On Sunday, protesters pelted stones at and damaged the offices of the privately owned Geo TV and struck a Geo News satellite van with batons, the channel reported. Early Monday, protesters armed with sticks stormed the headquarters of the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) and harassed staff, damaged broadcast equipment, and cut cables, leading to a temporary block in transmission, according to news reports. Although the army eventually brought the situation under control, the ability of anti-government protesters to get inside a building the military was apparently guarding prompted some to question the army’s role, the BBC reported.

For nearly two weeks thousands of protesters, led by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan and anti-government cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, have been camped out in Islamabad, after a march to the capital to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over allegations of electoral fraud, a charge he denies. Government officials believe the protests are backed by the country’s powerful military establishment, according to reports. The military, which has been at odds with the Sharif administration on a range of issues since his election last year, has led several coups in the past, one of which removed Sharif from power in 1999. Already, the military has pressured Sharif to relieve control of foreign policy and security issues according to government aides, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Several journalists covering the anti-government protests for outlets including ARY News, Aaj TV, Samaa TV, and Geo have come under attack, as we noted earlier.

Against this backdrop of unrest, last week we documented death threats against freelance columnist and retired army officer Kamran Shafi, who had been critical of the anti-government movement and military. Ansar Abbasi, investigative editor at the privately owned The News International also received a death threat from the same email account, using the name “Khaki Power”, around the same time. The News is part of the Geo/Jang group–which has been labeled anti-establishment and traitorous by many Pakistanis loyal to the military since the attack on Hamid Mir, an anchor and columnist for the group.

The threats in Shafi’s case did not end there. Today, he received another threat from a different email address, albeit the same and seldom-used domain name, telling him: “And make no mistake, you can be bumped off with 1 phone call giving it a ‘go’. Traitor. You dont deserve to breathe air in this country nor walk it’s [sic] soil.”

To read the full threat sent to Shafi click here.

Similar threats have been sent to several other journalists. Omar Quraishi, the editorial pages editor for the privately owned Express Tribune, received the following disturbing message from the same email account that sent the latest threat to Shafi:

From: “SSG” <ssg@safe-mail.net>
Date: 29 Aug 2014 11:20am
Subject: Notice
To: <omarrquraishi@gmail.com>
Cc:

Quraishi – consider this your ONE and ONLY notice. Watch your mouth. If you utter rubbish again, I will personally see to it that you leave this world covered in your own urine.. begging for forgiveness. How does that sound? Shut your mouth or I will gladly shut it for you for ever.

Quraishi told CPJ he believes the threat is in connection with recent tweets, in which he has been critical of the military and of supporters of the campaigns led by Khan and Qadri.

On Sunday, Ahmad Noorani, an investigative journalist at The News, also received a death threat from the same e-mail address.

Threats against journalists in Pakistan are never to be taken lightly. CPJ research shows that at least half of all journalists murdered in the country were threatened before they were killed.

Pakistan’s advanced surveillance capabilities, recently highlighted by Sohail Abid, from local internet rights group Digital Rights Foundation, should be capable of tracing the source of these threats. Commentators including Shafi, have questioned how threats such as the ones made against him can go untraced by the country’s powerful intelligence agencies.

Even before the current political crisis, Pakistan is one of the deadliest places for journalists. On Friday, 28-year-old Ihsan Ali, an assistant to the bureau chief of the Urdu-language Mashriq, a privately owned daily, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mardan district–a case we are currently investigating. Last week, three employees, including journalist Irshad Mastoi, were shot dead at the Quetta offices of the independent news agency Online International News Network.

Sadly, amid this political crisis, views in the media have become polarized, and rivalries and infighting have reached new levels. Independent and critical voices are suffering at a time when the public needs them more than ever in Pakistan. Until the Pakistani media can achieve some level of solidarity they have little hope of combating the risks of being a journalist, CPJ research shows.

Sumit Galhotra is the research associate for CPJ’s Asia program. He served as CPJ’s inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has reported from London, India, and Israel and the Occupied Territories, and specializes in human rights and South Asia.

Committee to Protect Journalists

These claimants of democracy and the rule of law harassed and manhandled fourth the pillar of democracy to stop them for the objective coverage of the sit-ins. The wrath of these party workers was not limited to only one channel or one gender, but they also harassed a woman journalist, and attacked at least one dozen journalists and supporting staff, besides harming their vehicles and equipment.

The journalists who were harassed and manhandled by the workers of opposition as well as a ruling party, belonged to Aaj TV, ARY News, Geo TV and Samaa TV. These sad attacks on journalists have raised eyebrows of the community across the country and internationally.

It is a widely acknowledged fact that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-in would have tapered off had the media not been giving extensive coverage to the party chairman’s speeches daily that often ended late evening.

The angry workers are at a loss to understand that the working journalists have to cover and report the issues and events irrespective of what different sections of society may or may not like to read or watch. More importantly the political actors need journalists as much to tell their stories as do the journalists to report such stories. Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy. Media makes people aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around the world. It is like a mirror, which shows or strives to show the truth and harsher realities. If media persons close their eyes the government officials will openly do what they want.

First of all to confront a harsh situation was Geo TV as their reporters Azaz Syed, Arshad Waheed, Farhat Jabeen (a woman journalist) and Saif-ur-Rehman and cameramen Shabbir Ahmed and Khurram Shehzad while covering the sit-in on 16th August came across an unfriendly crowed of PTI. The same crowed had given a warm welcome to the reporters and supporting staff of ARY News channel that day, as they thought that channel was giving them their desired coverage.

A PTI activist, Gulfam Khan Pathan, a joint secretary of union council of Hamsheerian district Mansehra of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province had said that since their leader Imran Khan had boycotted Geo TV therefore its staff deserved the treatment.

The chief coordinator of PML-N, Siddiq Farooq, at that time termed the manhandling of the TV team ‘undemocratic attitude’.

Jang group has yet claimed that as many as eight reporters, cameramen and drivers had been assaulted by the workers of PTI recently.

Khan, who had in his speeches unintentionally instigated his charged workers against Jang group, condemned after a couple of days on 18th August, the attacks by his workers on Geo reporters.

Geo TV’s digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) van once again came under attack on 21st August right after two days of Khan’s condemning such act by PTI workers. The woman reporter, Farhat Javed, and other media staff were sitting in the van to cover the latest situation of the sit-in. However, due to the attack they had to flee to their office without performing their duties.

Not only opposition marchers were among the attackers but supporters of ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had their share also in adding another incident of ‘undemocratic attitude’. Babar Malik of ARY News was attacked by a group of political activists on 21st while covering the Pakistan Muslim League-N rally brought out by its local leaders. The journalist said: “First the angry activists abused the television channel and its anchors and then they started beating me. Although I was not injured seriously, I suffered various bruises.”

The victim demanded the government to provide security to the on-duty journalists as they cannot perform duties under such hostile circumstances.

A Samaa TV crew was also harassed on 24th August at the march by workers who also confiscated their footage.

Aaj TV team was attacked by PTI workers who were managing security arrangements of the demo outside the Parliament House on 24th October. They demanded to check the channel’s DSNG and on denial they climbed the van and roughed up the reporters and support staff. At least four crew members from Aaj News including DSNG engineer Iqbal, cameramen, Usmaan, Iqbal and Samaarat were attacked.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) at ‘Pro-democracy’ camp on 25th August had deprecated the undemocratic acts of what it called ‘container politicians’ to attack journalists and said that such sit-ins had put an adverse effect on the national economy and paralyzed the capital city including its educational institutes.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also called on all sides to respect the role of journalists and media workers. “We note that the organizers of the ‘Freedom March’ have condemned these attacks but they must do more to control their supporters and ensure the safety of journalists covering the protests,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney.

Pakistan Press Foundation

From 2011-2012, the young media professional has worked in close collaboration with press clubs in Pakistan (in Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), initiating comprehensive Investigative Journalism and Media Ethics courses for journalists across the board. Currently the director of Mishal Pakistan (a social enterprise) and the founder of non-profit Agahi, under which she launched the Agahi Awards, Pakistan’s first annual journalism awards, Chaudhary is presently also serving as a member of the World Futures Society as a contributing reviewer on the millennium project which unites futurists the world over to improve global foresight.

In an interview with The Diplomat, Chaudhary speaks about the downside of Pakistan’s media industry, media ethics and the state of investigative journalism in the country.

You have more than a decade’s experience as a media professional in Pakistan. From your perspective, has the Pakistani media industry evolved?

Yes it has evolved. However it still has a lot of growing up to do. Recent trends indicate that consumption patterns have switched from linear to non-linear media, where much of the responsibility and the onus of public opinion principally come from the broadcast medium – be it television or radio. But then the question arises: are these information outlets doing a promising job? Unfortunately the struggle is still there. I believe the media can play a progressive role in nation-building, especially when it comes to a nation as young as ours. It can enable governments, corporations and other non-state actors such as the civil society and academia to create an environment that can assist in bridging gaps within the existing socio-economic and political structures.

Do you think a free and fair media exists in Pakistan today?

The media in Pakistan is free, whether or not it is fair, that’s an entirely different debate altogether. How many developing nations does one comes across that gets to see news coverage vehemently criticizing the government, the armed forces, the intelligence agency, the judiciary, etc? In Pakistan, these institutions are not only ridiculed but are also disgraced. Now, is that fair? I suppose not, because not enough research and competence goes into planning content. One can easily judge this by the sheer absence of quality programming one gets to see on a day-to-day basis.

What are our drawbacks?

The industry has yet to become professionally competitive. Our media lacks integration into a broader policy agenda on governance and public sector reform. The role of the media in a country clearly situates it as an actor on the political stage. The media cannot fulfill their democratic roles if they are not embedded in an enabling regulatory environment and a culture of transparency.

As of now the industry benchmarks its performance essentially based on two factors; sensationalism and who breaks the news fastest, neither of which qualifies as credible or even educational. The industry is missing performance-based mechanisms, indicators that observe the credibility and rationality of the content being delivered. These gaps are then exploited by either an extremely incompetent workforce or by other vested interests. The lack of industry-academia linkages is another issue – a common understanding on the relationship is that the collaboration between the two will not only produce quality research but would also contribute towards new information and knowledge building of the collective wisdom of the society. A corporate governance structure that safeguards the interests of various stakeholders in the information ecosystem is missing from within the media industry, which is leading to malpractice and exploitation.

Do you think we have solid investigative journalism being carried out on a local level?

It is well established that local and national journalists are prone to unhelpful sensationalism or single, unsubstantiated narrative. This often is a result of a lack of investment in investigative reporting. Public and institutional awareness of the benefits of investigative journalism creates indigenous demand for quality reporting and accountability of public representatives. Having said that, advertising revenues for both electronic and print are declining; unfortunately this has had a significant impact on human capital development. The Pakistani media industry lacks the capacity to understand and appreciate data, a key factor for quality investigative journalism. The amount of data available in Pakistan has not been properly exploited to create worthy investigative journalism pieces on governance, social injustice, and economic mismanagement.

Please comment on the lack of security provided by the state and media houses for journalists. How many more assassination attempts, murders and threats is it going to take for them to start taking security for media professionals seriously?

“I say protect the innocent. Protect those journalists who are doing their duty and who are serving both the public and the government by criticizing the government freely, independently, honestly which is an education for any government.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the condition of the Press in India in the Imperial Legislative Council, September 19, 1918.

Need I say more? Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for the press. More than 90 journalists have been killed since 1947. These figures tell many stories, not all of course related to the buzz around “freedom of press.” Much of it has to do with training, competence, and capacity to operate in volatile areas and destabilizing conditions. Life before any story – a journalist can remain committed to his/her profession if he/she is committed to surviving.

Please comment on media ethics in Pakistan today.

Media organizations in Pakistan, just like elsewhere around the world, are owned by corporate, political and media persons. Different stakeholders in the industry exist to mold the public opinion for their own interests, [at the cost of] the ignorance of [ordinary people], exploiting their basic right to information. The thin line between rating vs. credibility is gradually disappearing. There’s no denying the efforts that have been made to revisit ethical codes of journalism and codes of conducts for journalists have been reframed nationally and internationally. But even [now], an institutionalized mechanism that sets benchmarks and demands quality journalism is still being overlooked and deliberately ignored.

What’s next for Agahi? How does it intend to aid in the evolution of investigative journalism in Pakistan?

Agahi intends to continue training journalists on emerging tools and technology for investigative reporting. Analysis of and synthesizing “big data” is something that is essentially required, since our audiences are no longer confined to traditional boundaries. Agahi will be focusing on data-driven journalism and hopefully, this will improve the quality of investigative reporting in Pakistan.

Sonya Rehman is a journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She can be reached at: sonjarehman [at] gmail.com

The Diplomat

QUETTA: The hollow-cheeked father of the slain television cameraman, Imran Sheikh, bursts into tears while narrating the ordeal of his family. Imran Sheikh was killed in the line of duty during the recent bombings in Alamdar road area of the provincial capital along with Saifur Rehman of Samaa TV and Iqbal Hussain, a photographer of the NNI.

“I always thought that he would take me to my last resting place. But that was not to be,” Naseer Sheikh said in a broken voice. He said he was very happy when Imran got job as a cameraman at Samaa TV, and added that he never thought his son was in such a dangerous profession.

Imran’s two orphaned daughters, two-year-old Amna and one-year-old Hafza, were playing with dolls when we were offering fateha for the departed soul. As a father, he doted on them. “Once he came out of his house at midnight to purchase things for his daughters,” Ejaz Ahmed, an old colleague of Imran, said with tears in his eyes.

“It pains me when they speak of their father,” Kamran Sheikh, the girls’ uncle, said. Living in a mud- and brick-walled house of two rooms, the family has lost its sole breadwinner. The house is located in remote Muslim town area. Despite the growing incidents of looting in the area, Imran used to go to his house late in the night after completing his work.

Imran had been working in Samaa TV since beginning of 2008. He was considered to be one of the most talented cameramen in the city. “Ironically, Imran used to advise us to avoid going to dangerous spots,” Shehzad Anwar, a DawnNews cameraman, said.

“‘Please cover explosions from a distance and zoom in the visuals,’ he used to tell us,” Shehzad remarked.

Imran died when the second explosion hit the Alamdar road area on Jan 10. TV channels reported his death which was followed up by the news of Saifur Rehman’s killing. He worked as reporter for the same channel.

Saif was initially missing and the authorities confirmed his death four hours after the explosion. The intensity of the blast had damaged their bodies and faces and they could not be easily recognised.

“They are all such cruel people that they are not showing my son’s face to me,” Naseer Sheikh was quoted as blurting out at Imran’s funeral.

Over 24 journalists have fallen prey to bullets and bomb blasts in different parts of violence-plagued Balochistan over the past six years. The murderers are still at large and the authorities appear helpless.

While reporting on such heinous crimes, journalists live through a deep sense of insecurity. Many media organisations, whether print or electronic, don’t train cameramen or reporters to report from a safe distance.

Over 26 journalists were injured during different suicide attacks, bomb explosions and firing because they had not been instructed to avoid standing on the crime scene after its clearance by law-enforcement personnel.

Many of us know by now that one blast may be followed by another one and the second one is often more deadly than the first.

Two cameramen, Ejaz Raisani and Arif Malik, were killed in the same incidents. The rating race between the channels puts lives of reporters, cameramen and DSNG staff in peril.

A lesson should be learnt from the story of Imran Sheikh, Saifur Rehman and Iqbal Hussain. The families of the deceased are the worst sufferers.

Pakistan Press Foundation

Three journalists working for Samaa television including Saifur Rahman Saif, Imran Sheikh and Mohammad Iqbal were killed in the Quetta explosions, which claimed around 100 lives. The demonstration was led by KhUJ, PPC office-bearers and other senior journalists.

The speakers on the occasion condemned the government and the owners of media houses for taking no steps for the protection of journalists. They said the camera and DSNGs of the media houses were insured, but no life insurance of the reporters and media workers could be arranged.

They demanded the media owners to adopt and implement standard operation procedures for the protection of journalists and save them from the mass killing in the name of “breaking news” and race for taking leads.

Our Bahawalpur correspondent adds: On the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Bahawalpur Union of Journalists (BhUJ) staged a demonstration to condemn the Quetta blasts in which two journalists were killed.

Several other journalists, including a Geo cameraman, with others were injured in the blasts. The journalists led by PFUJ founder member A Majeed Gill and BhUJ president Muhammad Ameen Abbasi gathered outside Farid Gate and chanted slogans against the killings. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government. The protesters were wearing black ribbons and holding banners inscribed with slogans condemning the killings of journalists.

Pakistan Press Foundation

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group has claimed the responsibility for blasts which were targeted at the Hazara Shiite community.

Imran Shaikh, cameraman for “Samaa TV”, Saif ur Rehman, reporter for the same television station and Mohammad Iqbal photographer of NNI news agency were covering the scene of the suicide bomb blast when the second blast occurred, killing them on the spot. was critically injured in the blast and died later in a local hospital.

Iqbal’ s brother Muhammad Hasan, porter of Independent News Pakistan news agency; Acne Roger, cameraman for “Geo TV” and Ather, satellite engineer for “Samaa TV” were injured in the blast. The condition of Roger is stated to be in serious but stable condition. Satellite vans of number of television stations were also damaged.

A reporter of “Samaa TV” told PPF that the suicide bomber came to the basement of a building of snooker club in an area inhabited by the Hazara Shia community and blew himself up at about 9:00 PM. A few minutes his car which was parked outside the building was blown up remotely.

Police said that more than 100 kg of explosives were used in the car bomb. Over 100 persons were killed and more than 200 injured in the blasts.

Shaikh is survived by his wife and two daughters, Rehman leaves behind his wife and three sons while Iqbal was unmarried. The management of Samaa TV announced Rs.1million and one year salary for each bereaved family. The Government of Pakistan has also announced Rs.1million for the bereaved families.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and journalists from all media organizations strongly condemned the killings of journalists. PFUJ staged a countrywide protest on 11th January 2013.

Pakistan Press Foundation