellite TV channels for airing content in contravention to Pemra code of conduct.

The minister said some advertisements that were identified as indecent and vulgar.He said Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA) and Pakistan Advertising Society (PAS) were taken on board in order to edit some advertisements which were deemed obscene.

It may also be relevant to mention here that Pemra is not empowered to pre-censor the content of its licensees. Under section 20 of Pemra Ordinance 2002, all the licensees are obliged to appoint in-house monitoring committees to ensure that no content is aired that violates the code of conduct.

The News