Mazhar Abbas/CPJ Guest Blogger
Mazhar Abbas is the former secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and a 2007 winner of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award.
Remembering Pakistan’s bad old days of November 2007
November 3, 2007, was a dark day in the history of Pakistan’s media. Former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf banned all private news channels, and some entertainment and sports channels, through an “oral order.” He said he made the move to stop “irresponsible journalism.” Many of the staff in the president’s office who dealt with…