Press Release
LAHORE, 28 October 2025: Journalists in North and Central Punjab province face overlapping threats —from legal intimidation and censorship to direct harassment and deepening economic exploitation, findings of two latest Freedom Network’s research studies revealed on 28 October 2025.
The two studies noted that economic pressure functioned as “soft” censorship: politicised advertising, unpaid or token-paid district correspondents, abrupt story kills, and byline removals after sensitive coverage.
The reports titled, “Journalism in North Punjab: State of Media Freedom, Access to Information and Safety of Journalists and Other Media Professionals in North Punjab — The Way Forward” and “Journalism in Central Punjab: State of Media Freedom, Access to Information and Safety of Journalists and Other Media Professionals in Central Punjab — The Way Forward” were part of Freedom Network series of reports to look into state of media freedoms in peripheries.
The publication of these two reports came with technical support from International Media Support (IMS) which, in partnering with local stakeholders, pioneered to make safety of journalists a “national agenda” after the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity was launched in 2012 in five pilot countries, including Pakistan.
At a function in Lahore, the two reports were launched amidst calls for urgent steps to address the issues raised in the reports and speakers urged Punjab government to honor its promise of legal framework to protect journalists against all harms. Federal Commission for Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Chairperson Kamal Uddin Tipu was the chief guest at the event.
“Without promoting and encouraging peripheral media, the dream for public access to reliable information will remain a distant cry. The findings of the two reports represent serious challenges for all of us, including the Punjab government, journalists representative bodies and media houses besides political parties,” Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak said in his reaction, according to a press release issued after the two reports were launched here in a public ceremony attended by primary and secondary stakeholders.
The reports documented escalating use of cybercrime and defamation laws against reporters, the near-collapse of district-level print, and worsening wage practices that entrench self-censorship.
“In North Punjab, the Regional Union of Journalists recorded two physical attacks, 31 FIRs under PECA in 2025 alone, and eight additional bogus FIRs under other laws; in Central Punjab, journalists report at least 32 PECA cases, including prosecutions over years-old social-media posts,” according to the findings.
Print’s decline and the rapid rise of low-monetized digital outlets left reporters precariously employed and more vulnerable to pressure from officials, security agencies, local power brokers, and criminal groups, the two reports listed the challenges journalists were facing.
“Women journalists face layered barriers of exclusion from press clubs, harassment, and relegation to “soft beats” with only tentative improvements in a few city clubs.”
Legal tools — especially the 2025 amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) — were described as a “Damocles’ sword” that entrenched self-censorship, with police cases routinely initiated over online posts, the two reports underscored.
In several northern districts abutting conflict-affected areas, reporters described heightened physical risk without security support from employers, according to the press release.
The two research reports made certain recommendations to improve the situation in these peripheries. Among the recommendations includes swift adoption of a Punjab journalists’ safety law and activation of the mandated commission; enforcement of minimum-wage and labour protections for all correspondents; transparent, merit-based ad distribution to curb economic censorship; review of PECA and provincial defamation provisions to prevent misuse; reinvigorated access-to-information practices and regular official briefings; capacity-building (including digital and safety training); gender-inclusive facilities and assignment policies; and structured interfaces among media, civil society, academia, and local industry to support sustainability.
