Dawn blasts PEMRA for foolish action

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 17 January 2020

Dawn has condemned PEMRA's decision to ban Kashif Abbasi's talk show featuring Minister Faisal Vadwa. The editorial highlights concerns about freedom of speech and PEMRA's oversight.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: Dawn turned its guns on Pemra on Friday for banning Kashif Abbasi's talk show in which Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vadwa brought and showed a military boot live on television for criticizing the opposition parties. In an editorial - Pemra’s foolish action - the paper said the knee jerk reaction to ARY host Kashif Abbasi’s show…was yet another example fo the electronic media regulator’s misplaced assertion of authority. Pemra has now withdrawn the ban on the talk show Off the Record. The paper asked Pemra to “refrain from endangering the constitutionally protected right of freedom of speech in future.” It maintained that Pemra should not be allowed to ban journalists for “smiling/cherishing occurrence”, referring to the authority’s press release in which it announced ban on Kashif Abbasi. Dawn maintained: “Much worse has been aired on TV channels without Pemra batting an eyelid. People have been spewing hate speech laced with racism and misogyny and have resorted to rabid character assassination but that somehow escapes the watchful eye fo Pemra’s content monitors.” The paper asked the authority to “reconsider its ham-handed approach because it does not stand up to scrutiny The regulator should think twice before issuing such notices in the future.”