Media

The head of Geo TV, Pakistan’s largest television network, says the company's broadcasts have been blocked throughout much of the country, The New York Times and media watchdogs report.

“We are off the air in 80 percent of the country,” Geo TV Chief Executive Mir Ibrahim Rahman was quoted as saying on April 5 by The New York Times.

The reports said Geo TV broadcasts were also blocked during the first week of March in areas and residential neighborhoods controlled by Pakistan's military.

Although critics have speculated that Pakistan's military was behind the moves, Geo TV officials did not publicly blame military authorities for the disruptions.

The New York Times said Pakistan's Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

"The action against Geo is being seen as an unmistakable message from the country’s generals that they would accept no negative reporting" ahead of the July general elections, The Times reported.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) insisted it is not behind the move, and has issued a notice for cable operators not to disrupt Geo TV transmissions.

Meanwhile, Geo TV was running a notice on its website on April 6 that provides a Lahore telephone number for viewers who are unable to access broadcasts to lodge complaints.

The network's broadcasts were still available on April 6 through its Internet live stream channel and on YouTube.

On April 3, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concern over reports that Geo TV was not accessible throughout many parts of the country, “despite government assertions that authorities have taken no steps to block it.”

The CPJ quoted Geo TV Managing Director Azhar Abbas as saying the network has “faced arbitrary blockages” and changing channel numbers for several years but the latest moves were the worst barriers it has experienced.

"This is an attempt to financially cripple the organization into submission," Aslam told The Dawn newsapper.

Geo TV was established in 2002 and is owned by the Independent Media Corporation, one of Pakistan's largest media conglomerates.

The Independent Media Corporation also owns the Jang Group of Newspapers -- which includes the Urdu-language Daily Jang newspaper, as well as The News International, and Mag Weekly.

The Geo TV network includes news, entertainment, and sports channels.

"Geo" is an urdu word meaning "live."

With reporting by The New York Times, Dawn, and Pakistan Today

RFE/RL has voiced concern that members of its Radio Mashaal unit are facing pressure from authorities in Pakistan after the closure of the Pashto-language service’s Islamabad office last week.

In a statement on January 26, RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said there were indications that authorities were seeking to compel staffers to make forced statements against the news organization.

On January 19, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry ordered the closure of the bureau after Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency accused Mashaal of airing programs that are “against the interest of Pakistan” and “in line with [a] hostile intelligence agency’s agenda.”

Kent deplored the decision, which comes amid increasing tensions between Islamabad and Washington, saying that "Radio Mashaal serves no intelligence agency or government."

On January 25, Islamabad appeared to offer another reason for the closure of Mashaal.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a weekly briefing in Islamabad that the U.S.-funded station had been closed for lacking "the requisite mandatory license from the concerned authorities.”

Radio Mashaal’s production company in Pakistan is officially registered as a company with the principal activity of radio broadcasting. Mashaal does not have radio transmitters inside the country.

The decision to close Mashaal has been called a "direct threat to press freedom" in Pakistan, by the media watchdog group the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"The order to close Radio Mashaal is a draconian move by Pakistani authorities and a direct threat to press freedom," said Steven Butler, the Committee to Protect Journalists' Asia program coordinator.

"Radio Mashaal is an important source of information and should be allowed to continue operation without delay," Butler said on January 20.

The closure order was issued after Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, said on January 12 that Pakistan feels “betrayed” by U.S. criticism that it is not doing enough to fight terrorism and by Washington’s decision to suspend military aid for Islamabad.

U.S. President Donald Trump on January 1 accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and said the United States would suspend up to $1.9 billion a year in military aid until Islamabad moves decisively against Afghan Taliban fighters and Haqqani network militants who he said have found safe haven within Pakistan's borders.

Radio Mashaal, which broadcasts from Prague, has both radio and digital operations.