9 November 2007
David Copperfield denies canceling shows over rape allegation
 ENG   RUS   PT   ITA 
Photo Forum Articles News All news Feedback Advertising
Search the site:
US productivity surges easing inflation pressures in economy   USA plans to encircle Russia with missiles systems and radars   Top 5 healthiest sports
Example: Yushchenko, Putin, Bush

The front page   
 Russia   World   Society   Science   Hotspots and Incidents   Opinion   Business 

Photo galleries
U.S. Blackhawk down in Italy, 7 killed
U.S. Blackhawk down in Italy, 7 killed
Child of Krakatau volcano erupts The eroticism of Bai Ling

LATEST NEWS
Wildlife biologist at Grand Canyon National Park contracts plague from wild animals
New immigration policy enacted in America
Astronauts make spacewalk at international space station
North Korea demands to be taken off US terror list
Bosnia's international administrator puts his plan in force
Ted Strickland approves of party's choice to bring forth Hillary Rodham Clinton
Israeli troops detain 2 men trying to trespass border
Nimrod aircraft not to be used in midair refueling any more
Lawmakers in New Jersey to decide whether to overrule death penalty
TV station riots against Pakistan's military ruler

NEWS OF THE WEEK
Girl born with four arms and four legs has her parasitic twin removed
Finnish school massacre occured because 'humanity is overrated'
USA plans to encircle Russia with missiles and radars

News

TV station riots against Pakistan's military ruler

11/09/2007 14:12 Source: AP ©
Increase font size
  Derease font size    

TV journalist Asma Chaudhry runs from baton-wielding police, shields her face as they fire tear gas and then describes the brutal crush of another protest against Pakistan's military ruler.

Pakistan's military ruler(pakistantimes.net)
Pakistan's military ruler(pakistantimes.net)
BREAKING NEWS
Every U.S. citizen holds 33,000 dollars of national debt
Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto not allowed to leave her home
Georgia's anti-Russian President Saakashvili declares state of emergency
PETA activist goes extreme against meat industry
More...

A tape of her broadcast is rushed to one of Geo TV's secret transmission sites, fed to the United Arab Emirates and is, within minutes, being watched by millions of Pakistanis via satellite or Internet - thanks to newly created online video streams.

When President Gen. Pervez Musharraf announced a media blackout following his imposition of emergency rule last Saturday, he underestimated the determination of independent television networks and the desire of the country's 160 million people to get news.

"The media didn't cow down, they struck back," said Adnan Rehmat, who heads Internews Pakistan, a Washington-based press watchdog. "As soon as channels were taken off the air, they quickly created and found new ways to ensure that the flow of information did not stop."

The television news landscape has changed dramatically since Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup, when the only available option to viewers was state-run Pakistan TV. Twenty independent stations have sprung up since then and there are at least 5 million Internet users, nurturing a huge dependence on real-time information.

The government's response was to cut access to cable, the source of the news.

"They thought, somehow, if we turn off TV sets, no one will get any information," said Rehmat, recalling the local expression 'close you're eyes and the mountain goes away.'

"Well that's not really a sophisticated take on things, especially when you look at how the country has progressed on the IT front."

Geo TV - the most popular of the independent TV stations that started hitting the airwaves in 2002 - has always transmitted news to Dubai via satellite and maintained facilities there, in part, owner Imran Aslam said, "because we realized there would be a time when, eventually, we would face a situation like this."

There have been numerous attempts to muzzle the press throughout Pakistan's 60-year history, much of which has been under military rule.

Immediately after Musharraf imposed his state of emergency, authorities installed a nearby satellite system and matched frequencies with Geo TV, jamming the signal and forcing the station to change their transmission tactics, said Hamid Mir, the company's executive editor in the capital, Islamabad.

"Not even the producer knows where we're feeding from now," he said. "We change the site every few days."

Read sensational news stories

Pages: 123
print version e-mail




Readers' Top
Girl born with four arms and four legs to be operated on in India
Denise Milani: Beautiful and exotic
Google unveils Android

All news About Pravda.Ru Site map Export news STATISTICS
© 1999-2006. «PRAVDA.Ru». When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, hyperlink to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coincide with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors..
Rambler's Top100 Ðåéòèíã@Mail.ru