92 News formally launched

JournalismPakistan.com | Published 10 years ago

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first High Definition news channel 92 News was formally launched Friday in Lahore.

News anchors Shazia Zeeshan and Tariq Mateen formally opened discussion live in the newsroom where senior journalists and anchorpersons including Rauf Klasra, Amir Mateen, Khushnood Ali Khan, Aftab Iqbal and Arshad Sharif were also present.

Congratulatory messages of President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan were also broadcast.

“I pray for success of the channel. It has given a new dimension to media industry in the country with the introduction of new technology,” the prime minister said.

Zardari said that news industry has become vital for prosperity and peace of the country; therefore the journalists should always try to uphold responsibility, judgment and discretion while airing news and opinion.

“I hope you’ll treat news like news rather as tragedies and will also try to look into potential our people and the country,” said Zardari in his message.

Klasra disclosed that he has interviewed Imran Khan for his program that was to be aired later Friday. “I must appreciate Imran Khan for answering all my questions that were definitely rude and offensive in nature,” he said.

Imran Khan is perhaps the only politician in Pakistan who neither refuses to answer a question nor asks for an edit, Klasra said.

Arshad Sharif said that he hasn’t formally joined the channel so far but believed that it would make a difference in the market. “The channel has hired a professional team from anchors to reporters and from technicians to producers; I believe it would prosper,” he said.