Media Alerts

Pakistan's Century Publications Pvt Limited (CPPL), publisher of the country's leading Urdu-language newspaper 'Daily Express' distributed nationally from 11 cities, will publish an English-language newspaper focused on Pakistani news  and business in cooperation with the International Herald Tribune.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has asked the government to make arrangements for the protection of media workers via a life insurance and a victim fund. It has also asked to provide job security, capacity building and  an assurance of a conducive working environment for members of the media.

(SEAPA/IFEX) — A Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporter was charged with disinformation for broadcasting a report on a dispute between a Cham Muslim community leader and members of his mosque, media reports said.

(FMM/IFEX) — The Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), Federation of Media Employees' Trade Unions (FMETU), Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) and Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) salute the independent judiciary for lifting a ban imposed on 'Lanka' newspaper.

Journalists and social activist across Asia have joined the Asia Media Forum (AMF) in condemning the attack on award-winning Indian writer, columnist and social critic Paul Zacharia, allegedly by activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxists), which rules the south Indian state of Kerala, for airing in public his views on pertinent social and political issues.

The attack on the Peshawar Press Club on Dec. 22, 2009 is, in effect, a strike against the Pakistani media's successful role in shaping public opinion against religious extremism and terrorism.

By the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

MANILA — Commission on Human Rights Chair Leila de Lima has rightly reminded the media that Andal Ampatuan Jr., no matter how strong the evidence against him may be, still has rights, among them the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The clan that spawned Ampatuan Jr (the prime suspect in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre that killed 57 people many of them Filipino journalists) may not have accorded others the same respect, but he and his kin are nevertheless entitled to the rights, among them the right to life and to lives free from fear, they may have denied them.

ISLAMABAD — The improving coverage of human rights issues by the media in Pakistan is reflective of the greater professionalism of the sector and the growing citizen-centric perspectives in the national narrative.