Media in Pakistan: An Overview

Abstract

Soon after the independence media in Pakistan has been under strict government control. Pakistan has been ruled by the Military for a long time. The regimes hammered the press through various ordinances, advertisement and broadcasting policies for decades. In spite of repeated assurances by the ruling elite of Pakistan for advocating freedom of media, most of the time media been under severe restrictions in some form or the other. According to various estimates many journalists in Pakistan have been killed. The threat against the fourth pillar was quoted by the Reporters Sans Frontiers. Their Annual Worldwide Press Indexing (2007), listed Pakistan on 152 rank out of 167. The International Federation of Journalist also declared Pakistan as the most dangerous place for media workers (2010). According to the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) 1,179 journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 1992 till 2011. Another report of UNESCO (2012) had declared Pakistan as the second dangerous country in the World after Mexico. The Pakistani media has faced challenges not only from the state and government but also from the pressure groups, which didn’t even stop short of murder if they found that the coverage ran counter to their interest. Although, Pakistani journalists have braved all odds to achieve the right to freedom of thought and expression but had paid a heavy cost not only in terms of their lives but also otherwise. The present government is now forced for bestowing the freedom to the Media. The findings indicate that media was suppressed by the rulers, in the name of regulations and suggests that the history of violence against journalists, demands the formation of human rights, followed with the removal of the black laws by the ruling elites. In spite of all the hurdles the Pakistani media has faced and is facing, it is doing a credible job which should be appreciated by all concerned and general public

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