Geo News being restored to its original number, says chairman PEMRA

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Absar Alam has said that the TV channels including Geo News that were moved to last numbers in Karachi were being restored to their original position.

Talking to Geo News, he said that action was being taken as per PEMRA Ordinance.

He said that licensed channels and cable operators should submit their written complaint; the authority would help resolve the issue as per its jurisdiction.

Chairman PEMRA further said that PEMRA doesn’t have any issue with anyone; they only seek implementation of rule of law in the country.

In another attack on the freedom of the media, the leading news channel was taken out of the access of people in the provincial capital Thursday night by moving it to the last numbers which made it totally inaccessible in many areas.

PEMRA on Friday sought the assistance of the federal government and local law enforcement agencies to act against those cable operators who have resorted to illegal disruption the channel in Karachi.

Earlier today, Electronic and print media journalists held protest rallies in several cities of the country against the illegal disruption on cable networks in the metropolis.

Protesting journalists and civil society members in large numbers started a protest rally from the offices of Geo TV at II Chundrigar Road, marching to the Karachi Press Club where a protest meeting and demonstration was held.

Similar protest rallies were held in Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, and other cities.

Civil society and journalists across the country have condemned the disruption of Geo News position on TV cable networks in Karachi.

Supreme Court Bar Association’s former president Asma Jahangir has said that this is not the first time such treatment has been meted out to Geo News.

She said the Supreme Court, Lahore High Court and Islamabad High Court have already given their verdicts, directing Pemra to take action against those who indulge in such unlawful activities.

PEMRA had given this commitment in the courts that it would monitor the cable operators and take action against such cable networks, she added. It is a violation of the law and PEMRA should take action in this regard, she said.

Senior analyst Imtiaz Alam, who is also the secretary general of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) said that pushing Geo to last numbers on cable was an attack on the independence of the media. It is like exploiting the organization economically so that it is closed down ultimately.

He said in a statement that Geo and Jang Group is again under attack as Geo broadcasts have been placed in the oblivion of tail enders – a typical method of throwing you out of the market and denying people's right to know.

Geo and Jang had come under attack two years earlier – but it survived despite incurring huge losses that have not yet been covered. It's again being financially strangulated by curtailing its outreach in Karachi and elsewhere.

The management was and is under tremendous pressure to compromise its freedom of expression and editorial autonomy. It is being pressurized to change its stance over the issues of democracy, fundamental rights and policy issues.

Unfortunately, the elected governments are not taking a firm stand against the unlawful encroachments and diminishing of media freedom. If the politicians think that democracy will survive after the muzzling of press freedom, they live in fool's paradise.

Commenting on pushing Geo to last numbers on cable, central convenor of Council of All Pakistan Press Clubs Arshad Ansari said that all journalists were with Geo News, because the channel did not terminate even a single worker despite facing curbs and problems.

 

Senior analyst Najam Sethi said that the timing of the current attack was very dangerous. Doing such a thing with Geo shows that a conspiracy is being hatched against the channel and gagging Geo is like silencing the biggest voice of the media, he added.