Dawn faces embarrassment over ECP headline

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 5 April 2022

Daily Dawn's headline misrepresented the ECP's stance on elections, leading to public debate and a clarification from the commission. The incident drew significant attention on social media amidst ongoing political tensions.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—Daily Dawn faced an embarrassing situation on Tuesday regarding its news about the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) expressing its inability to hold general elections in three months.

The news story was hotly debated on social media in the charged political atmosphere. The former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reminded ECP of its constitutional duty to hold the elections.

The ECP, in the afternoon, issued a clarification that it has not issued any statement expressing its inability to hold polls. This statement was also talked about in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the case on the ruling of the deputy speaker on the no-trust move.

In the print edition, the story's headline gave the impression that it was a statement by the ECP. The headline was: General elections not possible in three months, says ECP.

However, after the denial by the ECP, Dawn changed the headline on its online edition, which said General elections not possible in three months, say ECP sources.