{"id":5561,"date":"2016-02-10T18:06:29","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T13:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pakistanpressfoundation.org\/?p=82821"},"modified":"2016-02-10T18:06:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T13:06:29","slug":"pakistani-editors-use-whatsapp-group-to-keep-journalists-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/pakistani-editors-use-whatsapp-group-to-keep-journalists-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistani Editors use Whatsapp group to keep journalists safe"},"content":{"rendered":"
At least 71 media professionals were killed on the job last year, but their stories weren’t always reported. High-profile cases usually do get a lot of media attention, but the vast majority of killings involve local journalists. A group of Pakistani editors found a unique way to keep journalists safe by using media attention. Zaffar Abbas, Editor of Dawn newspaper, tells us more.<\/p>\n
Afzal Mughal, a Pakistani journalist from a small newspaper in Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan province, was abducted, in the early morning of November, by a group of armed men who broke into his home while he was asleep. Normally, stories like this don’t make the front pages in Pakistan, which ranks as the sixth deadliest country for journalists according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n
But the new \u201cEditors for Safety\u201d initiative made all the difference. Instead of letting the case go by unnoticed, a message went out to a new Whatsapp group for Pakistani Editors, informing them of the kidnapping. In less than five minutes, 21 television channels were running the story. Its widespread dissemination even had international broadcasters, such as NBC, pick up the news.<\/p>\n