Zardari | Pakistan Media Watch –– پاکستان میڈیا واچ

Posts Tagged ‘Zardari’

Is Jang Group Paying Former CIA Officials?

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

The News (Jang Group) on Saturday selectively quoted a foreign newspaper as the basis for an article making unsupported claims that President Zardari allowed US to boost drone strikes. Today, Jang Group repeated this misleading practice in a front page article that appeared in both The News and Daily Jang. Only this time, the article was actually written by a former CIA official.

The article appearing in both The News and Daily Jang bears a bold headline that Zardari has accused Army of playing double game. However, if readers read the full article they will find that there is no evidence of such an accusation except for one sentence from an article in the US magazine Newsweek by Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer.

Even Pakistan’s own president, Asif Ali Zardari, has accused the Army of playing both sides of the war on terror—distressingly, an abundance of evidence backs him up. Take Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terror group that attacked the Indian financial capital of Mumbai in 2008, killing 164 people.

The article by former CIA officer Bruce Riedel mentions Zardari exactly two times. Once is the claim that Zardari accused the Army. This was picked by Jang Group for the headline. The other mention of Zardari though praises him for wanting to improve relations with India and end terrorism.

The trick, for everyone involved, is to help strengthen those forces in Pakistan that want to get out of the endless rivalry with India. Then, end Pakistan’s dance with terror. For all his faults, Zardari is one of those who want a different approach.

Why this was not picked as the headline: ‘Zardari wants to improve relations with India, end terror’ which is equally supported by the article?

If you have not read the full Newsweek article and these sentences by the former CIA officer sound very familiar, it is because the same words will be found in both The News and Daily Jang also. Actually, Jang Group has re-printed the Newsweek article word for word in its entirety.

Therefore, the question must be asked whether Jang Group plaigarised the article from Newsweek. I would not want to accuse Jang Group of plaigarism, so perhaps it is the alternative that Jang Group is paying former CIA officers to write their articles.

Actually, the case is much simpler. It appears that once again Jang Group ‘investigative journalists’ are only investigating ways to embarrass the president for political points rather than performing the task of producing factual reporting to inform readers about events affecting the country. On Saturday, The News took a quote from a foreign newspaper out of context to embarrass the president. Today they appear to have lifted an entire article from the foreign press. The point that is being missed however is that, in their attempts to embarrass the president, Jang Group is only embarrassing themselves.

Tags: Bruce Riedel, CIA, Daily Jang, Jang Group, Newsweek, plaigarism, political attacks, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 9 Comments »

The News Headline on Zardari and Drone Strikes Misleading

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

The News on Saturday featured a bold front page headline claiming that “Zardari allowed US to boost drone strikes”. But the short article included in the paper offered no evidence to support this sensationalist claim.

Actually, the claim comes from an opinion piece in American newspaper The Wall Street Journal of Friday. The News repeats the claim as if it is a fact because it appeared in this column. But other claims were made in the column also, does The News accept that they are also true?

For example, the same opinion piece says:

Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, has longstanding links to terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network.

Will The News publish this as a front page headline?

The same article also said:

The Pakistani army was also happy to cooperate with the U.S. when the targets of the strikes were members of the Pakistani Taliban who had their sights set on Islamabad. But the army has been less cooperative when the targets were the Afghan Taliban based in Pakistan or the ISI’s terrorist partners.

The same article also said:

Still, if the CIA doesn’t trust the ISI, that’s because it has demonstrated repeatedly that it isn’t trustworthy. The Pakistani army has yet to reconcile itself to the idea that Afghanistan should be something other than its strategic backyard, preferably under the control of clients such as the Taliban, and it harbors paranoid illusions that India will encroach on Afghanistan to encircle its old enemy.

Why The News features a front page headline about Zardari who is mentioned only once and not military/ISI that is mentioned several times in the same piece?

Two observations must be made. First is that The News is quoting an opinion piece in a foreign newspaper as if it is a factual report and doing so in a bold front page headline none the less. This is inappropriate and misleading. Second is that The News is quoting the opinion piece selectively and not in full which suggests a political motive to embarrass the president and not to inform the readers.

It should also be noted that President Zardari recently condemned drone strikes and clarified that the US should end the program. Why this did not receive a front page headline in The News? The ongoing tension between Jang Group and the government is well known. But this tension should not affect the headlines. News reports should be based on verifiable facts, not selective quotes to support a political agenda.

Tags: drones, headlines, Jang Group, misleading, political attacks, The News, The Wall Street Journal, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 1 Comment »

Who is playing Sindh card?

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

The popular talking point has become, once again, that the government is playing ‘Sindh card’ in its relationship to the judiciary. But a careful examination of recent media articles suggests that perhaps there is another player holding the cards.

‘Sindh card’ refers of course to the idea that President Zardari and other PPP politicians attempt to energize a base of Sindhi supporters by invoking provincialism. Ethnic parties certainly exist, but PPP is a national party that enjoys support across ethnic and provincial lines. So while PPP might have a base in Sindh, that is not sufficient to classify it as an ethnic party. Nevertheless, a series of media reports suggest that some in the media might be attempting to do just that.

Last Saturday, Shaheen Sehbai wrote the column titled, ‘Use of Sindh Card – when, how and why!’ which The News published front and center of the first page.

Next day, The News published a cartoon image of a ‘Sindh Card’.

The same day, Hamid Mir accuses President Zardari of playing the Sindh Card by praising the Supreme Court. But when protests were held in reaction to the Supreme Court’s unilateral dismissal of NAB chief Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah, Jang Group reporter Tariq Butt termed the reaction “using Sindh Card”. So we learn from The News that praising the Supreme Court is invoking ‘Sindh Card’ and protesting Supreme Court is invoking ‘Sindh Card’ also.

But is Tariq Butt correct that protests are government playing the ‘Sindh Card’, or is the reporter himself producing the card? After all, Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir has also expressed reservation over the Supreme Court’s dismissal of Justice Deedar Shah.

The SCBA president was not satisfied with the decision in as much as it provided for the chief justice of Pakistan to decide the matter if the leaders of the house and opposition were at dispute over the appointment. She said this means the complete authority to make appointment would go to the CJP discarding parliament. She said the government should go for a review petition in this case.

On Tuesday, Ansar Abbasi pulled the ‘Sindh Card’ from his sleeve by comparing Shaheen Sehbai’s‘Angel of Punjab’ Mian Nawaz Sharif to President Zardari:

How President Zardari’s PPP is using the Sindh Card to target the judiciary stands exposed if one sees the fashion in which Nawaz Sharif got his conviction set aside.

Nawaz Sharif’s conviction in the plane hijacking case was set aside by the Supreme Court in 2009, but neither he nor any member of his party gave racial colour to his case. Instead, he focused on the dictator, ignoring the judges altogether who had convicted him.

Ironically, the very next day, Vice Admiral (retired) Taj M Khattak in The News directly contradicts Ansar Abbasi’s comparison while himself playing the ‘Sindh Card’.

Back on Nov 28, 1997, during Nawaz Sharif’s second term as prime minister, charged political workers of his PML-N stormed the Supreme Court on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. The judges inside had to scramble for safety to their chambers…the mob which attacked the Supreme Court consisted of supporters hailing from Punjab, determined to cause physical harm to then-chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who is from Sindh…

In a piece that is allegedly about the history of the government-judiciary relationship, the retired military officer mentions Sindh 11 times. He mentions Punjab only three times. The author complains of “second-tier politicians” from Sindh who go to the Supreme Court “prominently displaying their ethnic symbols”. Once again, readers are left to wonder who is actually playing the ‘Sindh Card’ here?

Vice Adm. (retd) Khattak concludes his column with what appears to be a non-sequitur – a story about Chief Justice Muhammad Rustam Kiyani who was bullied over some land in Sindh by a patwari who “had never done a day’s honest work”. According to Khattak, the Chief Justice was rescued by the intervention of Gen Ayub whose “gentlemanliness was to last to the end”.

Again, one might ask, what does this story have to do with the present government’s relations with the judiciary? Could it be an attempt to invoke ethnic tension as a means of disparaging the government? Why else would the author go to such lengths to invoke the ‘lazy Sindhi’ stereotype compared to the ‘gentlemanly’ Gen Ayub?

Unfortunately, this appears not to be an isolated incident by one retired military officer, but as is shown in the references above, a disturbing trend of blaming every action of the government on a ‘Sindh Card’. Disagreement with government actions and policies is a legitimate subject for opinion columns. But even then, the disagreement should be based on facts, not thinly-veiled attempts to invoke ethnic stereotypes and play to provincialism for political ends. Please, leave the cards at home and stick to pen and paper for reporting.

Tags: Ansar Abbasi, Deedar Hussain Shah, Hamid Mir, Jang Group, Shaheen Sehbai, Sindh card, Taj M Khattak, Tariq Butt, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 18 Comments »

The News (Jang Group) Assault on Government

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

The News (Jang Group) has taken a particularly adversarial tone against the government lately, with Jang’s celebrity journalists coming out with bald faced political attacks on the president and parliament based on nothing more than rumour, speculation, and conspiracy theories. We have already covered Ansar Abbasi’s baseless attack on parliament over devolution of HEC. But actually Saturday’s The News included several articles that crossed the line of responsible journalism.

Shaheen Sehbai’s front page story included no facts or investigative reporting, and was nothing but a baseless attack on the government in what appears to be another thinly veiled attempt to incite a war between the executive and judiciary.

This did not go unnoticed by the PPP who issued a rejoinder on Sunday.

More dangerous is Mr. Sehbai’s totally baseless and unfounded assertions that the Government is pitched against the honorable courts. To say that confronting the honorable judiciary is a “declared policy” of the Government is totally false in fact, and highly malicious in character, depicting mala fide intentions of the writer. It is most regretful that the Group Editor of your esteemed newspaper is deliberately pitching two pillars of the State by painting imaginary scenarios of animosity and conspiracy, when there are none in reality.

In fact, Shaheen Sehbai does not even bother pretending to have ‘informed sources’, offering only his own insults and accusations. This is considered reporting by Jang Group?

While Ansar Abbasi and Shaheen Sehbai may be expected to make baseless attacks on the government, they are not the long voices. Also joining the chorus is Tariq Butt, who wrote on Saturday that “President Asif Ali Zardari is seeking the shoulder of the highest judicial forum to cry on while he has asked his minions to do everything to attack the superior judiciary”. Like his colleagues, Ansar Abbasi and Shaheen Sehbai, Tariq provides no evidence of a presidential directive to attack the judiciary.

On Sunday, the assault continued with a front page article by Hamid Mir suggesting that the president’s praise for the judiciary is insincere and that he “masterminded this reference just to embarrass teh Supreme Court by playing the Sindh card because all the judges who gave the verdict against [ZAB] were from Punjab”. The only evidence Hamid Mir can provide for this mind-reading of the president is “an impression in many political circles”. No doubt these “political circles” include certain Group and Investigative ‘Editors’ at Jang Group.

It should be noted that for all the accusations from Shaheen Sehbai, Hamid Mir, etc of playing Sindh Card, neither the president nor his representatives have uttered any such thing. Rather these accusations come from ‘journalists’ claiming to be able to read the mind of Zardari. On the other hand, the opinion page of Sunday’s The News includes a cartoon of a ‘Sindh Card’. In addition to the articles mentioned above, one cannot help but wonder who it is that is actually attempting to exploit provincial prejudice and whip up the emotions of their base.

Speaking about media freedom in this week’s Friday Times, Pakistan Representative Human Rights Watch, Ali Dayan Hasan, was highly critical of the way media attacks the civilian government just because it can.

Pakistan’s media needs to use its independence responsibly. Unfortunately this is not happening. It targets the government because it does not fear the former. It does not hold the military to account because it is frightened of their power. HRW is of the view that the greatest threat to media freedom emanates today not from the elected government which has shown respect and tolerance as it should for the media. Rather, it stems from the intelligence agencies, non-state actors such as the Taliban and, finally, from the judiciary which has exploited over-broad contempt laws to stifle criticism of the institution.

Media’s role includes responsibly keeping the people informed about the actions of government and politicians. But The News appears to have passed beyond the line of responsible reporting and crossed into bald faced attacks on the president through rumour, speculation, and conspiracy theories based on nothing but the imaginations of its staff. Worse, there appears to be the possibility of a renewed campaign to instill distrust and tension between the executive and the judiciary. This is not journalism, it is politics. We encourage Jang Group to review the editorial policies of it’s prize English language newspaper and work to put in place policies that ensure reporting is based on facts, not political opinions, and that reporting is objective and not biased. At present, star reporters of The News are offering neither.

Tags: Ali Dayan Hasan, Ansar Abbasi, Hamid Mir, Human Rights Watch, Jang Group, judiciary, Lack of Evidence, political attacks, PPP, Shaheen Sehbai, Sindh card, Tariq Butt, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 23 Comments »

Factual Problems In Shaheen Sehbai’s Latest ‘Analysis’

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

In his latest column for The News (Jang Group), Shaheen Sehbai holds a ‘funhouse mirror’ to the president’s speech and comes up with a curious 10-point list of what the president did not say in his address to the National Assembly on Tuesday. Sehbai’s column is purely editorial, though it is labeled as ‘News Analysis’ so that it can appear on the front page and not properly the opinion page. So let us examine Sehbai’s 10-point list as if it were actually ‘analysis’ and judge it’s factual accuracy as such.

1. He has run the country as a one-man show…

President Zardari’s one man show includes highlights of reinstating Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry, also signing 18th Amendment to return more power to the National Assembly, and asking for open discussions and negotiations about difficult issues. He has gone to war with the opposition by consulting them on important issues – how else was the 18th Amendment passed unanimously? And he has isolated the PM by handing over powers to him.

2. His failure to become a respected national leader with credibility, depth and vision has turned Pakistan almost into an intolerant, wayward and undependable pariah state…

Holding Zardari responsible for intolerance in the nation is shameless, especially while Sehbai’s friend Ansar Abbasi is playing the part of religious jurist for the country. Worst, though, saying Asif Zardari “has turned Pakistan almost into an intolerant, wayward and undependable pariah state” is to ignore the decades of support for extremism and militancy by dictators while placing all the blame on those left holding the bag. This is not analysis but is willful ignorance.

3. His style and pettiness in politics has earned him no new friends…internationally he has not been trusted with any aid money. Even the Kerry-Lugar dollars are tied to strings because of lack of trust.

One wonders if the second bit was added on at the insistence of an editor worried about the sheer ridiculousness of claiming that Zardari has been entrusted with no aid money. Yes, Kerry-Lugar bill includes conditionalities, but similar conditionalities were present in most US aid bills since 2001, so it would be a far cry to blame Zardari for this. One might also wonder how badly the president’s “style in pettiness in politics” can be since he has managed to hold together the coalition even during the most trying times. Even PML-N has said it wants to see the government complete its term.

4. His domestic politics is in shambles.

Again, domestic politics is messy, but despite the predictions of devastating storms from ‘journalists’ like Shaheen Sehbai, most have turned out to be storms in teacups, and all so far have resulted in strengthening the democratic process through the recognition of opposition and coalition demands. Far from being in shambles, domestic politics seems to be maturing.

5. …rule of law is being buried day by day and Asif Zardari is leading this mission to demolish the courts.

Again, far from following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Asif Zardari has not made any move to sack the Chief Justice or to ‘demolish the courts’. This hasn’t stopped certain voices in the media from incorrectly predicting an executive-judiciary death match every few months, but neither have these media predictions managed to drive a wedge into the executive-judiciary relationship.

6. His dealings with the establishment are reduced to blackmailing and threats of using the Sindh Card.

The same government that has extended appointments for both COAS and DG ISI is blackmailing the establishment? Actually, this government seems to have one of the healthier relationships with the establishment. The last time we had democratically elected governments under Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (PPP) and Mian Nawaz Sharif (PML-N), both were overthrown by the establishment.

7. His relations with the media are rancorous and based on the policy of buying or bullying.

Shaheen Sehbai has some cheek to write this. Shaheen Sehbai himself has spent the entire duration of the Zardari government pining for the president’s failure and spreading the most ridiculous of rumours about the president. Also, let us recall the false accusations that have come from the media against the government since the past three years. Clearly there is some tension between the government and the media. This is natural. But suggesting that Zardari is the one doing bullying is a bit much.

8. His attempts to survive and avoid his own accountability have just succeeded to the point of delaying the inevitable.

The fact is that Asif Zardari has spent over a decade in prison and no court has convicted him of anything. The fact is also that Swiss prosecutor Daniel Zappelli stated that “he had no evidence to bring Zardari…to trial”.

9. His tall claims of bringing billions of dollars and generating local and foreign investment have evaporated into colourless smoke.

Exports exceeded $2 billion last month and net foreign investment rose 27 percent to $1.23 billion in the first eight months of 2010/11 fiscal year. China signed $30 billion in deals just a few months ago. Economists agree that the economy is improving, though slowly. Shaheen Sehbai is simply wrong on the facts.

10. His favours to his cronies have brought him troubles, infamy and at the end humiliation. But the irony is that these cronies will not stand by him. They will be the first to run, leaving him in the dock.

This is not even a point about the past few years, rather it seems that Shaheen Sehbai cannot help himself but must include some negative prediction in his writings.

This 10-point list of Shaheen Sehbai is not ‘analysis’ it is political attacks only. And these attacks are not even based in reality, but it Shaheen Sehbai’s own willful ignoring of facts. Just because you label something ‘analysis’ does not make it so. This column could have been used to provide analysis of some of the serious issues facing the nation and made some recommendations for how the government and opposition leaders can work together to pass solutions for the good of the country. Instead, readers of The News were presented with yet another political attack consisting of misleading accusations devoid of context and reason.

Tags: economics, fact checking, historical context, Jang Group, misleading, political attacks, Predictions, Shaheen Sehbai, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 19 Comments »

Jang Group’s $100 Million ‘Scoop’

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

Trying to get the ‘scoop’ on a story is a journalistic past time. Reporters want to be the first on the scene, and investigative journalists want to be the first to uncover a new angle. With fierce competition between media groups, publishing ‘Breaking News’ is a coveted prize. But there is a line between breaking a news story and peddling in unsubstantiated gossips, and crossing the line can have serious consequences as Jang Group is learning the hard way.

As you know, this is not the first time that Jang Group has thrown caution to the wind and run a story based on questionable web sites without properly verifying the data first. In December, Jang Group was one of the media groups to publish the infamous ‘Fakileaks’ story, only to print a retraction and apology once the hoax was exposed. At the time, we wrote that the correction was appreciated and “We hope that the lessons will be taken and all media groups will use the unfortunate incident to remind their editors and reporters of the importance of getting the story right.”

Unfortunately, Jang Group appears to have not learned the lesson and is now finding itself once again humiliated after publishing an internet hoax as ‘Breaking News’. Only this time the subject was personal lives, and the affected subjects are taking action.

In response to Jang Group’s publishing the internet hoax of president Zardari secretly marrying a Pakistani-American doctor, the Zardari family has sent legal notice to Jang Group specifically Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and Shaheen Sehbai demanding immediate retraction and apology otherwise they will face legal action

“…for libel, malicious publication and intentional infliction of emotional distress in all jurisdictions where your newspaper is published, as well as any jurisdiction in which your paper has assets. This lawsuit will seek in excess of $100 million, which the Bhutto-Zardari family would donate to the victims of the 2010 floods in Pakistan.“

Jang Group has a staff of intelligent, well trained reporters and commentators that regularly produce useful reporting on local and national events. Why they continue to soil their reputation by falling prey to internet hoaxes, petty gossips, and political skulduggery is a question that Mr Rahman would do well to consider. Perhaps there is some personal animosity among some of their reporters, or perhaps it is simply the attempt to be the first to ‘scoop’ a juicy story. Whatever the cause, though, being the media group to take the latest internet hoax and run with it may cost them quite dearly.

Tags: gossips, internet hoax, Jang Group, legal action, libel, malicious publication, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, rumours, Shaheen Sehbai, Wikileaks, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 3 Comments »

First US Controls the Weather, Now Time Travel Also

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Time machine used by US Congressman in conspriracy against Jang Group?

An article by Azim Mian published in both Jang and The News claims that President Zardari has engaged in a conspiracy against the media by convincing members of the US Congress to write a letter to Hillary Clinton requesting that visas not be granted to “media men not condemning the killing of Salman Taseer”. Judging by the evidence, though, the conspiracy appears once again to be Azim Mian’s and not Asif Zardari’s.

You will recall that this reporter Azim Mian has a chequered history of ridiculous smears leveled against the president including an article of June 2010 that tried to claim a ‘well-known’ website listed Asif Zardari as a US Citizen. The website turned out to be neither well known nor authoritative, and even so by the time Azim’s article was published it did not list Asif Zardari as US citizen.

Azim Mian also reported in June that Hussain Haroon would resign his post as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations before August 2010 due to “palace intrigues and impediments in his work”. It is now over seven months since the article and five months since Azim’s prediction has proven false despite the claims of his ‘sources’. These are only two examples of the reporter’s ridiculous claims and failed predictions.

So Azim Mian has a history of making ridiculous anti-Zardari claims in apparent attempts to embarrass the government without having good facts to back up his claims. But this latest conspiracy theory is even more foolish than his past articles.

According to Dawn, the letter sent to Hillary Clinton actually requests the State Department to “identify those Pakistani citizens that have shown demonstrable support of the assassination of Governor Taseer”.

“Some of the most prominent clerics, journalists and lawyers who have praised Mr Taseer`s death and have demonstrated support of his murderer, are people who frequently travel to the US and hold American visas.”

Obviously, this request is not aimed at “media men not condemning the killing of Salman Taseer” as Azim Mian incorrectly states. This is his first error, and probably the smallest one though it is important to note as Azim’s article could lead readers to incorrectly believe that the US is pressurizing journalists to make a statement against the murder of Salmaan Taseer which is not stated by the letter.

Azim Mian then goes on to claim that “…indications are there that the US State Department had prepared a list of journalists and others on whom entry in the US may be denied by cancelling or denying visas”. The only “list” that has been published according to our research was a group of names published by Daily Times on 20 January. But this list is unsourced except to anonymous “sources in Washington” and carries a dateline of Lahore, as Azim Mian admits in his report. Furthermore, Azim claims to have spoken with a source at the US State Department who indicated that no list of Pakistani journalists had been prepared.

If Azim Mian was simply questioning the validity of the list published by Daily Times, he might have a point – it seems suspicious. But Azim did not stop there. Instead, he added to his growing portfolio of baseless speculation and misinformation.

According to Azim, the letter to Hillary Clinton is part of a conspiracy by the president against media freedoms. Azim claims that when Zardari went to Washington to attend the funeral of Richard Holbrooke and met with US officials, he spent his time referring negatively about Pakistan’s media and specifically Jang Group. Azim claims that:

It was in this scenario that the aides of the Zardari-Gilani government taking notice of the sentiments, perceptions and also complaints of their boss lobbied with the anti-Pakistan congressmen and made them to write a letter to Secretary Clinton.

Please recall that this is the same visit termed ‘mysterious’ by Jang Group because the president did not take a large government contingency along with him. If this trip was so mysterious, one might ask, how does Azim Mian know what Zardari said in these private meetings? What is the evidence to support this conspiracy theory? Actually, there is none.

In fact the only basis for Azim Mian’s conspiracy is his claim that “informed circles are of the opinion…” This is not fact by his own admission, but merely the opinion of some people who do not even want their names associated with it. It seems Azim Mian’s anonymous sources are as trustworthy as his colleague Ansar Abbasi‘s.

This brings us to the final point, the one that does away with this foolishness for good. It turns out the error of Azim Mian is quite obvious and an easy one to prove. In fact it is telling that the reporter and his editor gave so little thought to this story that they could not realize it before they published it in two newspapers. You see, President Zardari met with US officials on 14 January during which time they discussed pressing issues, according to reports from both The White House and Ambassador Husain Haqqani who was present for the meetings.

How do we know these meetings didn’t include discussions of Jang Group followed by lobbying US Congressmen for a letter to be sent to Hillary Clinton? The letter to Hillary Clinton was written on 13 January 2011 – the day BEFORE the meetings.

First page of the letter to Hillary Clinton dated 13 January 2011

According to The News Zardari was driving from New York to Washington during this time because he is afraid of heights – a ridiculous assertion, but one that shows just how desperate some people are to smear Zardari at any cost. Actually it was reported by APP that Zardari did not arrive in Washington until Thursday evening. Furthermore, if the letter is dated 13 January, it means that the Congressmen would have had to begun coordinating even before that date. Not only was Zardari not in Washington before the 13th, he was not even in the US.

If Azim Mian’s conspiracy theory could be true it would require that Asif Zardari complained about the media in his meetings with US officials on 14 January, and then some unnamed “aides of the Zardari-Gilani government” lobbied these four US Congressmen and convinced them to travel back in time to write a letter to Hillary Clinton. It simply defies all reason.

Tension between the media and the government has been present since day one. Jang Group in particular has been a loud voice accusing the government and President Zardari specifically of wanting to curb media freedoms, but certainly not the only one. And yet it is now three years into the government’s term and still these voices continue to make such accusations freely. If President Zardari intends to curb media freedom, he is doing quite a poor job of it. And I understand that some of our esteemed colleagues in the media believe that the US has a machine that controls the world’s weather, but now we are asked believe that they can travel through time also?

The government has a responsibility to be honest and forthcoming with the people and not to attempt to curb the media’s ability to inform the people. But the media has a responsibility to be honest and forthcoming with the people and not spread baseless accusations and ridiculous conspiracy theories also. Three years into the government’s term and the media is still free – how long until the media will accept their own responsibilities and stop wasting everyone’s time with such nonsense?

Tags: American visas, Azim M Mian, Conspiracy Theories, hillary clinton, incorrect information, Jang, Jang Group, Lack of Evidence, misleading, The News, Zardari, اردو
Posted in Jang, The News | 3 Comments »

Second Day of The News Misinformation on Zardari Trip

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

For the second day in a row, The News has featured incomprehensible coverage of President Zardari’s trip to the US for the memorial of diplomat Richard Holbrooke.

The 15 January issue of The News included an article on page four of the National section that boasts the headline, Zardari’s mysterious meetings with Obama, CIA chief’. This bizarre article claims that:

The meeting between President Barack Obama and President Asif Ali Zardari has taken place without a formal agenda and no official brief account of the bilateral ties was readily available to the visiting president that could help him in the talks.

But on the front page of this very same newspaper on the very same day featured an article titled, ‘US to find new ways to strengthen Pak Democracy’ by reporter Sami Abraham that details the talks between US President Barack Obama and President Zardari. This article details the President’s schedule and the topics of discussion as per the interview of the Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani. The newspaper even featured a photograph of this supposedly ‘mysterious meeting’ between President Obama and President Zardari.

Why did The News not give Muhammad Saleh Zaafir same access to the interview of Ambassador Husain Haqqani so that his name would not be attached to a bizarre article on page 4 that is easily answered by reading page 1?

It should also be asked why The News continues to print such bizarre accounts of President Zardari’s trip to the US. As we noted yesterday, the same newspaper had printed an article filled with easily disproven inaccuracies.

When our leaders are visiting foreign dignitaries and officials, the people have a right to know how their nation is being represented. From the front page story by Sami Abraham the people were given an inside view to what would normally be a very private meeting. So why did The News introduce confusion by then on page 4 terming the meeting ‘mysterious’ and saying that nobody knows what was said?

If this was an error on the part of editors, Jang Group should conduct internal discussions to find out how it was able to happen so that it can be prevented in the future. If it was an intentional act of some employees to case a negative light on the nation’s leaders for a purely political agenda then those employees should be disciplined for failing to uphold the standards of professional journalism.

Whatever the cause, this is the second day in a row that The News has offered unreliable and confusing reports to the people about high-level international meetings. We deserve better.

Tags: Husain Haqqani, Jang Group, Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, Sami Abraham, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 2 Comments »

The News “Journalistic Garbage” About Zardari’s Trip

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

Just days after a court terms Jang Group’s prized reporter Ansar Abbasi’s sourcers “incorrigible liars”, The News (Jang Group) has outdone itself in the field of anonymours rumours and baseless speculations. An article from the 14 January edition featured the sensational headline, “Zardari to seek Karzai-like US security?” and was so completely devoid of facts that it even lacked a proper by line.

The article begins by claiming that “Asif Zardari is mulling over asking his US interlocutors to provide him American security”. This claims is attributed to “reports”, the author apparently unable to even convince one of Abbasi’s “incorrigible liars” to say such a thing. In fact, five paragraphs of this story describe attempted attacks on Hamid Karzai and having nothing to do with President Zardari at all. It appears that The News is simply filling column space with irrelevant facts to make up for the lack of substance in the story.

Most peculiar about the article, though, was the following paragraph:

It is understood that Asif Zardari has developed some fear from unidentifiable direction about himself while staying in the federal capital or places of high altitude and mountain terrain. Incidentally he has gone to Washington that is again a place with high altitude and situated on a mountain. For the reason he has opted to travel to New York and from there he plans to proceed to Washington by road. He would not be having overnight stay in Washington and could return to New York for the journey back home.

It is “understood” that Zardari has developed some fears? Who has made this claim and on what evidence? Again, no facts, no sources…nothing but anonymous rumours and baseless speculation.

Also, Washington is not situated on a mountain. According to Wikipedia, the highest point in the District of Columbia is 410 feet (125 m) above sea level. Not only doesn’t Washington have mountains, actually it has three rivers: Potomac, Anacostia, and Rock Creek. Some areas of Washington DC were even part of the riverbed that have been filled to create land.

Finally, it has been confirmed by the diplomatic mission in Washington that President Zardari arrived by Emirates flight in New York City. From there he flew to Washington DC where he stayed two nights before returning.

All it took to disprove this fake story was a simple request for confirmation of the President’s public schedule and a Google search. The question must be asked again: Why The News (Jang Group) continues to publish stories filled with factual inaccuracies, anonymous rumours, baseless speculation, no verifiable sources, and not even a reporter willing to sign his name to the story?

It is fitting that President Zardari was visiting Washington DC to attend a memorial for the American diplomat Richard Holbrooke who once termed such stories as “journalistic garbage”.

Tags: Jang Group, Richard Holbrooke, The News, Zardari
Posted in Jang, The News | 4 Comments »

Reporting or Campaigning?

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

Shaheen Sehbai It is being reported that consensus mode is working well in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has agreed that PML-Q will support the government, and even Mian Nawaz Sharif has pledged PML-N support for the government. If politicians can mature beyond petty bickering and backstabbing, why can’t our media?

Consider the column by Shaheen Sehbai featured on the front page of The News today which basically amounts to an anti-Zardari campaign sheet rather than an actual news report. While the editors clearly labeled the piece “Commentary”, one is left to wonder why this could not be placed on the Opinion page and whether the commentary is honest analysis or simply Sehabi continuing his predictions of a failed government now going into three years after elections.

For example, this is Shaheen Sehbai’s ‘Commentary’ on the Altaf Hussain-Zardari relationship:

The levels of playing fields for both these leaders, sitting as part of a coalition which is sinking, or doomed to sink no matter how long it is artificially stretched, are noteworthy. Altaf Bhai appears to have acquired a much higher moral ground because Zulfiqar Mirza and company have pulled Zardari and the PPP down to below ground level.

But the level Zardari has set for sticking to some morals in politics is pathetically sub-surface and almost non-existent. An important columnist and writer recently remarked that he had never heard the word “corruption” in any of Zardari’s speeches and addresses. Anti-corruption and accountability for the present rulers means how to escape and kill both these dragons.

Despite the defection of Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman, there is little evidence to support the claim that the coalition government is ‘doomed’. To the contrary, recent reports linked to in the first paragraph of this post demonstrate quite the opposite – coalition and opposition parties dedicated to seeing the democratically elected government complete its full term.

But Shaheen Sehbai takes the political rhetoric of some opposition leaders and makes a warning against Nawaz that he should “stop the Zardari train”.

The opposition, led by Nawaz Sharif, is the most confused lot as they share power and fear the Army but by ignoring the rapid collapse of every institution, they are proving that the political system is unable to correct itself. If the politicians cannot stop the rot, someone will have to do so. By not doing anything, Nawaz Sharif is inviting others to intervene. This is what he fears but this he probably does not understand.

Again, this is not commentary or analysis of the day’s news, it is the campaigning rhetoric one expects to hear from a rally loudspeaker. Shaheen Sehbai has started with his conclusion – that Zardari is doomed – and has built his commentary around this rather than looking at the facts and determining a conclusion based on those.

Obviously, Sehbai is entitled to his own opinion. But as consumers of news, we are also entitled to ask whether it is useful for our understanding of events. Cafe Pyala reports today that Jang Group is making some interestng personnell changes that appear to be a sincere effort to temper the over-the-top anti-Western rhetoric that has crept into its organization’s reporting on foreign policy and provide a more balanced, reasoned reporting and analysis. Perhaps it would be worth considering to do something similar related to domestic politics as well.

Tags: Altaf Hussain, Jang Group, MQM, political attacks, Shaheen Sehbai, The News, Zardari
Posted in The News | 50 Comments »

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