Survey highlights need for use of RTI, sunshine laws by journalists in Pakistan

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 9 years ago |  Khalid Khattak

ISLAMABAD - Over 97 percent of journalists in Pakistan who took a data journalism survey believe that official data is not easily available in the country.

But at the same time, most of them, 75.6 percent, said they never used the Right to Information (RTI) laws to get official data!

The survey developed by Data Stories and JournalismPakistan.com was available online from June 22, 2016 to August 31, 2016 and a total of 78 journalists took the survey from across Pakistan.

Of all these respondents 47 (60.3 percent) said official data availability was difficult while 29 (37.2 percent) termed it very difficult. But 59 (75.6 percent) respondents said they never used the RTI laws to get official data. Shouldn’t we as journalists exercise this right?

As many as 24 (30.8 percent) of the respondents said they didn’t use Microsoft Excel for basic data analysis while 16 (20.5 percent) recorded an affirmative response saying they wanted to explore more. Similarly only 15 (19.2 percent) of the journalists said they knew how to extract data from a website while only 8 (10.3 percent) of the journalists said they used free data visualization tools.

As per Google stats 68 (87.2 percent) responses were recorded from male journalists while only 10 (12.8 percent) female journalists responded. Maximum responses 25 (32.1) percent were recorded from journalists with 11 to 20 years in the profession and maximum participation was from print media folks — 42 responses (53.8 percent). City-wise maximum responses came from Lahore 41 (52.6 percent) followed by federal capital Islamabad 22 (28.2) percent, Peshawar and Karachi 6 from each city (7.7 percent).

Of the total 78 respondents 74 (94.9 percent) said they were interested in data journalism workshop.

Dive Deeper

PFUJ calls for end to Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

 November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.

Global impunity for journalist murders worsens as Pakistan sees 60 percent rise in attacks

 November 02, 2025: Impunity for crimes against journalists deepens worldwide as Pakistan reports a 60 percent surge in attacks and weak enforcement of safety laws.

Pakistan Press Foundation documents 137 attacks on journalists in 2025

 November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.

Anchor Talat Hussain laughs as Marwat makes vulgar comment on air

 November 01, 2025: A viral Samaa TV clip featuring MNA Sher Afzal Marwat’s crude remarks and Talat Hussain’s laughter raises questions about the declining ethics of Pakistani television.

Why was this DawnNews TV journalist targeted in a foiled murder plot?

 October 31, 2025: Police foiled a plot to kill DawnNewsTV journalist Tahir Naseer in Rawalpindi after arresting suspects hired for Rs200,000. Naseer says threats followed his reporting.

CPJ calls on Pakistan to prosecute killers of journalist Imtiaz Mir

 October 31, 2025: CPJ calls on Pakistan to bring Imtiaz Mir’s killers to justice after the journalist was allegedly murdered by a banned militant group in Karachi.

PFUJ urges quashing of fabricated case against journalist Matiullah Jan

 October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.

NewsOne TV hit by layoffs and unpaid wages, channel remains on air

 October 30, 2025: NewsOne TV remains on air but faces mass layoffs and delayed salaries, exposing Pakistan’s worsening media crisis and financial instability.