(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
code of ethics. Ethnical violations became the norm as the Pakistani media neither developed nor
adopted the universally recognized code of ethics for decades. Hence, the permissible and the
prohibited took the shape of the anti-Press laws that persisted through the succession of
governments.
The governments have historically relied on the colonial laws for exercising absolute control over
the freedom of (individual) expression, the freedom of the Press, and the freedom of information
since its creation. According to Ziauddin, the print media functioned “within the limits of” the
colonial Press laws: Lord Wellesley’s first Press Statute (1799), Press and Registration of Book
Act (1867), the Official Secrets Act (1923), and the Press (Emergency) Powers Act (1931). Field
Marshal Ayub Khan’s first martial law government imposed further restrictions “in the name of
ideology, morality, and a host of other concepts … of an insecure and unstable state power”
(2000). He began controlling the unfavorable press by taking over a part of the free press in 1959
that, Naz says, was “made the mouthpiece of the government” (1999, p. 53). He further imposed
Press and Publication Ordinance (1963) that turned the independent newspapers into government
gazetteers (Ziauddin, 2000). According to Qudrat Ullah Shahab, Ayub believed in the power,
acceptability, and credibility of printed words that could mislead public despite being lies (Naz,
1999, p. 54). Hence, a strict censorship policy was followed by his government both before and
after the 1965-War against India. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) supervised
the media through the Department of Reference and Research that gauged political affiliations,
moral and ideological values, and other undesirable contents in different publications. The
transgression or violation of the guidelines resulted in single or triple forfeiture of the publication,
the press, and the security deposit. The ministry exercised general control over the activities of
media personnel: editors, journalists, advertisers, and distributors. It appointed media touts and
prepared “a list of ‘obstinate’ journalists” who were imprisoned, or denied access to official
sources of information and travel abroad even under legitimate circumstances (Ziauddin, 2000).
These incidents mark the beginning of the self-preservation struggle by the Press against the
repressive policies and actions of the government.
The government-press tussle continued for about three decades that reflect two more martial law
regimes by Yahya and Zia with only six years of democratic governments in between by Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto. According to Naz, both Yahya and Bhutto allowed some relief to Press (Naz, 1999, p.
54-59) despite the internal instability and the external intrusions. The internal instability is
reflected in, what Naz calls, the psychological war of the “ideological confrontation among
political parties” run through propaganda press, or political affiliations of the papers during
Yahya’s period (1999, p. 54). An extreme level of internal instability geared by external intrusions
was felt that ended with the 1971-War against India and, consequently, the separation of East
Pakistan. However, the information about the situations that lead to the separation was unethically
controlled, censored, and hidden from the public till the last moment (Naz, 1999, p. 54). Bhutto,
despite the War, the Fall of Dhaka, and the prisoners of war crisis continued giving some relief to
the Press under the constitution (1973). The same was suspended by Zia’s martial law regime in
1977 and through the period of the US funded Afghanistan War with USSR that caused a spill of
terrorism into Pakistan in the 1980s.
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