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Mass media in Pakistan ( ur, ) provides information on television, radio,
cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...
, newspapers, and magazines in Pakistan. Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape; among the most dynamic in South Asia and world. Majority of media in Pakistan is privately owned. Pakistan has around 300 privately owned daily newspapers. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (formerly the Federal Bureau of Statistics), they had a combined daily sale of 6.1 million copies in 2009. Television is the main source of news and information for people in Pakistan's towns, cities and large areas of the countryside. Marketing research company Gallup Pakistan, estimated there were 86 million TV viewers in Pakistan in 2009. To a large extent the media enjoys freedom of expression in spite of political pressure and direct bans sometimes administered by political stake holders."Media in Pakistan: Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict"
, International Media Support, July 2009, 56 pages.
Political pressure on media is mostly done indirectly. One tool widely used by the government is to cut off 'unfriendly' media from governmental advertising. Using draconian laws the government has also banned or officially silenced popular television channels. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been used to silence the broadcast media by either suspending licenses or by simply threatening to do so. In addition, media is also threatened by non-state actors involved in the current conflict. Security situation of the journalist has improved and the number of journalist killed in Pakistan has also declined considerably. However, the press freedom in Pakistan continues to decline. Reporters without borders in its 2020 Press Freedom Index ranked Pakistan number 145 out of 180 countries based on freedom of the press. Recent report from Reporters without borders implies considerable improvement in the freedom of press compared to the preceding years.


Overview

Since 2002, the Pakistani media has become powerful and independent and the number of private television channels have grown from just three state-run channels in 2000 to 89 in 2012, according to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. Most of the private media in Pakistan flourished under the
Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
regime. Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape and enjoys independence to a large extent. After having been liberalised in 2002, the television sector experienced a media boom. In the fierce competitive environment that followed commercial interests became paramount and quality journalism gave way to sensationalism. Although the radio sector has not seen similar growth, independent radio channels are numerous and considered very important sources of information - especially in the rural areas. The Pakistani media landscape reflects a multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic and class-divided society. There is a clear divide between Urdu and English media. The Urdu media, particularly the newspapers, are widely read by the masses - mostly in rural areas. The English media is urban and elite-centric, is more liberal and professional compared to the Urdu media. English print, television and radio channels have far smaller audiences than their Urdu counterparts, but have greater leverage among opinion makers, politicians, the business community and the upper strata of society. Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape; among the most dynamic and outspoken in South Asia. To a large extent the media enjoys freedom of expression. More than 89 television channels beam
soaps Soap is a surfactant cleaning compound used for personal or other cleaning. Soap may also refer to: Education * Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, for medical students who were not initially matched with U.S. residencies by the Nationa ...
, satire, music programmes, films, religious speech, political talk shows, and news of the hour. Although sometimes criticise for being unprofessional and politically biased, the television channels have made a great contribution to the media landscape and to Pakistani society. Radio channels are numerous and considered a very important source of information - especially in the rural areas. Besides the state channel
Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August ...
, a number of private radios carry independent journalistic content and news. But most radio content is music and entertainment. There are hundreds of Pakistani newspapers from the large national Urdu newspapers to the small local vernacular papers. Pakistan's media sector is highly influenced by the ownership structure. There are three dominating media moguls, or large media groups, which to some extent also have political affiliations. Due to their dominance in both print and broadcast industries all three media groups are very influential in politics and society.


History

The media in Pakistan dates back to pre-partition years of
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, where a number of newspapers were established to promote a communalistic or partition agenda. The newspaper
Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
, founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and first published in 1941, was dedicated to promoting for an independent Pakistan. The conservative newspaper, Nawa-i-Waqt, established in 1940 was the mouthpiece of the Muslim elites who were among the strongest supporters for an independent Pakistan. In a sense, Pakistani print media came into existence with a mission to promulgate the idea of Pakistan, which was seen as the best national option for the Muslim minority in British India and as a form of self-defense against suppression from the Hindu majority.


Role in exposing corruption

Since the introduction of these vibrant TV channels, many major corruption cases and scams have been unveiled by journalists. Notable among them are: * The Pakistan Steel Mills Rs. 26 billion scam; * National Insurance Company Limited scandal; * Bribery and corruption in Pakistan International Airlines which caused losses of $500 million; * Embezzlement in Pakistan Railways causing massive financial losses; *
Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...
corruption case; * NATO containers' case where 40 containers heading for ISAF in Afghanistan went missing; * Rental power projects corruption * Ephedrine quota case, a scandal involving the son of former Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...
to pressure officials of the Health Ministry to allocate a quota of controlled chemical ephedrine to two different pharmaceutical companies. * Malik Riaz's ' Media Gate' in which the son of Chief Justice
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013. Chaudhry began practice as an advocate of ...
is said to have taken money from Malik Riaz to give favourable decisions from the Supreme Court. “ Malik Riaz’s case proved that the media can hold the judiciary and even itself accountable", says Javed Chaudhry, columnist and anchorperson working with Express News. "This case, along with the missing persons' case has established impartiality and credibility of the media in its fight against corruption". Chaudhry feels, like many others in country, that the media in Pakistan has become free and fair during the last decade. "The Pakistani media has covered the journey of 100 years in just 10 years, but their curiosity and thrust for revelation does not end and that is what drives the media". TENSIONS: According to a report by the
UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
, Pakistan's media environment continued to develop and, in many cases, flourish. Since opening up in 2002, the number and range of media outlets has proliferated, so that Pakistanis now have greater access than ever before to a range of broadcasting through print, television and online media. The increased media penetration into most aspects of Pakistani life has created challenges as well as opportunities, as both the journalistic community and politicians and officials build their understanding of effective freedom of expression and responsible reporting. However, in 2011, Reporters Without Borders listed Pakistan as one of the ten most deadly places to be a journalist. As the War in North-West Pakistan continued, there have been frequent threats against journalists. The proliferation of the media in Pakistan since 2002 has brought a massive increase in the number of domestic and foreign journalists operating in Pakistan. The
UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
states that it is vital that the right to freedom of expression continues to be upheld by the
Pakistani Government The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...
. This was highlighted by an event supporting freedom of expression run by the European Union in Pakistan, which the United Kingdom supported. Matiullah Jan, a prominent journalist in Pakistan, who highlights the Pakistani Armies atrocities, was picked up from streets in Islamabad. While the media fraternity kept quiet. How journalist in Pakistan are openly shot, who speak against the Pakistani Army.


International co-operation


Support for creation of new media

In 2012–14
UPI Next
wit
NearMedia LLC
helped Pakistani journalists to creat
PakPolWiki
an online resource for coverage of the national elections, an
Truth Tracker
a fact-checking website. In this project, the team held learning sessions across the country and conducted individual mentoring for journalists to produce stories that meet national and international standards. NearMedia continued the effort with a project for 2014-15 that, in partnership wit
Media Foundation 360
launche
News Lens Pakistan
an independent online news cooperative which publishes stories in English, Urdu and Pashto for a national audience, and distributes these stories to national and local news outlets. Learning sessions, in which editors work with reporters newsroom-style to improve their skills, are held in districts of all provinces, and international journalists work with the Pakistan team to mentor them individually.


Pakistan - US Journalists Exchange Program

Since 2011, the East-West Center (EWC), headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, have been organising the annual Pakistan - United States Journalists Exchange program. It was launched and designed to increase and deepen public understanding of the two countries and their important relationship, one that is crucial to regional stability and the global war on terrorism. While there have been many areas of agreement and cooperation, deep mistrust remains between the two, who rarely get opportunities to engage with each other and thus rely on media for their information and viewpoints. Unresolved issues continue to pose challenges for both countries. This exchange offers U.S. and Pakistani journalists an opportunity to gain on-the-ground insights and firsthand information about the countries they visit through meetings with policymakers, government and military officials, business and civil society leaders, and a diverse group of other community members. All participants meet at the East-West Center in Hawaii before and after their study tours for dialogues focused on sensitive issues between the two countries; preconceived attitudes among the public and media in the United States and Pakistan; new perspectives gained through their study tours; and how media coverage between the two countries can be improved. Ten Pakistani journalists will travel to the United States and ten U.S. journalists will travel to Pakistan. This East-West Center program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy Islamabad Public Affairs Section. The program provides journalists with valuable new perspectives and insights on this critically important relationship, a wealth of contacts and resources for future reporting, and friendships with professional colleagues in the other country upon whom to draw throughout their careers.


International Center for Journalists

In 2011, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), a non-profit, professional organisation located in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
launched the U.S. - Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism program, a multi-year program which will bring 230 Pakistani media professionals to the United States and send 70 U.S. journalists to Pakistan. Journalists will study each other's cultures as they are immersed in newsrooms in each country. The program will include events and opportunities to experience U.S. life, showcasing its diversity. Representatives from the U.S. media hosts will go to Pakistan for two-week programs during which they will learn the realities of Pakistani journalism and national life through site visits, interviews and opportunities to interact with journalists, officials and ordinary Pakistanis. Pakistanis will receive four-week internships at U.S. media organizations. Participants on both sides will have opportunities to report on their experiences in each country, which will help to educate their audiences and dispel myths and misconceptions that people carry in each country about residents of the other. ICFJ has also established the Center for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) in Karachi, Pakistan. The CEJ serves as a hub for the professional development, training and networking of Pakistani journalists and media professionals from all parts of the country. Through targeted, practical trainings and the exchange component of the program, the CEJ aims to foster long-lasting connections between the participating universities, media outlets, and professional journalists. A partnership with Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) aims to provide targeted, practical trainings for Pakistani journalists in print, broadcast, and digital media. Courses will be co-instructed by faculty from the Medill School, accomplished newsroom managers, editors and reporters from the United States, and prominent media professionals from Pakistan.


Regulation


History

The first step in introducing media laws in the country was done by the then military ruler and President
Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced ...
who promulgated the Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) in 1962. The law empowered the authorities to confiscate newspapers, close down news providers, and arrest journalists. Using these laws, Ayub Khan nationalised large parts of the press and took over one of the two largest news agencies. The other agencies was pushed into severe crisis and had to seek financial support from the government. Pakistani Radio and Television, which was established in 1964 was also brought under the strict control of the government. More draconian additions were made to the PPO during the reign of General Zia-Ul-Haq in the 1980s. According to these new amendments, the publisher would be liable and prosecuted if a story was not to the liking of the administration even if it was factual and of national interest. These amendments were used to promote Haq's Islamist leanings and demonstrated the alliance between the military and religions leaders. Censorship during the Zia years was direct, concrete and dictatorial. Newspapers were scrutinised; critical or undesired sections of an article censored. In the wake of Zia-ul-Haq's sudden death and the return of democracy, the way was paved to abate the draconian media laws through a revision of media legislation called the Revised PPO (RPPO). From 2002, under General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani media faced a decisive development that would lead to a boom in Pakistani electronic media and paved the way to it gaining political clout. New liberal media laws broke the state's monopoly on the electronic media. TV broadcasting and FM radio licenses were issued to private media outlets. The military's motivation for liberalising media licensing was based on an assumption that the Pakistani media could be used to strengthen national security and counter any perceived threats from India. What prompted this shift was the military's experience during the two past confrontations with India. One was the
Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referre ...
and the other was the hijacking of the India Airliner by militants. In both these instances, the Pakistani military was left with no options to reciprocate because its electronic media were inferior to that of the
Indian media The Indian media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Websites/portals. Indian media was active since the late 18th century. The print media s ...
. Better electronic media capacity was needed in the future and thus the market for electronic media was liberalised. The justification was just as much a desire to counter the Indian media power, as it was a wish to set the media "free" with the rights that electronic media had in liberal, open societies. The military thought it could still control the media and harness it if it strayed from what the regime believed was in the national interest - and in accordance with its own political agenda. This assessment however proved to be wrong as the media and in particular the new many new TV channels became a powerful force in civil society. The media became an important actor in the process that led to fall of Musharraf and his regime. By providing extensive coverage of the 2007 Lawyer's Movement's struggle to get the chief justice reinstated, the media played a significant role in mobilising civil society. This protest movement, with millions of Pakistanis taking to the streets in the name of having an independent judiciary and democratic rule, left Musharraf with little backing from civil society and the army. Ultimately, he had to call for
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
. Recently, due to a renewed interplay between civil society organisations, the Lawyers' Movement and the electronic media, Pakistan's new president,
Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...
had to give in to public and political pressure and reinstate the chief justice. The emergence of powerful civil society actors was unprecedented in
Pakistani history The history of preceding the country's independence in 1947 is shared with that of Afghanistan, India, and Iran. Spanning the western expanse of the Indian subcontinent and the eastern borderlands of the Iranian plateau, the region of prese ...
. These could not have gained in strength without the media, which will need to continue and play a pivotal role if Pakistan has to develop a stronger democracy, greater stability and take on socio-political reforms. Whether Pakistan's media, with its powerful TV channels, is able to take on such a huge responsibility and make changes from within depends on improving general working conditions; on the military and the state bureaucracy; the security situation of journalists; media laws revision; better journalism training; and lastly on the will of the media and the media owners themselves.


Legal framework

Though Pakistani media enjoy relative freedom compared to some of its South Asian neighbours, the industry was subjected to many undemocratic and regressive laws and regulations. The country was subjected to alternating military and democratic rule - but has managed to thrive on basic democratic norms. Though the Pakistani media had to work under military dictatorships and repressive regimes, which instituted many restrictive laws and regulations for media in order to 'control' it, the media was not largely affected. The laws are, however, detrimental to democracy reform, and represent a potential threat to the future of Pakistan and democracy.


Constitution

The root for the article 19 freedom of expression traced from South Asia when any body was directly sentenced to death if they uttered a single word against the government. The Pakistani Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and the basic premise for
media freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
. While emphasizing the state's allegiance to Islam, the constitution underlines the key civil rights inherent in a democracy and states that citizens:


Media laws

There are a number of legislative and regulatory mechanisms that directly and indirectly affect the media. Besides the Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) mentioned, these laws include the Printing Presses and Publications Ordinance 1988, the Freedom of Information Ordinance of 2002, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) of 2002, the Defamation Ordinance of 2002, the Contempt of Court Ordinance of 2003, the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance 2003, the Press Council Ordinance 2002, the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan Ordinance 2005 and lastly the Access to Information Ordinance of 2006. Also there were attempts in 2006 for further legislation ostensibly "to streamline registration of newspapers, periodicals, news and advertising agencies and authentication of circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals (PAPRA)." The liberalisation of the electronic media in 2002 was coupled to a bulk of regulations. The opening of the media market led to the mushrooming of satellite channels in Pakistan. Many operators started satellite and/or cable TV outlets without any supervision by the authorities. The government felt that it was losing millions of rupees by not 'regulating' the mushrooming cable TV business. Another consequence of the 2002 regulations was that most of these were hurriedly enacted by President
Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
before the new government took office. Most of the new laws that were anti-democratic and were not intended to promote public activism but to increase his control of the public. Many media activists felt that the new regulations were opaque and had been subject to interpretation by the courts which would have provided media practitioners with clearer guidelines.


Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA, formerly RAMBO - Regulatory Authority for Media and Broadcast Organizations) was formed in 2002 to "facilitate and promote a free, fair and independent electronic media", including opening the broadcasting market in Pakistan. By the end of 2009 PEMRA had: * issued 78 satellite TV licenses; * issued "landing rights" to 28 TV channels operating from abroad, with more under consideration; * issued licenses for 129 FM radio stations, including 18 non-commercial licenses to leading universities offering courses mass communication and six licenses in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; * registered 2,346
cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
systems serving an estimated 8 million households; and * issued six MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service), two
Internet Protocol TV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media ...
(IPTV), and two mobile TV licenses, with more under consideration. PEMRA is also involved in media censorship and occasionally halts broadcasts and closes media outlets. Publication or broadcast of "anything which defames or brings into ridicule the head of state, or members of the armed forces, or executive, legislative or judicial organs of the state", as well as any broadcasts deemed to be "false or baseless" can bring jail terms of up to three years, fines of up to 10 million rupees (US$165,000), and license cancellation. In practice, these rules and regulations are not enforced."Country report: Pakistan (2010)"
''Freedom of the Press 2010'', Freedom House, 27 April 2010.
In November 2011, Pakistani cable television operators blocked the BBC World News TV channel after it broadcast a documentary, entitled Secret Pakistan. However, Pakistanis with a dish receiver can still watch it and can continue to access its website and web stream. Dr. Moeed Pirzada of PTV stated that it was hypocritical of the foreign media to label it as 'suppression of the media' when the United States continues to ban
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...
and no cable operator in the US would carry the channel. He also stated that even 'democratic' and 'liberal' Indians refuse to carry a single Pakistani news channel on their cable or any Pakistani op-ed writers in their newspapers.


Television

The first television station began broadcasting from Lahore on 26 November 1964. Television in Pakistan remained the government's exclusive control until 1990 when Shalimar Television Network (STN) and Network Television Marketing (NTM) launched Pakistan's first private TV channel. Mr. Yasin Joyia was the first General Manager of (NTM), Which was shut down very soon by PTV bureaucratic conspiracies. But it was of no use as till then cable TV network was already introduced in urbanized cities, like Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Foreign satellite TV channels were added during the 1990s. Traditionally, the government-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) has been the dominant media player in Pakistan. The PTV channels are controlled by the government and opposition views are not given much time. The past decade has seen the emergence of several private TV channels showing news and entertainment, such as GEO TV,
AAJ TV ''Aaj News'' () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language TV station which covers national and international news. The channel started out as hybrid channel (news, current affairs and entertainment), ...
,
ARY Digital ''ARY Digital'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani pay television network available in Pakistan, the Middle East, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob ...
,
BOL Network BOL Network ( ur, ) is a media conglomerate based in Karachi owned by Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh who also served as the CEO and chairman of the media network. According to Declan Walsh Bol Network was under the auspices of the fake diploma mill ...
, HUM,
MTV Pakistan MTV Pakistan was the Pakistani subsidiary of MTV, a cable television network owned by Viacom. The Pakistan franchise was set up in collaboration with Pakistan's first satellite channel media group known as Indus Media Group (Indus TV). ''I ...
and others such as KTN, VSH News,
Sindh TV Sindh TV (trademarked Sindh TV) or Sindh Television is a Sindhi-based satellite television channel. The channel promotes "culture, sufism and affection for the Sindhi language" airing a wide variety of programs, such as a morning show, infotainm ...
, Awaz TV and Kashish TV. Traditionally the bulk of TV shows have been plays or soap operas, some of them critically acclaimed. Various American, European, Asian TV channels, and movies are available to a majority of the population via
Cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
. first look of the Legend of Maula Jutt . Using oppressive laws the government has also banned or officially silenced popular television channels. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been used to silence the broadcast media by either suspending licenses or by simply threatening to do so. In many cases these channels were shifted to obscure numbers in channel line-up. In addition, media is also exposed to propaganda from state agencies, pressured by powerful political elements and non-state actors involved in the current conflict. A number of channels have been shut down in the past with the latest such incident involving Geo TV and other channels in the Geo TV network after a Fatwa was issued against it. The shutdown came after the network attempted to air allegations on the involvement of Inter-Services Intelligence in the attempted assassination of its leading anchor
Hamid Mir Hamid Mir ( ur, حامد میر; born 23 July 1966) is a Pakistani journalist, columnist and writer. Born in Lahore to a journalistic family, Mir initially worked as a journalist with Pakistani newspapers. He has hosted the political talk show ' ...
.


Radio

The government-owned Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) was formed on 14 August 1947, the day of Pakistani independence. It was a direct descendant of the Indian Broadcasting Company, which later became
All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...
. At independence, Pakistan had radio stations in Dhaka, Lahore, and Peshawar. A major programme of expansion saw new stations open at Karachi and Rawalpindi in 1948, and a new broadcasting house at Karachi in 1950. This was followed by new radio stations at
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...
(1951), Quetta (1956), a second station at Rawalpindi (1960), and a receiving centre at Peshawar (1960). During the 1980s and 1990s the corporation expanded its network to many cities and towns of Pakistan to provide greater service to the local people. In October 1998, Radio Pakistan started its first FM transmission.''PERMA Annual Report 2009''
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, 22 December 2009.
Today, there are over a hundred public and private radio stations due to more liberal media regulations. FM broadcast licenses are awarded to parties that commit to open FM broadcasting stations in at least one rural city along with the major city of their choice.


Cinema

The indigenous movie industry, based in Lahore and known as "Lollywood", produces roughly forty feature-length films a year. In 2008 the Pakistani government partially lifted its 42-year ban on screening Indian movies in Pakistan. On 27 April 2016
Maalik In Islamic belief, Maalik ( ar, مالك, mālik) denotes an angel in Hell/Purgatory ( ar, جهنم, jahannam) who administrates the Hellfire, assisted by 19 mysterious guards (Sura 74:30) known as Zabaniyya ( ar, الزبانية, az-zabān ...
became the first Pakistani film to be banned by the Federal Government after being cleared with Universal rating by all three Censor Boards and running in Cinemas for 18 days. The film has been banned under section 9 of the Motion Pictures Ordinance of 1979, a legislation which is redundant after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, where Censorship of films is no longer a Federal subject. Maalik (Urdu مالک) is a 2016 Pakistani Political, thriller film made by Ashir Azeem. The film was released on 8 April 2016 in cinemas across Pakistan. میں پاکستان کا شہری پاکستان کا مالک ھوں, the film extols the principle of Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Maalik is the desire of a common Pakistani for freedom, democracy and justice in a country that has been hijacked by the feudal elites after the departure of the British from the subcontinent and who continues to rule and mismanage an impoverished nation, while amassing huge personal fortunes for themselves. The film was banned in Pakistan by the Federal Government on 27 April 2016 for endangering democracy.


Newspapers, news channels, and magazines

In 1947, only four major Muslim-owned newspapers existed in the area now called Pakistan: '' Pakistan Times'', ''Zamindar'', '' Nawa-i-Waqt'', and ''Civil-Military Gazette''. A number of Muslim papers and their publishers 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.Press Reference: Pakistan
Advamag, Inc. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
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. 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 Province. 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. Since the Soviet–Afghan War there has also been a presence of
jihadi Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
material in the print media : Muhammad Amir Rana estimates that "until 1989, the number of jihad publications in Pakistan had reached 150", while in 1990 "around 100 jihad monthlies and 12 weeklies were being published in Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad", in many languages, as "25 were in Urdu, 50 in Pashtu and Persian, 12 in Arabic and 10 in English", with Kashmiri militant groups alone publishing some 22 periodicals in 1994. Newspapers and magazines are published in 11 languages; most in Urdu and
Sindhi Sindhi may refer to: *something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan * Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region * Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them People with the name * Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...
, but English-language publications are numerous. Most print media are privately owned, but the government controls the
Associated Press of Pakistan Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) ( ur, ) is a government-operated national news agency of Pakistan. APP has News Exchange Agreements with 37 Foreign News Agencies and has more than 500 correspondents. History Lack of financial resources Fol ...
, one of the major news agencies. From 1964 into the early 1990s, the National Press Trust acted as the government's 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. Web News Channels also appeared from mostly after 2010.


Press Council and newspaper regulation

Prior to 2002, News Agencies in Pakistan were completely unregulated. Established under the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance in October 2002, the body operates on a semi-autonomous nature along with an Ethical Code of Practice signed by President Musharraf. It is mandated with multi-faceted tasks that range from protection of press freedom to regulatory mechanisms and review of complaints from the public. However, the Press Council never came into operation due to the reservations of the media organisations. In protest over its establishment, the professional journalists organisations refrained from nominating their four members to the council. Nevertheless, the chairman was appointed, offices now exist and general administration work continues. This has led the government to review the entire Press Council mechanism. The Press Council Ordinance has a direct link to the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance (PNNABRO) of 2002. This legislation deals with procedures for registration of publications of criteria of media ownerships. Among the documents required for the permit or 'Declaration' for publishing a newspaper is a guarantee from the editor to abide by the Ethical Code of Practice contained in the Schedule to the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance. Though the Press Council procedure has made silenced or paralysed, these forms of interlinking laws could provide the government with additional means for imposing restrictions and take draconian actions against newspapers. The PNNABRO, among many other requirements demands that a publisher provides his bank details. It also has strict controls and regulations for the registering procedure. It not only demands logistical details, but also requires detailed information on editors and content providers. Ownership of publications (mainly newspapers and news agencies) is restricted to Pakistani nationals if special government permission is not given. In partnerships, foreign involvement cannot exceed 25 percent. The law does not permit foreigners to obtain a 'Declaration' to run a news agency or any media station.


News agencies

Pakistan's major news agencies include: * Asian News Network; * The Asian Wire *
Associated Press of Pakistan Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) ( ur, ) is a government-operated national news agency of Pakistan. APP has News Exchange Agreements with 37 Foreign News Agencies and has more than 500 correspondents. History Lack of financial resources Fol ...
; *
Associated Press Service The Associated Press Service (APS) is a Pakistani, multinational independent news agency headquartered in Islamabad. The APS is owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and television stations in Pakistan. APS is working under Press and Publi ...
; * Dispatch News Desk; * Independent News Pakistan; *
News Network International News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...
; * Online News; * Pakistan Press International; and * South Asian Broadcasting Agency (SABAH) *
international press pakistan International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
ipp *
pakistan news Agency Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
pna. *
international press Agency International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
p a * Target news Network International nni


See also

*
Pakistan Community Media Network Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
*
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) is a trade union federation of journalists in Pakistan. PFUJ is affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists. History The constitution of the PFUJ was first adopted in Karachi in A ...
* Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors * Pakistan Press Foundation *
Pakistan Post Pakistan Post ( ur, ) is a state enterprise which functions as Pakistan's primary and largest postal operator. 49,502 employees through a vehicle fleet of 5,000 operate traditional "to the door" service from more than 13,419 post offices acro ...
*
Telecommunications in Pakistan Telecommunications in Pakistan describes the overall environment for the mobile telecommunications, telephone, and Internet markets in Pakistan. Regulatory environment The Telecommunications Ordinance of 1994 created the Pakistan Telecommunication ...
*
Internet in Pakistan The Internet in Pakistan has been available since the early 1990s. Pakistan has about 118.8 million internet users, making it the 8th-largest population of internet users in the world. Information and communications technology (ICT) is one of the ...
*
Censorship in Pakistan The Pakistani Constitution limits Censorship in Pakistan, but allows "reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan or public order or morality". Press freedom in Pakistan is limited by official censorship t ...
* Internet censorship in Pakistan * Pakistan Union of Journalists post box #01 G P O abbottabad -22010 pakistan.


Bibliography

* From Terrorism to Television: Dynamics of Media, State, and Society in Pakistan. United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2020.


References


External links


Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)
website *
Media and Telecommunications Lansdcape Guide in Pakistan
an infoasaid guide, April 2011, 108 pp. {{DEFAULTSORT:Media Of Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan