
Shooting the messenger has long been the preferred news management option for those affronted by their faults, crimes and indiscretions being exposed. Although it has never been proved conclusively, there are persistent suspicions that elements of the state have in the past been involved in harassing journalists. There have even been accusations of state actors killing journalists but these have never been proven. Certainly, the state does not prioritise the hunt for or prosecution of those who murder journalists and it is difficult to find many records of successful prosecutions in such cases. That fact alone speaks of a state that sees journalists as a threat. Little attempt is made to protect either individual journalists or the media houses, and woe betide any media house that runs afoul of any arm of government. The telling of truth to power always carries a risk. And power in Pakistan is often expressed in the form of a bullet. Thus we salute our brave journalists in this new year.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2015.
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