Since 1947, when Pakistan emerged as a new country, the media has faced challenges and risks. As a result, many newspapers and magazines were either closed or shut down for one reason or another. These included papers which were otherwise professionally strong but financially weak. Government policies from the beginning had been 'anti-press', and they never allowed freedom.
The media landscape has frequently presented a grim picture. Yet, when it comes to struggle, journalists and media houses have recorded history.
Thus, launching an English newspaper, 'The News', at a time when the media was facing unprecedented pressures that had forced several English newspapers either to close down or to teeter on the verge of closure—such as the Pakistan Times, the Morning News, The Muslim, and later papers like The Frontier Post and the Daily Times (though some of them are still there, they can no longer be considered mainstream) —was quite a feat. Besides, to survive for 35 years in an atmosphere where English readership has never gone beyond a million or 1.5 million is altogether a major achievement. The News continues to endure.
The News has created history, not merely by breaking stories that became the talk of the town and the country—be it the fall of governments, the ouster of prime ministers, or the exposure of wrongdoings within the corridors of power. These revelations often annoyed those at the helm, yet the newspaper embodied the highest ideals of journalism. As one of the leading editors, A. T. Choudhry, famously said: "It is the responsibility of journalism to tell every government—no matter how perfect it claims to be—that it is not perfect."
The News also created history when it became the only newspaper in the country that, at one time, had three women editors heading the Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore editions: Ms Quatrina Hosain, Dr Maleeha Lodhi and Ms Kamila Hyat respectively. At that time, women journalists were never entertained for top positions and were mostly given jobs either in the newsroom or in the magazine sections. The decision to have women as editors stood out as breaking the proverbial glass ceiling. Earlier, at its inception, The News ushered in a revolutionary change by hiring several girls and women as field reporters and subeditors and in various capacities in the newsrooms and as section heads. Many of those who started their careers back then have now transformed into powerful voices in the era of electronic and digital media, reporting even from conflict zones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The News also became the nursery for Gen Z journalists at that time and produced bright young journalists who later established themselves as top professionals at home or abroad.
My journey with the paper was different, as I never formally joined The News as a reporter or on the desk, though I was among the few who had been offered a job even before its formal launching. But my association with the paper strengthened with the passage of time as a regular columnist and news analyst. I wrote hundreds of columns for its magazine. After joining Geo News in 2014, I also started contributing to its other publications as a columnist and analyst for Jang and The News more regularly.
But let me tell you an interesting story about why I did not join The News earlier—a decision I have always regretted. Had I joined then, I would have been with people like Iqbal Jaffery, who was the first person to ask me to switch from an evening newspaper to a national daily, and who even took me to the Editor of The News, Ghazi Salahuddin for the purpose. And I would have worked alongside people like Abbas Nasir, Kaleem Omer (dearly called as KO), Owais Tohid (OT) and Amir Zia, who—though I thought were junior to me at that time—were very bright and thorough professionals. But I remained with the Karachi-based evening newspaper, The Star of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, as I was promised that I would soon be shifted to Dawn. However, later I was told that the policy of the Editor at that time was against taking anyone from The Star.
In the 1980s, Karachi-based evening papers like the Jang Group's Daily News, Dawn’s The Star and The Leader had their own readership. Being street papers, the news stories were basically confined to the city's civic issues, sensational crimes and scandalous stories. Although I enjoyed my job at The Star, as it also gave me the opportunity to write for other papers and magazines—and my articles also appeared in Dawn—it was Saleem Asmi who, after becoming the Editor of Dawn, personally asked me to give exclusive stories for Dawn, which I did.
The News' contribution to Pakistani media is a matter of history, as the paper went through unprecedented pressures under the governments of late Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, late General Pervez Musharraf and Imran Khan.
The former premier Nawaz Sharif targeted the paper by using the Ehtesab Bureau and its chief, Saifur Rehman. For the first time, he not only allegedly ordered surveillance of the editor of The News but also of some leading reporters of The News. Later, he even got a case registered and used all kinds of arm-twisting against the group.
Former prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, after the dismissal of her first government on August 6, 1990, blamed the Daily News and The News for publishing a 'planted' story against her spouse, Asif Ali Zardari, known as the 'Unar case'. However, she did not use tactics like Nawaz Sharif or Imran Khan when she came into power again in 1993.
When General Pervez Musharraf usurped power on October 12, 1999, and 'liberated the media' by allowing private TV news and entertainment channels, he nevertheless later banned TV channels and even targeted Geo Sports, which at that time was going to telecast the Pakistan-India series.
The News' investigative stories certainly unnerved power centres. I still remember one story in regard to the narcotics scandal that hit the headlines; the reporters as well as the paper faced pressure and threats.
Since I was closely attached to the journalists' union—the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)—the union has remained at the forefront of defending press freedom, despite our differences on other issues like the non-implementation of the Wage Board and working conditions. The union also brought out a huge procession when one of the leading journalists of The News at that time, Kamran Khan, was stabbed outside the office.
While The News survived pressures from successive governments, both civilian and military alike—including under retired General Pervez Musharraf—it was after the 2013 general election that the then opposition leader and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, challenged the election results and launched a movement. Geo, Jang and The News faced immense pressure in their coverage of the former cricketer’s protest. During Imran Khan's D-Chowk dharna, the Geo offices in Islamabad were attacked. Even the reporting teams were harassed. This scribe also survived an attack during the Karachi rally. But once again, the unions stood tall and resisted all such pressures.
The history witnessed the amount of pressure journalists and media groups in general—and Geo, Jang and The News in particular—faced was simply unprecedented: from state and non-state actors, from ethnic to sectarian groups, and from state agencies. Yet the paper survived everything from censorship to press advice, as well as massive cuts in advertisements in different eras.
In the last 35 years I have written articles—including a series of articles on politics, security, terrorism, Karachi and national issues—but I have never faced any advice or pressure from the group's editorial management.
The News and the Geo/Jang Group have faced all these challenges, risks and threats, but they make sure the paper never dies.
I must say that unions, whether journalists' unions or CBA unions, play an important role not only as defenders of press freedom but also for the economic rights of workers. During attacks on Geo, Jang or The News, these workers and unions fought from the front. Thus, they deserve more recognition as the frontline force against those who do not want to see the media grow.
As 'news' never dies but only changes, one can also hope and wish that 'The News' as a leading newspaper must survive for a better morning. Let us hope that some government will realise why a free press is essential and why criticism of the government is the responsibility of journalists and the media. Without freedom of the press, there is no concept of democracy and the rule of law.
I congratulate The News, its management and editorial staff on its 35th anniversary.
Long live freedom of the press.
Long live The News
—The writer is analyst and columnist, Geo and Jang
