Press Freedom Report terms Islamabad ‘riskiest’ region for journalists

ISLAMABAD: Freedom Networks’ latest ‘Annual Press Freedom Report’ for Pakistan has termed federal capital, Islamabad, the ‘riskiest’ territory for journalists in the country.

The Pakistan Press Freedom Report 2019-20, titled “Murders, Harassment, and Assault: The Tough Wages of Journalism in Pakistan”, informed that at least 91 cases of violence were reported against journalists in Pakistan over the past year.

The report further informed that between May 2019 and April 2020, an average of over seven cases of violations occurred in a month.

The Press Freedom Report has also expressed concern over the escalating climate of intimidation and harassment” in the country.

In this regard, the executive director of Freedom Network Iqbal Khattak has said, “The screws on media in Pakistan are being tightened through various means of censorship, including murders, threats, and harassment, resulting in increasing silence and resulting in erosion of public-interest journalism.”

Sindh was the second-worst region for journalists with 27 percent (24 cases) of violence, followed by Punjab where 22 percent (20) of the cases were reported.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 14 percent (13) cases of violence against journalists were recorded, while 3 percent (3) were recorded from Balochistan.

The report also informed that journalists who worked for television were the most vulnerable, as they were identified as a target in 69 percent of the cases compared to print, radio, and web journalists. However, no radio journalist was targeted during the year under review.

The report said, “The top three categories of violations against journalists in Pakistan in the period under review included 23 cases of verbal or written threats of murder or other dire consequences (25 percent), at least 13 cases of offline and online harassment (14pc), and 11 cases of assassination attempts (12pc), of which seven resulted in the killing of journalists.”

The report further informed that in 42 percent of the cases the victims or their families suspect the involvement of the state and its authorities.

Other influential threat actors include political parties, religious groups or criminal gangs and influential individuals, or unidentified threat sources.