Proposed media regulator provokes strong criticism in Pakistan
Pakistani journalists are a fractious lot. The unions have split into competing factions. TV networks snap at each other on air. So it takes something really threatening to prompt journalists to come to a common point of view. That’s happened as the government’s latest plan to create a new media regulatory body has provoked a…
Pakistani journalist arrested for critical Twitter posts
Washington, D.C., February 9, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to immediately release and drop all legal proceedings against Rizwan-ur-Rehman Razi, a TV host for Din News, a privately-owned Urdu-language news station. Razi was arrested and taken into custody this morning in Lahore, according to news reports and CPJ reporting.
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Impunity is entrenched in 14 nations, according to CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index, which ranks states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.
Gunmen in Pakistan kill K2 Times reporter
New York, October 17, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to investigate and promptly bring to justice the killers of journalist Sohail Khan. Khan, a reporter for the Urdu daily K2 Times, was shot dead while driving in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, yesterday, according to multiple news reports.
Drop in journalist killings in Pakistan masks decline in press freedom
CPJ report finds military pressures media to self-censor Washington D.C., September 12, 2018–Pakistan’s press is under pressure as the country’s powerful military quietly but effectively encourages self-censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its report, “Acts of Intimidation: In Pakistan, journalists’ fear and censorship grow even as fatal violence declines.” The report will be…
Acts of Intimidation: In Pakistan, journalists’ fear and censorship grow even as fatal violence declines
As killings of journalists in Pakistan decline so too does press freedom, as the country’s powerful military quietly, but effectively, restricts reporting by barring access, encouraging self-censorship through direct and indirect acts of intimidation, and even allegedly instigating violence against reporters. Journalists who push back or are overly critical of authorities are attacked, threatened, or…
Acts of Intimidation:
About This Report This report was written by CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. CPJ’s multimedia producer Mustafa Hameed contributed research and reporting, and produced the accompanying documentary “Acts of Intimidation.” CPJ traveled to Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, and Okara in February 2018, to meet with journalists, editors, and media groups.
Acts of Intimidation:
Divided and alone, Pakistan’s press finds safety in numbers To compensate for the unwillingness or inability of government institutions to create a safe atmosphere for the press or tackle the ongoing issue of impunity in the murder of journalists, several independent organizations, including the Freedom Network, Media Matters for Democracy, the Pakistan Press Foundation and…