Media and telecommunication

1.6.1 Media

Pakistan has a vibrant and to a large extent independent media landscape, despite political pressure or occasional direct bans (208). Media demographics reflect Pakistan’s multi-linguistic and multi-ethnic society with a clear divide between Urdu and English media. Urdu media is more popular in rural areas, while English media targets urban areas and the elite, and is more liberal in comparison (209).

Pakistan’s diverse media landscape includes 121 TV channels: six Pakistan Television (PTV) channels, 89 private channels, plus 26 foreign TV channels with landing rights), more than 500 regular dailies and over 800 periodicals, 138 commercial FM radio channels, 64 PBC (Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation) stations and 34 PBC-owned FM channels (210). 10.90 % of the Pakistani population (211) uses the Internet (212) and among them there are about 11 million Facebook users, two million Twitter users and hundreds of thousands of bloggers (213).

The Pakistani Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and media freedom (214).

Broadcasting media are regulated by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), whose members are appointed or approved by the government (215). According to its website, PEMRA ‘is responsible for facilitating and regulating the establishment and operation of all broadcast media and distribution services in Pakistan established for the purpose of international, national, provincial, district, and local or special target audiences’ (216).

Television

In the year 2002, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) had its state monopoly ended when the market for electronic media was liberalised. The private channels have been issued licences for cable or satellite only, meaning that PTV is the only channel that provides terrestrial services to the population. This favours PTV, since most of the rural population does not have access to alternative channels that broadcast via cable or satellite (217).

(204)  MET&SHE, Education for All 2015 National Review Report: Pakistan, June 2014, p. 5.

(205)  MET&SHE, Education for All 2015 National Review Report: Pakistan, June 2014, p. 5.

(206)  ICG, Education Reform in Pakistan, Asia Report N°257, 23 June 2014, Executive summary.

(207)  Landinfo, Temanotat Pakistan: Forhold for ahmadiyyaer, 3 July 2014, pp. 20-21.

(208)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 6.

(209)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 14.

(210)  News International (The), Pakistan’s media, 2 April 2014.

(211)  Pakistan’s population was estimated at 196 174 380 as of July 2014. CIA, The World Factbook: Pakistan, updated 18 May 2015.

(212)  ITU, Pakistan Profile, latest data available: 2013.

(213)  News International (The), Pakistan’s media, 2 April 2014.

(214)  Pakistan, Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 12 April 1973; IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 17.

(215)  Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2014 – Pakistan, n.d.

(216)  PEMRA [website], n.d.

(217)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 21

According to its website, PTV operates the following channels: PTV Home, PTV News, PTV Sports, PTV World, PTV Global, PTV Bolan, PTV National and AJK TV (218).

Independent Media Corporation, which also owns the influential Jang Group of Newspapers, broadcasts two of Pakistan’s most popular TV channels, Geo TV and Geo News (219). The company ARY Digital, founded by Pakistani businessman Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, owns a network of cable and satellite channels which include ARY Digital, ARY News and ARY Zauq (220).

In October 2014, PEMRA suspended transmissions of private network ARY TV for 15 days. The TV channel was accused of ostensibly ‘maligning’ the country’s judiciary after it aired an interview with a man currently the subject of a high-profile trial before the Lahore High Court. In June 2014, PEMRA suspended another one of the country’s major TV channels, Geo TV. The 15-day ban was imposed after the channel accused a senior intelligence official of orchestrating the attempted killing of one of its journalists (221).

Other popular channels include Express News, Dawn News, Aaj News, Business Plus, Channel Five, Dunya News, Indus News, Royal News, Samaa TV and Waqt News (222). There are also several private regional television stations, such as Sindh TV/Sindh TV News in Karachi or Waseb TV in Multan (223).

Radio

Television has become the dominant source of news and information in cities and towns, but in many rural areas radio is still the major source of news and information. It plays a particularly important role in remote and underdeveloped areas, such as the region along the Afghan border, where the electricity supply is unreliable, cable TV is not available, and the signal of state-run PTV is often weak (224).

Similar to television, radio was also a monopoly controlled by the state until the media liberalisation in 2002, when PEMRA opened up for private FM radio stations by selling licences to the highest bidder. Although this led to the emergence of more than 40 FM stations, the state-owned PBC still dominates radio in Pakistan. PBC’s Radio Pakistan and FM 101 have by far the largest outreach with 31 stations that cover 80 % of Pakistani territory (225).

In addition to its national networks, PBC operates the FM 93 chain of 22 local radio stations which broadcast a mixture of music, talk shows, interviews and special programmes for women, youths and farmers in 23 different languages (226).

Radio Khyber, Radio Razmak and Radio Miran Shah are run by the FATA Secretariat, but there are also dozens of unofficial FM stations run by fundamentalist Islamist insurgent groups and their sympathisers (227).

Hot FM is the largest private radio network in Pakistan. Other popular private radio stations include Awaz FM, FM 100, City FM 89, Radio One FM 91, FM 96 Sunrise Pakistan, HUM FM 106.2, Humara FM 90, Power Radio FM 99, Josh FM 99, Mast FM 103, Apna Karachi 107, Radioactive 96 FM, Ewaz FM (228).

There are also international radio stations available in Pakistan: BBC and Voice of America both operate radio services in Urdu and Pashto (Radio Aapki Dunyaa, Deewa Radio) (229).

(218)  PTV [website], n.d.

(219)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 59.

(220)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, pp. 60-61.

(221)  AI, Pakistan bans TV channel amid increased attempts to control freedom of expression, 20 October 2014.

(222)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, pp. 62-66.

(223)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 67.

(224)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 15.

(225)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 22.

(226)  Infoasaid, Media &Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 21.

(227)  Infoasaid, Media &Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 29.

(228)  Infoasaid, Media &Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, pp. 32-42.

(229)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, pp. 44-49.

Print media

Dating back to pre-independence, print media is the oldest medium in Pakistan with a clear divide between Urdu and English language products (230).

The major Urdu newspapers date back to a long time before Pakistan’s independence and reach a broad national audience, while English newspapers can be read by just 11 % of the population. Urdu newspapers are more regionally focused than their English counterparts, which cover all four provinces with relative equality. While Urdu papers focus more on domestic news, English papers devote more attention to international affairs (231).

The Jang Group, the Dawn Group and the Nawa-Waqt Group are the three major players in the print media market in Pakistan. The Jang Group of Newspapers is Pakistan’s largest media group with a moderate conservative perspective.

It publishes the Urdu language Daily Jang, The News International, Mag Weekly and Awam. The Dawn Group of Newspapers is Pakistan’s second-largest media group, publishing Star, Herald and its flagship, Dawn. The Nawa-Waqt Group publishes Nawa-i-Nawa-Waqt, an Urdu language daily newspaper with one of the largest readerships in the country and the English newspaper, The Nation, both being right-wing and conservative (232).

Other major newspapers include The Frontier Post, Daily Ausaf, Daily Times, Pakistan Observer, Business Recorder, Pakistan & Gulf Economist and The Friday Times (233).

News agencies

There are three large domestic news agencies in Pakistan: Associated Press of Pakistan, Pakistan Press International and United Press of Pakistan. The agencies provide news for other media outlets that lack their own resources for providing comprehensive nationwide coverage (234).

Social media

Social media is increasingly popular in Pakistan, particularly among young people (235). The number of Facebook users is between 10.6-11.8 million; 7.4-8.2 million of them are men and 3.0-3.4 million are women. Half of the users of social networking sites are between the ages 18-24 (236).

Although websites such as Facebook have become prominent tools for communication, their influence is restricted mostly to the urban populations of Pakistan. Further increase in users will continue to be limited due to low literacy rates and poor socioeconomic conditions in rural areas (237).

1.6.2 Telecommunication

In 2008, Pakistan emerged as the world’s third-fastest growing telecommunications market. The communications infrastructure in the country continues to improve as foreign and domestic companies invest in fixed-line and mobile networks, following the deregulation policy introduced in 2003 (238).

The Pakistan Telecommunication Ordinance 1994 established the primary regulatory framework for the telecommunication industry, including the establishment of an authority. Under the Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-organization) Act 1996, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was established to regulate the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunication systems and the provision of telecom services (239).

(230)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, p. 20.

(231)  Shah, H., ‘The Inside Pages: An Analysis of the Pakistani Press, The Tongue-tied Press of Pakistan: Comparing English and Urdu Newspapers’, 9 December 2010, pp. 1-2.

(232)  IMS, Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan, July 2009, pp. 20-21.

(233)  BBC, Pakistan profile – Media, 11 September 2013.

(234)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 71.

(235)  Yusuf, H. and Schoemaker, E., ‘The media of Pakistan, Fostering inclusion in a fragile democracy?’, September 2013, p. 17.

(236)  Express Tribune (The), Pakistan crosses 10 million Facebook users, 25 September 2013.

(237)  Foreign Policy, Pakistan’s social media landscape, 18 March 2011.

(238)  National (The), Pakistan’s telecoms market ripe for the picking, 9 January 2014.

(239)  PTA [website], n.d.

Internet

Internet penetration in Pakistan stood at 10.9 % in 2013, according to the International Telecom munication Union, with 14.1 % of households having a computer (240).

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is the main fixed-line telephone operator and also the biggest provider of broadband Internet connections, controlling just over half the broadband market (241).

The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) was formed in 1997 to provide a common and united platform for all Internet Service Providers to negotiate with PTA, PTCL, the Ministry of Communications and other governmental and non-governmental organisations. ISPAK’s membership includes Cyber Internet Services (Pvt.) Ltd;

Nexlinx; Nayatel; Linkdotnet; Micronet Broadband; Comsats; Maxcom and Skynet (242).

Internet content is regulated primarily under the Pakistan Penal Code, including sections 295-A, 295-C, 298 and 298-A, pertaining to blasphemy; the Anti-Terrorism Act; and the Defamation Ordinance (2002), which includes provisions on slander and libel. Internet and mobile content is monitored and regulated by the PTA (243).

YouTube was blocked in September 2012 after clips from the anti-Islam film ‘Innocence Of Muslims’ were posted on the site. Authorities have said that the ban on the popular video-sharing website cannot be lifted until there is a mechanism to permanently block blasphemous content (244).

According to an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Canadian Netsweeper Internet filtering products have been installed to function at the national level in Pakistan. The technology is being implemented for purposes of political and social filtering, including websites of secessionist movements, sensitive religious topics and independent media (245).

Mobile communication

More than half of all Pakistani adults and adolescents own a mobile phone. Phones are widely used to keep families in touch with distant relatives or friends, and Pakistanis are also keen users of text messaging, even though only half of the population can read and write (246).

Mobile companies operating in Pakistan include Mobilink (over 38 million subscribers), Telenor (over 36 million subscribers), Zong (over 27 million subscribers), Ufone (over 24 million subscribers) and Warid Telecom (over 13 million subscribers) (247).

Article 54 of the Telecommunications (Re-organization) Act authorises the government to shut down telecoms systems without legal authorisation or court approval (248).

In August 2014, the Interior Ministry ordered mobile phone services to be shut down in several parts of Islamabad for an indefinite period, just days ahead of anti-government marches lead by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri (249).

(240)  ITU, Pakistan Profile, latest data available: 2013.

(241)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 93.

(242)  IOM, Returning to Pakistan, Country Information, updated 4 January 2010, pp. 24-25.

(243)  Open Society Foundations, Mapping Digital Media: Pakistan, 21 June 2013, p. 90.

(244)  Economic Times (The), Pakistani authorities say ban on YouTube can’t be lifted, 2 Aug 2013.

(245)  Express Tribune (The), Pakistan government using Netsweeper for internet filtering: Report, 20 June 2013.

(246)  Infoasaid, Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide – Pakistan, 2012, p. 92.

(247)  PTA, Annual Report 2013-2014, updated: 5 January 2015, p. 81.

(248)  Article 19, Pakistan: Telecommunications (Re-organization) Act - Legal Analysis, January 2012, p. 14.

(249)  Dawn, Mobile phone services being suspended in parts of Islamabad: PTA, 12 August 2014.