Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has rejected a notion that journalists were missing during the rule of the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif which has rather brought 7 points improvement in the country\u2019s ranking in the index for freedom of speech and media independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cName me one journalist who is missing. Imran Riaz is a spokesperson of a political party now,\u201d she said while talking to a journalist of a foreign media outlet trying to build a wrong perception about media independence and freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you really have to draw the distinction. You name one person who is missing, one journalist who is being shot, one journalist who has been kidnapped, one journalist whose ribs are broken,\u201d she said while responding to a query.<\/p>\n
She further said, \u201cNow, listen to me, you have to differentiate between a journalist and former journalists who have joined a political party. Once they have joined political parties, they are inciting violence, they are spokespersons of these political parties\u201d.<\/p>\n
Marriyum said the parallel should not be drawn among the parties\u2019 spokespersons and \u201cindependent journalists who report and who believe in true journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imran Khan was called \u201cmedia predator\u201d while under Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s government, media freedom had improved by 7 points in less than one year time and the same organization \u201cwhich called Mr Khan a media predator\u201d had significantly improved rating of Pakistan in freedom of expression and media independence.<\/p>\n
She recalled journalists were arrested and silenced while their programs were sent off air and their channels faced suspension during the tenure of Imran Khan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the anchors today talk their minds, they are not silenced and I said before\u2026 name a journalist who is missing, none\u2026, she remarked.
\n\u201cIf a person has gone missing, be it any person, I condemn that,\u201d the minister said adding there were cases against Imran Riaz and he has to give answer before the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not stand by any stance that is otherwise which I have been voicing but you have to really differentiate between the party spokespersons and journalists,\u201d she maintained.<\/p>\n
The minister pointed out that the freedom of expression and media independence index would not be improved by 7 ranks if there was no improvement in freedom of media and expression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has rejected a notion that journalists were missing during the rule of the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif which has rather brought 7 points improvement in the country\u2019s ranking in the index for freedom of speech and media independence. \u201cName me one journalist who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-332975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n