Fawad Chaudhry: HD transmission for PTV, Radio Pakistan goes digital
All PTV transmissions will be run in high-definition from the first week of August, according to Interior Minister Fawad Chaudhry.
In a Parliament speech Monday, he said that the Association Press Pakistan will be transformed into a media agency along the line of AFP and Reuters. "The third reform will be the digitalisation of Radio Pakistan."
Chaudhry said that during the previous governments, the information ministry was only employing voters. “In the last 10 years, PTV hired 2,200 people on daily wages without any test or evaluation."
He revealed that the government is working on the security of journalists. In Pakistan, the highest number of attacks on journalists were reported in the PPP era. In 39 attacks, 32 journalists died. Fourteen journalists lost their lives in the PML-N rule. “Ever since we have come to power, eight attacks have taken place.”
The difference to be noted here is that during the PTI government, all the attacks were investigated and the culprits were punished, Chaudhry claimed.
“Two attacks remained uninvestigated which were reported from Sukkur and Naushero Feroze,” the minister pointed out. “We want the Sindh government to see what happened there because we are facing embarrassment in the international community because of their inefficiency.”
Talking about the Pakistan Media Development Authority Ordinance, he said that PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb ran an entire campaign against it. “It was later proven that no such law has been passed. It was all fake news.” So, as a member of the National Assembly, and as a highly respectable politician, she should have had a big heart and apologised to the government.
“We have made our journalists a part of the Successful Youth programme and will include them in the PM’s housing initiative too.”
Countering fake news
The minister pointed out that Afghanistan and India are running a propaganda campaign against Pakistan.
“Do you think this is happening for free? No,” he pointed out in a speech in the Parliament Monday. “Each and every word is paid for and some of our naïve friends are a part of this campaign.”
Fake news is tweeted from some regions of India and then boosted by Afghanistan.
“When TLP protests occurred, in 3.5 minutes more than 300,000 tweets were posted from an IT center in India’s Ahmedabad. You can guess the sort of war we are facing.”
Do you think all these essays on freedom of expression in American news are being published without any cost?
No. Every word has a price and we know who's paying it, the minister said, emphasising that the opposition should be unanimous on issues related to Pakistan’s benefit. We should not use international establishments for small political benefits. We should not play in the hands of our enemies for these temporary gains.
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