JP banned in bureau office

JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 17 June 2012 | Z B Saigol

JournalismPakistan.com has been banned in the Peshawar bureau office of a local English daily, affecting staff access to crucial media updates. The website's founder sees this ban as indicative of broader issues of repression in journalism.
Summary

ISLAMABAD: JournalismPakistan.com, the media-specific website, has been banned from use at the Peshawar bureau office of one of the newer English language dailies.

According to an inside source, the staff has been told not to visit the website as they had made it a habit of frequenting it several times a day to be updated on the latest happenings associated with media and journalism in Pakistan.

It had been noticed at the office the staff had been spending too much time following details of the current ‘Bahriagate’ scandal posted on JournalismPakistan.com.

“It is our only reliable source,” a reporter confessed, “Now we will have to find out what happened only once we are out of office. We have been told that there will be repercussions if caught doing so in the office.”

Meanwhile, the newsroom at a much older and established English daily in the capital, Islamabad, has no such qualms and has been full of praise for the coverage of media-related reports and stories on JournalismPakistan.com.

A senior sub-editor said: “We stay informed and we see no harm in knowing what is happening within our profession.”

JournalismPakistan.com founder and Chief Editor Stephen Manuel laughed off the ban at the bureau office. “We are delighted to know we are having an impact. If somebody feels insecure, there is nothing we can do about it. We will print any and everything about the media and journalism as long as the language retains a modicum of decency and does not get too personal. Our focus is the media.”

Editor and Co-Founder of JournalismPakistan.com, Imran Naeem Ahmad said the ban was an indicator journalists were being repressed. “If one cannot find out about his own profession and what’s happening within, then there is something wrong there. Rest assured, we are very happy with the response we get from our readers. The exponential jump in our traffic proves we are doing something right.”

JournalismPakistan.com is more than two and a half years old and was established to reflect the status of the media in Pakistan as well as the cogs and wheels and personalities that keep it going. It is viewed extensively in over 60 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia, India and the Gulf.

“On an average 10 to 12 people register with us daily,” Imran said.