Talat Hussain says offensive viral clip was edited out, not aired on Samaa TV
November 04, 2025: Talat Hussain denies airing the viral clip showing Sher Afzal Marwat’s vulgar remark, saying it was not part of his Samaa TV show.
JournalismPakistan.com | Published 5 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
ISLAMABAD—Sher Ali Khalti of The News has become a symbol of inspiration for youngsters, having risen from an office boy to becoming an investigative reporter. He thanked Allah for his good luck.
According to Gulf News, he got recruited as an office boy at The News, Lahore, in 2014. His job was mainly to serve tea to the staff or get printouts of their articles. Today, he works in the same organization as an investigative reporter. His articles on militant outfit Jamat-ul-Dawa (JuD), shariah courts, honor killings, Chotu gang (a notorious gang of kidnappers in Southern Punjab), and missing people have been highlighted in the paper.
Khalti comes from Rojhan, a remote and underdeveloped town in the Rajanpur district of Southern Punjab. His father passed away during the 2005 floods in the Indus River that destroyed their belongings and cotton crop.
Later, he moved to Lahore, where he completed Masters in English from Punjab University, Lahore, and later did his Masters in Mass Communication from National University of Modern Languages (NUML).
Being a native of South Punjab, Khalti offered his editors that he could interview the gang leader Chotu. He did the exclusive story, and later the law-enforcement agencies contacted him to play the role of an intermediary.
In 2016, he formally joined the paper as a reporter and has been a member of the Fact-Finding Mission on Kartarpur Corridor, constituted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Photo courtesy: Gulf News
November 04, 2025: Talat Hussain denies airing the viral clip showing Sher Afzal Marwat’s vulgar remark, saying it was not part of his Samaa TV show.
November 03, 2025: PFUJ recalls November 3, 2007, as Pakistan’s darkest day under Musharraf, urging protection for journalists and the abolition of laws threatening press freedom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

November 04, 2025 Journalist Rana Ayyub receives death threats over calls demanding a column on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as CPJ urges swift action to protect journalists in India.

November 04, 2025 TV8 journalist Mariana Rata in Moldova receives a death threat after interviewing politician Renato Usatii on-air, raising concerns about journalist safety.

November 03, 2025 Global journalist unions condemn the Indonesian agriculture minister’s lawsuit against Tempo, calling it a threat to press freedom and demanding that the case be withdrawn.

November 02, 2025 Independent outlet All About Macau to halt print and online operations amid rising pressure, financial strain, and legal threats, sparking press freedom concerns in the city.

November 01, 2025 Belarus court jails journalist Siarhei Chabotska for extremism and defaming the president, highlighting Minsk’s ongoing crackdown on press freedom.