PAKISTAN MEDIA MONITOR – June 2025
A monthly report on trends relating to state of journalism and media rights, policies and practices
Tracking:
Media related laws, policies and regulations
The state of media professionalisms
The state of media economy
Threats and attacks against journalists and information practitioners
Vol. 6, No. 6 – June 2025 Edition
Produced by Freedom Network – www.fnpk.org
SECTION 1: Media related laws, policies, regulations, mechanisms
- Freedom of expression (FOE)
- Right to information (RTI), access to information (ATI)
- Federal and provincial governments (relevant ministries and departments)
- Media related regulators (PPC, PEMRA, PTA)
- Regulatory issues related to print, electronic and digital media
SECTION 2: The state of media professionalisms
- Media independence issues
- Public interest journalism practices and challenges
- Ethical journalism issues
- The state of thematic journalism
- Community-focused media
- Misinformation / disinformation / fake news
Dawn Mediaplans second Breathe Pakistan climate change conference
Date: June 1, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Building on the success of its inaugural conference, the Dawn Media Group (DMG) announced the second Breathe Pakistan International Climate Change Conference to be held in Karachi in 2026.
Date: June 1, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The slow erasure of Pakistan’s cinematic memory is not merely a cultural oversight, it is a refusal to come to terms with who we have been and what we might become. While individuals and foreign institutions have stepped in to salvage our cinematic canon, a coordinated, national effort is required more than ever.
Shoaib Akhtar, Nauman Niaz reignite feud with defamation notice sent to ex-cricketer
Date: June 2, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Gulf News
Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar received a defamation notice of Rs1 billion from sports journalist Nauman Niaz. The legal notice claimed that the ex-cricketer made “baseless and unethical” comments regarding Niaz.
How misinformation overtook Indian newsrooms amid conflict with Pakistan
Date: June 5, 2025 – Source 1: The Washington Post, Source 2: The News
A news report published in The Washington Post reviewed confessions by anonymous journalists from some of India’s largest news networks about why falsehoods filled the airwaves during India’s military conflict with Pakistan.
Deemak becomes biggest horror film in Pakistani cinemas
Date: June 10, 2025 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Arab News, Source 3: Business Recorder (BR)
According to reports, Pakistani horror film Deemak dominated the box office over Eid weekend, with Rs70 million collected by the film in just two days in cinemas across the country.
Actor for increasing cinemas in Pakistan to reduce ticket prices
Date: June 13, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Speaking about the success of his film Love Guru at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), actor and producer Humayun Saeed called for an increase in the number of cinemas across Pakistan, emphasizing that greater accessibility would help lower ticket prices and make films more affordable for the public.
Pakistani musician wins defamation case against news channel’s UK broadcaster
Date: June 21, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Daily Times
Pakistani musician Meesha Shafi won a defamation case against ARY News’ broadcaster in the United Kingdom (UK), New Vision TV, which issued an on-air apology and agreed to settle the case out of court.
Dawn Media, OUP partner for new initiative
Date: June 24, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Dawn Media, under its climate change initiative Breathe Pakistan, announced the ‘Mycelium Warrior Competition’ in collaboration with Oxford Press Pakistan (OUP). The competition aims to foster climate awareness among children.
Punjab CM orders crackdown on hateful content on social media
Date: June 25, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Presiding over a meeting to review security arrangements regarding Muharram, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz issued directions for a crackdown on those involved in spreading hateful and sectarian content on social media.
Panel formed to curb online hate speech
Date: June 28, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
On the instructions of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the director general of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) formed an 18-member committee to ensure surveillance of social media platforms to suppress hate speech and sectarian content during Muharram.
SECTION 3: The state of media economy
- Economic landscape of media industry
- Impact of Covid-19 on media resilience and sustainability
- Government and private advertising for media industry
- Advertising sector and its interface with media industry
- Business viability and sustainability of media
- Wages, salaries and arrears of journalists and media practitioners
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government grants Rs50 million to the Peshawar Press Club
Date: June 3, 2025 – Source: Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government extended financial assistance of Rs50 million to the Peshawar Press Club (PPC), highlighting the provincial government’s commitment to supporting media institutions.
SECTION 4: Threats and attacks against media and information practitioners, including online
- Murders and killings
- Kidnappings and abductions
- Arrests and detentions
- Threats – verbal and written
- Harassment and intimidation – offline and online
- Surveillance, hacking and data breaches
- Legal cases for journalism-related work or free speech
- Impunity of crimes against journalists
- Censorship
Date: June 1, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Afghanistan’s journalists have access to the news but not the freedom to report it. Fear grips them and others who want to exercise their right to free expression; they risk detention, abduction, torture and even murder. Pakistan must provide a safe sanctuary to proponents of free speech, culture and human rights so that truth and the people are not left at the mercy of an oppressive regime.
Date: June 2, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) call to repeal the 2025 PECA Amendment was a clear warning to a government leaning heavily on authoritarian laws to crush lawful dissent. HRCP views the Amendment as a crude tool to silence opposition and gag the media.
Date: June 3, 2025 – Source: Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
A group of men allegedly linked to one faction of the disputed custodians of the Lauri Sharif shrine attacked the Badin Press Club (BPC), pelting the building with stones and attempting a forced entry, to disrupt a press conference held by their rival group.
Police claim main suspect in murder case of journalist arrested
Date: June 3, 2025 – Source: Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
Police in Jacobabad reportedly arrested the main suspect in the murder of journalist Syed Mohammad Shah. The victim worked for a private television news channel and was shot dead outside his residence in Garhi Khairo.
Islamabad High Court to move ahead in PECA case, with or without government reply
Date: June 5, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Strategic Research Institute (SRI)
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a final deadline to the federal government to respond to the identical petitions against ‘controversial amendments’ in the cybercrime laws, and hinted at deciding the matter ex parte if replies to the challenges were not received.
Journalists stage walkout at post-budget briefing over government’s dismissive attitude
Date: June 11, 2025 – Source: Journalism Pakistan (JP)
In a rare show of unified dissent, journalists walked out of the federal government’s post-budget press conference in Islamabad, protesting the absence of a technical briefing and what they described as the government’s dismissive attitude towards the press.
CPNE rejects awareness, information bill
Date: June 14, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) rejected the proposed Punjab Public Awareness and Dissemination of Information Bill 2025, terming it an attempt to gag journalists by denying them the right to question.
Peshawar High Court questions FIR in PECA case against lawyer
Date: June 21, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) issued notices to the federal government and other relevant authorities, seeking a response regarding the registration of a first information report (FIR) against a local lawyer under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
Pakistan’s ‘bizarre’ omission from Reuters report
Date: June 22, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Pakistan, where press freedom remains persistently constrained and the media landscape is fraught with systemic challenges, has once again been omitted from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s (RISJ) annual report – a benchmark publication widely regarded as a compass for global media trends.
Four booked for posting controversial content on social media in Gilgit-Baltistan
Date: June 29, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Security was tightened for Muharram across Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as cases were registered against four individuals for posting ‘controversial’ content on social media platforms.
OBJECTIVES: This series of monthly report aims to:
- Monitor the state of policies, regulations and mechanisms governing the media sector in Pakistan; the state of freedom of expression and right to information environment in the country and how these interfaces with media freedoms allowed or restricted via media regulations governed by the print, electronic and internet regulators.
- Track the state of media professionalisms in the country including ethical and public interest journalism practices and challenges, and the challenges of misinformation, disinformation and fake news phenomena.
- Follow the changing economic dynamics of the media industry and how they impact the business viability and sustainability of media and exploitation of media staff in lieu of their wages and arrears.
- Scrutinize threats and attacks against media and information practitioners, the state of impunity of crimes against journalists and efforts to provide justice for those aggrieved and distressed.
INFORMATION SOURCES: This report monitors, among others, the following sources of information:
- Government: Federal and provincial cabinets
- Ministries: Related ministries, including Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology (IT) and Telecom, Human Rights, Science and Technology, Commerce and Industry, etc.
- Legislatures: Senate, National Assembly, provincial assemblies, relevant standing committees
- Regulators: Pakistan telecommunications Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Press Council of Pakistan (PPC), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), etc.
- Global organizations: UN/Unesco, International Media Support (IMS), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), etc.
- National organizations: Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), BoloBhi, Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD), Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), etc.
- Media: Dawn, The News, Express Tribune, The Nation, Pakistan Today, The Friday Times, etc.
- Social Media:Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Local networks: Journalists Safety Hubs Network, Alliance on Diversity & Pluralism in Media, etc.
- Any other open public information sources.
