Archive for the 'Media' Category

Choking the Channels

Published on November 25, 2007 in Emergency and Media. 0 Comments

Here’s a Newsweek piece on the shutting down of Geo News and ARY One World.

Shahid Masood’s voice cracked during his last live appearance on Geo News. Broadcasting from Dubai, the Pakistani pundit and talk show host was defiant over the news that his nation’s most popular private news channel had been ordered off the air. “We are proud of this moment,” said a visibly shaken Masood, as a clock counted down the minutes to shutdown. Blaming the Musharraf government for pressuring the “government of the friendly country that is hosting us” into evicting the news channel, Masood added, “We did not buckle. We are going out fighting.” Then, last Saturday at 1 a.m. Pakistan time, Geo News went black.

Continue reading ‘Choking the Channels’

Musharraf and the media By Moeed Pirzada

Published on November 21, 2007 in Media and Musharraf. 1 Comment

In a rather interesting extension to Pakistan’s ongoing political crisis, President Musharraf has persuaded the UAE media watchdog to shut down two satellite news channels of Pakistani origin: GEO and ARY. Both were broadcasting from Dubai’s much-celebrated Media City. One of them had moved to Dubai from London, to save costs.

Ironically, this exhibition of extra-territorial muscle was demonstrated by the Pakistani dictator right at the moment when John Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, was landing in Pakistan. Apparently Condoleezza Rice’s second-in-command was on a mission to chastise the “indispensable ally” and to persuade him to lift the emergency and relax restrictions on the media. Continue reading ‘Musharraf and the media By Moeed Pirzada’

Geo TV Network Being Shut Down; Geo News closed down

Published on November 16, 2007 in Emergency, Media and Press. 16 Comments

(Update: There is a certain amount of confusion as to what has been shut down, what is being shut down and what will be allowed to air. Check out Geo News and The News for updates.)

This is absolutely shameful! Completely ridiculous! I can’t say that I didn’t expect this government to stoop to this level, but it is shocking that it would do such a thing. Such an act would affect many lives in many ways. Even those people who could claim that they were not affected by the emergency would not be able to claim the same about Geo. It has become a part of our lives and is now an international brand name. I have myself been critical of Geo’s style of reporting, but there was no doubting its value as a source of information, an independent voice and today, in the face of adversity, it has proven to be a pillar of freedom by taking this principled stand. This reminds me of a post a few months ago where I had mentioned the movie ‘Downfall’. I had said then:

A couple of months ago I saw a German movie called ‘Downfall‘. The movie goes on to show Hitler’s last few days as his mood oscillates between unjustified optimism one moment to suicidal depression the next. Reality does finally start to break through and the Fuhrer and the others in the bunker start to make their final personal preparations for the inevitable.

The real question is when will reality finally start to break through to our leaders? At the moment they same to be riding the ‘optimism, arrogance, delusion’ wave. If they go this way for much longer, there will be only one outcome - a continuing downfall leading to destruction.

Today, that outcome seems more certain than ever.

Continue reading ‘Geo TV Network Being Shut Down; Geo News closed down’

Geo’s response to the blanking out of television channels

Published on November 11, 2007 in Media. 0 Comments

I am not a big fan of Geo’s style of reporting, however, they are making their point very clearly by making rationale arguments. Obviously, one could argue that if the channels had used the authority given to them in a responsible way initially it may not have come to this. The establishment fears the media, its reach, its impact and, ultimately, its stand on most things concerning the government. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what the media is saying because they are only covering existing situations. They might be putting their own spin to every situation, but if the government really feels threatened then fines and penalties are a better way of keeping the channels in line. Although such action against the press/media should not really be part of law, but more a code of conduct formulated by the regulatory authority.

Most absurd is the blanking out of Geo Super, which is covering the Pak-India Series. Additionally, even PTV is not showing this series. People have no access to the cricket matches in places where they don’t get Super Sports. This is shameful considering that a Pakistani channel, exclusively covering sports, has paid for these rights. Let’s just hope better sense prevails before it is too late and some of these channels have to close down.

Click on images above to enlarge.

Follow the links to watch Pakistani news channels live

Published on November 5, 2007 in Media. 4 Comments

All these links may not work all the time, but till the channels come back on this is all there is.

Geo TV and Geo NEWS

http://pakistanvision.com/

http://cyberview.50webs.com/tvhtml/New%20Password/geonews.html (user : www.cyberviewtv.com pass : watch4free )

http://sayan.freehostia.com/geotvnews.html

http://brain.brain.net.pk/

http://www.idesitv.com/geotv.php

AAJ TV

http://cyberview.50webs.com/tvhtml/New%20Password/aaj%20tv.html (user : www.cyberviewtv.com pass : watch4free )

Lal Masjid: the media’s coverage

Published on July 4, 2007 in Islamabad, Law and Order, Media and Press. 1 Comment

Yesterday’s events highlighted many aspects concerning the current situation in Pakistan and of course without the national media coverage none of the aspects would have been so clear.

Too close for comfort

talib.JPG
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Anti-Musharraf SMS’ do the rounds

Published on June 7, 2007 in Media. 0 Comments

I got a few myself:

na tera pakistan hai
na mera pakistan hai
yeh uska pakistan hai
jo sadar-e-pakistan hai

and

aao milke sab iss mussalman mulk ke liye insaaf ki dua karain bhagwan se

Referring to Justice Bhagwandas.

Daily Times reports:

ISLAMABAD: With the government taking increasingly stringent measures to gag the media, text messages, popularly known as SMS, critical of President General Pervez Musharraf, the government and its allies have started pouring into the mailboxes of mobile phone users.
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Worrying email from Hameed Haroon, CEO of DAWN Newspaper

Published on March 28, 2007 in Media and Press. 5 Comments

dawn-w.gifWe had first posted a story about DAWN being pressurised on March 8th 2007. This was exactly a day before the Chief Justice was made ‘non-functional’. Obviously, at that time I had no idea what was to follow, but I found this attack on the freedom of press to be so significant that I commented, ‘Shameful. Is the Musharraf government headed towards self-destruction?‘

From then on it has been a roller coaster ride and the government has made it evident to the media that it can and it will at any time infringe upon their freedom. I had termed it the ‘Government’s war on Media’. However, those inane tactics earnt the government nothing but embarrasment. These tactics that are hidden from the public eye and not as obvious or as visible might prove successful. For the time being DAWN is trying to give the government a fight. However, I am not too sure how long they will be able to resist.
Continue reading ‘Worrying email from Hameed Haroon, CEO of DAWN Newspaper’

Sitcom: Little Mosque on the Prairie

Published on March 26, 2007 in Humour, Islam and Media. 4 Comments

Little Mosque on the PrairieAfter years under the radar, we now live in times where Muslims are constantly in the spotlight. Our culture, our beliefs, our way of life and above all our religion, for the most part, are projected negatively to the rest of the world through Western Media. Strong words like hate, radical, fear, etc. are always associated with Islam to such an extent that people unfamiliar with the religion and it’s people begin to correlate them habitually but along comes a sitcom to save the day. The first Muslim sitcom viewed in North America, Little Mosque on the Prairie is a new Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sitcom that premiered on January 9th 2007. It has already gotten more than 2 million viewers watching it every Wednesday at 8pm. Set in a post-9/11 era, the sitcom focuses on a Muslim community in the prairies.
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Government’s war on media: Who’s next?

Published on March 16, 2007 in Law and Order and Media. 1 Comment

So, some interesting developments in the last few days. The CJP had his second hearing today. There was a lot happening in Pakistan, but here is picture from the previous hearing that is just shameful. How can we allowed our chief justice to be treated this way? Why is he being treated like a common criminal before any verdict has been given?

Chief Justice Chaudhry

I am listing a few of the incidents that point towards the government’s war against media and freedom of speech.
Continue reading ‘Government’s war on media: Who’s next?’

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