Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani banned all his ministers from giving statement on political and strategic issues.
He issued the direction that only minister information Sherry Rehman or information secretary Akram Shaheedi would be entitled to issue statements in future.
He disclosed while talking with journalists during Iftar dinner hosted by him at PM house.
Self-Censorship by private TV channels
All Pakistani private TV channels voluntarily has stopped airing Taliban comments on continued military operations in different parts northwest province bordering Afghanistan.
Private Pakistani television channels suddenly ended the publicity they used to air the views of Taliban leadership critical of government offensive.
Last month, the private channels silently started blackout of airing Taliban comments.
Now all channels are focusing on the reports showing the progress of military operations against the Taliban in the regions NWFP.
According to a calculated assessment of all private channels are now following the policy of state-run PTV while covering the military operation in NWFP.
Karachi-based Geo News, the most popular private Urdu channel; Karachi-based Aaj News, the second largest private Urdu channel; Karachi-based Dawn News, the first and only English news channel are showed the same behavior observed by state-run PTV News from 1 August to 18 September.
Departing from that practice, in August the private channels began airing lengthy reports detailing the progress of the military operation. Those reports stopped short of showing the Taliban’s statements against the offensive or countering the government’s claims against the militants.
Geo News TV was observed to have made a special multimedia presentation entitled "Situation in Tribal Areas." In this presentation, it briefed its audience at regular intervals throughout each day on the progress of the military operation.
Similarly, Dawn News and Aaj TV were also observed to have stepped up their reporting on the progress of the military operation. Their anchors were seen calling the militants Taliban and criticizing them for the violence. The private channels focused only on showing troop activities during the operation.
PM Gilani barred ministers to issue statements
Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani banned all his ministers from giving statement on political and strategic issues.
He issued the direction that only minister information Sherry Rehman or information secretary Akram Shaheedi would be entitled to issue statements in future.
He disclosed while talking with journalists during Iftar dinner hosted by him at PM house.
Self-Censorship by private TV channels
All Pakistani private TV channels voluntarily has stopped airing Taliban comments on continued military operations in different parts northwest province bordering Afghanistan.
Private Pakistani television channels suddenly ended the publicity they used to air the views of Taliban leadership critical of government offensive.
Last month, the private channels silently started blackout of airing Taliban comments.
Now all channels are focusing on the reports showing the progress of military operations against the Taliban in the regions NWFP.
According to a calculated assessment of all private channels are now following the policy of state-run PTV while covering the military operation in NWFP.
Karachi-based Geo News, the most popular private Urdu channel; Karachi-based Aaj News, the second largest private Urdu channel; Karachi-based Dawn News, the first and only English news channel are showed the same behavior observed by state-run PTV News from 1 August to 18 September.
Departing from that practice, in August the private channels began airing lengthy reports detailing the progress of the military operation. Those reports stopped short of showing the Taliban’s statements against the offensive or countering the government’s claims against the militants.
Geo News TV was observed to have made a special multimedia presentation entitled "Situation in Tribal Areas." In this presentation, it briefed its audience at regular intervals throughout each day on the progress of the military operation.
Similarly, Dawn News and Aaj TV were also observed to have stepped up their reporting on the progress of the military operation. Their anchors were seen calling the militants Taliban and criticizing them for the violence. The private channels focused only on showing troop activities during the operation.