Frontier Post in revival bid

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 7 July 2012

The Frontier Post is seeking a turnaround by appointing senior journalists to key editorial roles and expanding staffing in Lahore and Islamabad. Shah Rifat Alam has been named Lahore resident editor, while Rana Qaisar has been appointed in Islamabad. The paper's earlier decline was exacerbated by a 2001 controversy over a blasphemous letter to the editor that led to violence and legal cases.

Summary

LAHORE — The Frontier Post is preparing to set its house in order by hiring the right people in a bid to re-emerge as a newspaper of substance. Launched in 1984 by Rehmat Shah Afridi, the paper has appointed senior journalist Shah Rifat Alam as its Lahore resident editor. He joins from Pakistan Today, where he served as head of news and helped launch the publication.

During his career, he has also worked for The Sun, The News, Daily Times, and Geo English TV. Rifat was instrumental in setting up Daily Times, contributing from the planning stage to policy formulation and staff hiring. Earlier this week, Rana Qaisar was named resident editor in Islamabad, another senior journalist joining from Pakistan Today.

Those familiar with the developments told JournalismPakistan that more staff are being hired for the Lahore and Islamabad offices. The Peshawar-based newspaper is also published from Lahore and Quetta. The Frontier Post was already in decline when it published a blasphemous letter to the editor in 2001, reportedly sent by email from an American Jew.

The newspaper’s offices were vandalized and its printing press set on fire. Charges were brought against four staff members: Munawwar Mohsin, who printed the letter; News Editor Aftab Ahmad; Computers Chief Wajeehul Hassan; and General Editor Mahmood Shah Afridi. Mohsin was convicted, Ahmad and Hassan were acquitted, and Afridi absconded.

The trial revealed Mohsin had been hired only days before publishing the letter, with management unaware that he was a drug addict and mentally ill.