Dawn errs again

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 1 November 2014

Dawn has issued a clarification on misreported statements by Sirajul Haq regarding PTI. The errors involved misattributions that the paper has now corrected.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: Dawn on Saturday issued a clarification, backtracking on the reporting of a public address by Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq in which he allegedly criticized the senior ruling partner, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

The newspaper has accepted that “some of the quotes” in its report headlined “PTI no different from PML-N” on October 30 were “wrongly attributed to…Sirajul Haq.” The paper admitted that an internal investigation suggests that the JI chief neither compared the PTI with PML-N, nor he directly criticized Imran Khan and his party.

The report was filed by Dawn’s Mansehra correspondent.

“Any distress caused to any individual or political party as a result of this misreporting is deeply regretted,” the clarification said.

In the recent past too Dawn had to issue clarifications as the paper twice mistook PTI for the banned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban (PTT).

In its front page story 'Peace talks hampered by exchange of accusations' on February 5 this year, the paper instead of describing TTP as an outlawed group, referred to PTI as such.

On November 10, 2013 the paper referred to TTP leader Hakeemullah Mehsud killed in a US drone attack as being a "ruthless PTI leader." On both occasions, the paper issued clarifications.