Likely curbs on coverage of convicts, a ploy to gag media: Dawn

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 12 December 2019

Dawn criticizes the government's proposed restrictions on media reporting related to convicts. The editorial emphasizes the need for press freedom and warns against political motivations behind the move.

Summary

ISLAMABAD — Dawn has opposed the government’s intended move of putting curbs on media coverage of convicts and absconders, calling it another ploy to gag media.

“This latest decision also amounts to gagging the media and undermining its prerogative to cover what it wants, when it wants and who it wants,” Dawn said in an editorial “Media Curbs.”

The paper said the move is political targeting the opposition leaders and more, specifically Nawaz Sharif, his children, and possibly former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

It cautioned the PTI government that it cannot browbeat a media that has faced such pressures for decades under all regimes including military ones. “The PTI may be new to power but the media is not new to persecution. By taking such ill-thought-out decisions, the PTI government is only exposing its mal-intent and amateurish understanding of the role of media in a democratic society.”

The editorial called on the prime minister to keep his personal vengeance separate from official policy. “The prime minister should heed some sane counsel before his government stumbles down a slippery slope. When personal vengeance becomes official policy, prepare for long-lasting damage to society. That is one kind of preparation that Pakistan should be spared.”