Threat to scribes

Journalists in Pakistan as across the world reacted very sharply to the brutal murder of Asia Times Online journalist Saleem Shahzad. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the central body representing journalists across Pakistan staged a dharna (sit-in) in front of the Parliament House in Islamabad that was joined by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairperson Asma Jahangir and other concerned citizens. In Karachi and Peshawar, as elsewhere in the country, the journalists’ community brought out rallies condemning the murder.

The outburst was natural because since 1992 as many as 39 scribes have been killed in Pakistan making it perhaps the most dangerous place in the world for journalists.

The reaction from the fragile government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was pathetic. Instead of initiating an inquiry against the marauders, Gilani preferred to defend the “institution.” It was only after the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu action on the killing that the Inter Services Public Relations Department (ISPR) started making inquiries.

“Since 2000 as many as 45 Pakistani journalists have been killed. Some were victims of bomb blasts, others expired due to target killing while some are believed to have been killed by security agencies,” Syed Hassan Abbas, General Secretary, Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) told Media Watch.

“While doctors and lawyers in Pakistan have their professional bodies to maintain a check and balance, it is unfortunate that private TV channels in a bid to outclass the competitors resort to sensationalism. This is especially true for anchor persons,” said Abbas.

Opinion though is divided. “The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) should be held responsible for Saleem Shahzad’s murder,” Tauseef Ahmed Khan, professor of Mass Communication at Karachi’s Federal Urdu University said. “This is evident from the letter he wrote to All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), and Reporters Without Borders (an NGO),” Khan said. “The case should be investigated and the powers of ISI need to be curtailed. It’s not true that the government controls the media in Pakistan. Not any more! The media is controlled and coerced by various pressure groups and the most powerful pressure group is ISI,” Khan observed.

“Chasing the truth is a perilous business in Pakistan, the world’s deadliest beat for journalists. Sixteen have died in the past 18 months, according to Reporters Without Borders – more than in the drug wars of Mexico, the street battles of Somalia or the battlefields of Afghanistan,” Declan Walsh of the Guardian newspaper said.

“In 2005, Hayatullah Khan, a reporter in the tribal belt disappeared after he photographed a fragment of a US missile from an unmanned drone. Six months later he was found dead; relatives blamed the ISI,” Walsh recalled.

Pakistan’s television anchors resort to sensationalism, with scant respect for the facts. The real issues of rampant inflation, unemployment are completely ignored with chat shows designed to create hysteria by imposing perceptions far from reality on Pakistan society. Interestingly, these “journalists” are very quick to change their loyalties and switch from one TV channel to the other very often. The employers have become hostage to these anchors. Their only consideration is quick money.

There is a general perception in the journalist community that most of these anchor persons are planted by the Establishment and help it in extracting more funds from donor agencies and the western powers, especially the United States.

“The electronic media lacked trained manpower when it knocked the doors in Pakistani journalism with a big bang a few years ago,” said Qazi Samiullah, Chief Reporter, Daily Aftab.

“Employers either recruited young people with no experience in journalism or some people from the print media who had little idea about journalistic ethos in electronic media. Pressure for ‘breaking news’ made them more vulnerable,” he said.

Aijaz Ali Shaikh, a senior Sindhi journalist with vast experience in working in vernacular press pointed out that journalist in Pakistan work in a “war zone” and this holds true not only for the troubled tribal belt or Waziristan. “There is a trend in electronic media to break the news but many of such stories bounce back,” he said. “Many journalists are on the pay roll of state agencies, political parties and other organisations and their stories are biased. Employers also force their staff to file stories that suit them commercially,” he said.

Former ambassador Zafar Hilaly told TSI: “Journalists serve a great purpose. They inform the public of the situation. They do not try and make excuses for the government and reputable journalists give the public the facts from the outcome of their investigations.

“In this manner they enable the public to form accurate assessment of developments. What these investigative journalists also do is to put government and agencies on notice that their action will eventually see the light of the day and they will be held accountable by public opinion.

“They are the very bedrock of a free press. No democracy can profess to be a democracy without safeguarding their right to publish their investigations, within, of course the scope of law.”

Gone are the days of censorship after the advent of Internet. Journalists now can instantly communicate with their counterparts across the world within no time and read valuable material to form an objective opinion. However, there is a tendency amongst the editors to go for self-censorship since decades of coercion and censorship besides commercial interests of the paper or TV channel have made them cautious.

Former ISI chief Gen (retired) Asad Durrani said: “I don’t comment until I know the details of the story even it is published in the New York Times.

It’s against my principle. I am not aware about the details of what Saleem Shahzad wrote, therefore, I will not comment.” Karamat Ali, Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), a non-governmental organisation, said: “The murder of Saleem Shahzad is a very brutal act and has brought a very bad name for Pakistan. He was killed despite the fact that he informed relevant people that his life was in danger.” Ali was referring to the letters Shahzad sent to APNS and Reporters Without Borders. It may be noted that Hameed Haroon, CEO, Dawn Group of Newspapers issued a strong-worded condemnation of the brutal murder of Saleem Shahzad.

Murder most foul

On the mean streets of Mumbai, the fear in the air is palpable. Following the killing of veteran crime journalist J. Dey in broad daylight, questions are being raised about the safety of news hounds on the trail of underworld goons. Those in the know assert that journalists on the crime beat are particularly vulnerable to murderous assaults because the mafia dons of Mumbai have close links with the police and politicians.

Most Mumbai crime journalists are reluctant to speak their minds as they have been firmly instructed by their editors to keep their views to themselves. But they admit that  Mumbai’s crime reporters are generally left to fend for themselves. They receive little support from their employers by way of formal training or even the basic cover of insurance. The police, too, provides them no protection, a fact exposed by the shocking J. Dey murder.

Says Milind Kokje, executive editor (languages) of india.com: “Working journalists here are given no training in how to report in hostile environments.”

Kokje points out that BBC conducts a course called Hefat (hostile environment first-aid training) for journalists who are sent abroad to cover conflicts. American news channel like CNN and the news agency Reuters also do the same practice.

India media houses do not usually equip the reporters for conflict reportings, or provide the cover that serious crime reporters like Dey need. They have to work at their own risk.