ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Saturday urged media to refrain from sensationalising news regarding terrorists.
Talking to senior journalists here, he said that there is a need to stop publicity of militants and asked the media to black out coverage of terrorists on national media.
“The media should not publish any news that creates panic among the citizens,” he said.
“After a recent spur of terrorism in Pakistan, I want to request media to telecast material which increases hope, positivity and courage among the people, “he said.
He asked for the complete blackout of the terrorists from media.
“Whole Pakistan wants to defeat terrorism and in this regard, unity is necessary for us,” he said.
The minister further compared the terrorist incidents in Pakistan between 2013 and 2016. “We have come a long way towards stability and media should report this more,” he urged.
“The war against terrorism is not over yet but we have come from 2000 blasts per year to around 600 blasts last year and it is a huge development,” he told media.
He also added that this war is still going on because it is not easy especially with hundreds of kilometres long borders with Afghanistan where keeping a check on everything is not easy.
“Media can play its role by not reporting negativity, despair and fear,” he asserted. “Every institute in the state have to work hard to win this war,” he reiterated.
Nisar maintained that politics should not be played on terrorism. “It is a point for politics,” he said.
The minister is asking for the impossible . You cannot muzzle the media but you can ask it to report the facts accurately. This is the crux of the problem. Breaking News is seldom accurate but it certainly leads to conspiracy theories and pakistanis are world champions at it..
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