Freedom of press in Pakistan Mood: dohFifty-nine years of struggle for press freedom “Press is considered to have duty towards the society not only to educate, cultivate and reflect public opinion but also to raise its voice against things, which are wrong and like to hurt the public, their right and welfare. It serves as the watchdog of the society, which keeps an eye on everything, which is going on. Hence, it is considered as sine qua non for a healthy and sane society.” (Zamir Niazi—Press in Chains). Pakistan came into existence on 14th august 1947. Quaid-e-Azam became its first governor general had a clear concept press freedom. He said, “I expect you (journalists) to be completely fearless. If I go wrong for that matter Muslim league goes wrong in any direction. I want you to criticize it honestly as its friend, infarct’s one who whose heart is beating with Muslim nation.” He did not allow legislation to suppress the press. Just one month of his death in September 1948, Public Safety Ordinance was implemented in October. In the first 7 years of independence from 1947 to1953, 31 newspapers were banned for different time periods including literacy magazines like Naqoosh, Savera and Adab-e-Latif (Zamir Niazi-fettered freedom). Then came Ayubkhan in 1958 with the first marshal law of this country. He took his first action against Progressive Papers limited (PPL) by taking it over under the security act (1952), which Zamir Niazi said was amended suitably for the purpose. He established the National Press Trust (NPT) in order to ensure the high standards of journalism in Pakistan. This organization turned the PPL papers into the mouthpieces of successive governments. The NPT owned about 11 newspapers in English, Urdu and Bengali in six major cities of united Pakistan (east and west). In June 1961, the associated press of Pakistan was taken over by the Ayub khan because of its pathetic financial conditions (the agency was even unable to pay the salaries of its employees). From then on the agency has been used brutally to disseminate the propaganda of government and its functionaries to spread the better image of Pakistan. Since its takeover it is mostly run by PID (press information department) men who sometimes have or have not journalistic knowledge which is necessary to serve the agency. Even today the managing director of APP is Fazal Ur Rehman, who is a PID man! And due to the persistent managements’ ignorance, Ministry of Information and broadcasting have always been able to dictate APP. He also promulgated the press and publications ordinance and introduced the system of press advice. A single phone call from press information department was enough to hype small issue or to completely drop a news story or photographs that annoyed the government. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto began his Awami raj with the vow of complete press freedom. He began his government by suspending two NPT editors. He was annoyed by the unbiased political coverage of PPI -- Pakistan’s second national news agency and decided to “fix up” the agency’s management. He cancelled the government’s subscription to make the agency suffer from the financial crisis. When he failed to force the agency to follow the official lines he decided to change the agency’s management and give his friend. Between 1971 and 1977. Bhutto launched a fierce crackdown on journalists and newspapers. Various newspapers were banned and journalists were hounded and insulted (Zamir Niazi – fettered freedom). His policy of nationalization also endangered the freedom of press as the government got the control of 60% of the Advertisements. He used them as the tool to force the newspaper to become the tame voice of government. Zia ul Haq came with the blackest of the black law, the Press and Publication Ordinance, amended in 1963. This law increased the amount of security deposits from Rs. 10000 to Rs. 30,000.all the handouts and press releases by the government were made necessary to be published by the newspapers and in addition it authorized the government to issue warning to suspend the publication. He also gave the concept of pre- censorship. Whatever annoyed the government was censored even before the publication. He also gave the idea of self-censorship, which is still haunting our press, as it is something, which is still to be understood by the public of Pakistan. Thai concept has damaged the press even more than pre- censorship He also promulgated the libel act(Pakistan Penal code 499 and 500), which had its root in colonial past. This act forbade any kind of defamation against any person even if it is true or is in the interest of the public. Thus, depriving press of its right of surveillance and being watchdog of society.1900 is considered the decade because the press started to flourish gradually. The main reason was the ending of Press and Publication Ordinance in Junejo’s time. Many new newspapers came out and made their audiences. Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto were unable to completely restrict the press because they governed for very small times. ButBenazir most prominent act for curtailing the press freedom was to continue her father’sobsession to ruin the PPI. And who can forget the Nawaz Sharif desire of curbing theneck of PTV that changes its opinion according to the party in control. Musharraf’s era seem to be a beautiful dream for the freedom of press as he allowed the cable television to run in Pakistan, press can now criticize government and its functionaries more easily. But his Ordinance of 2002 and 2004 for APP seem to be the same way of keeping it under perfect control. This ordinance says that the agency’s Managing director is to be selected by Federal government as well as its budget is to be decided by it. The point hereis that until and unless the MD is selected by federal government, the agency cannot exercise free flow of information except the official version of every event. He has once again promulgated the Press and Publication Ordinance, which is somewhat familiar tote old one. Now the question for this nation is how long we are going to bare these restrictions on the press in the name of public interest and how long we will take to comeout of this transaction face to emerge as mature press. According to me, as GeneralPervez Musharraf is the great favorer of “moderation and enlighten,” he should leave the press out of governments control and allow the press to make mistakes and learn from them. it is only if the government stops intervening and allow the press to take the responsibility from within and do whatever they want for the public interests When we talk about media, we must know its history. Media history is based on PRINT media or we can say that it is the oldest media of mass communication. Greater masses can abstract the information after its emergence. They allow reader to control exposure. In the beginning (1947), Pakistan started a weak press with very little rules and regulations (very few news). Not a single newspaper was published in East Pakistan and Baluchistan, but in the NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa) had two daily newspapers. These newspapers were owned by Muslims who had migrated to Pakistan. Including Daily Azad and Moring news (shifted to Dhaka), Jang, dawn and anjam (in Karachi) After Pakistan came in to his existence, a number of newspapers were published, but due to financial problems and many other reasons, they did not continue their publication such as ROSHNI, INQALAB and MUSALMAN. English press was not so strong at that time due to problems like lack of education and development. Not a single daily had been published from the area of East Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. The first news agency was APP (Associated Press of Pakistan). It was established in 1947. It was a private news agency since 1947 to 1961. Government took its control on 1961 by an ordinance. Except APP, there are six more agencies in Pakistan: PPI (Pakistan Press International) 1968, PA (Pakistan Agency) 1992, UNA (United news agency) and NNI (News Network International) 1992. With the passage of time the role of media is increasing day by day. Newspapers and magazines Further information: List of newspapers in Pakistan and List of magazines in Pakistan In 1947 only four major Muslim-owned newspapers existed in the area now called Pakistan: Pakistan Times, Zamindar, Nawa-i-Waqt, and Civil and Military Gazette. A number of Muslim papers moved to Pakistan, including Dawn, which began publishing daily in Karachi in 1947, the Morning News, and the Urdu-language dailies Jang and Anjam. By the early 2000s, 1,500 newspapers and journals existed in Pakistan.[8] In the early 21st century, as in the rest of the world, the number of print outlets in Pakistan declined precipitously, but total circulation numbers increased.[citation needed] From 1994 to 1997, the total number of daily, monthly, and other publications increased from 3,242 to 4,455, but had dropped to just 945 by 2003 with most of the decline occurring in the Punjab. However, from 1994 to 2003 total print circulation increased substantially, particularly for dailies (3 million to 6.2 million). And after the low point in 2003 the number of publications grew to 1279 in 2004, to 1997 in 2005, 1467 in 2006, 1820 in 2007, and 1199 in 2008.[9] Newspapers and magazines are published in 11 languages; most in Urdu and Sindhi, but English-language publications are numerous.[citation needed] Most print media are privately owned, but the government controls the Associated Press of Pakistan, one of the major news agencies. From 1964 into the early 1990s, the National Press Trust acted as the governments front to control the press. The state, however, no longer publishes daily newspapers; the former Press Trust sold or liquidated its newspapers and magazines in the early 1990s.[8] The press is generally free and has played an active role in national elections, but journalists often exercise self-censorship as a result of arrests and intimidation by government and societal actors. The press is much more restricted in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where no newspapers are published, and in Azad Kashmir, where publications need special permission from the regional government to operate and pro-independence publications are generally prohibited.(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Pakistan) A quantitative research project in which a relatively large number of people are interviewed, each being asked a standard set of questions, posed in the same way each time. For many of the questions there will be a range of standard answers, from which the respondent must choose. The findings are collected as numerical data, are generally subjected to computer analysis and are interpreted at least in part through the application of statistical concepts. This method contrasts with qualitative research, in which interviews (whilst often following a broad pattern) incorporate flexibility and responsiveness to individual context
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 11:10:30 +0000