Volume 6 number 2 Journalism Education page 7

Articles
All papers in the Articles section are peer reviewed and
discuss the latest research in journalism and journalism
education. These are intended to inform, educate and
spark debate and discussion. Please join in this debate by
going to www.journalism-education.org to have your say
and find out what others think.

Freedom of expression and

threats to journalists’ safety:
an analysis of conflict
reporting in journalism
education in Pakistan
Dr. Sadia Jamil

Introduction
The threat of violence against journalists in Pakistan is very real. Pakistan is a front line
state in the war on terror and media workers and news reporters reporting from the front
line therefore face huge risks.
According to a United Nation’s estimate, at least 71 journalists and media workers have lost their lives
since 2001 while pursuing their duties in Pakistan. Consequently, the country has been named as one of
the deadliest places for working journalists in the world, suggesting the necessity of regular evaluation of
threats to journalists’ safety in the country (www.IFJ.org).
Ironically, it is not just journalists’ lives that are at risk in Pakistan. The country’s educational institutions
are also the target of terrorist attacks. In spite of increasing threats to journalists’ safety and educational
institutions, the role of academia in promoting journalists’ safety education is not well-investigated and
distinct in Pakistan. Therefore, drawing on the new institutionalism theory, this study explores the diverse
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threats that affect journalists’ routine work and their freedom of expression focussing on Pakistan. The study
aims to investigate whether Pakistani journalists receive safety training and education to carry out their
routine work.

Background of the study

The issue of journalists’ safety appears to be growing worse with an increasing number of journalists’
killings, kidnapping and imprisonment worldwide. The situation of Pakistan is noteworthy in terms of
freedom of expression and threats to journalists’ safety. The country has a reputation for having a fearless
and vocal media. Despite this, or possibly because of it, it is one of the most dangerous countries in the
world for journalists, assessed by the extent and severity of threats and other abuse they face (See Amnesty
International, IFJ, RSF etc). Statistics gathered by international organisations monitoring press freedom and
violence against journalists in Pakistan reveal that threats to their lives and abuses by military, intelligence
agencies and militant organisations have “remained high” in the recent years (Freedom House 2015, 2016;
Committee to Protect Journalists 2016) In this scenario, I believe that working journalists and journalism
students in the country need to be made well aware of the nature of the threats that they may confront, and
how to protect themselves in conflict and non-conflict situations. However, it is not known to what extent
working journalists in Pakistan are receiving regular safety training, whether journalists’ safety education is
being given to journalism students at university level, and whether there is an awareness of awareness of the
nature and type of safety threats that can affect journalists’ routine work amongst the journalism academics
and journalists’ safety trainers.

Literature review and theory

New Institutionalism theory

Drawing on the new institutionalism theory, this study investigates the diverse threats that affect journal-
ists’ work (agency/or action) and their right to freedom of expression, and the role (agency/action) of Paki-
stan’s universities in promoting conflict reporting and peace journalism education in the country. The new
institutionalism theory has been used in many domains such as sociology, political science, organisational
studies, journalism and economics with certain distinctions (Powell, 2007). This study uses ‘sociological
institutionalism’ because the theory recognises the influence of the institutional environment on actors’
agencies - either individuals or organisations (Scott, 1995). Thus, this study considers ‘journalists’ and ‘Pa-
kistan’s universities’ as ‘actors’ that are embedded in a specific cultural setting and can be influenced by the
institutional environment within which they operate.

Journalism safety groups and measures of journalists’ safety

It is widely accepted that journalism serves as a political, social and economic institution (Cook, 2006;
Sparrow, 1999, 2006). This implies that the media and individual journalists need to be free and safe to
perform their diversified roles in any society. However, there are incidents and threats that affect journal-
ists’ abilities to perform their routine work and to exercise their right to freedom of expression (UNESCO,
2013b). At present, over a dozen international organisations are working to end impunity for crimes against
journalists, among them the United Nations, which is actively engaged in the problem. Some of interna-
tional organisations (such as the Committee to Protect Journalists1, Reporters Without Borders2, Freedom
1 Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is a New York based organisation that started to compile data of journalists’ deaths in 1992.
CPJ’s methodology focuses on impunity and journalists’ killings rather than any other kinds of threats to their safety. The organisation
has developed a set of terminologies to classify the abuses and attacks on journalists such as murders, threats and physical torture. It
compiles a file every year that indicates the number of physical attacks, cases of censorship, harassments, intimidations, imprisonment,
missing or kidnapping relating to journalists. The most important aspect of CPJ’s assessment is whether the journalist’s death was
work-related. For this purpose, the organisation uses themes of ‘motive confirmed’ and ‘motive un-confirmed’ to classify the death.
Journalists’ deaths are not all work-related, and it is imperative to assess whether it was a ‘personal dispute’ that killed them, or if it
was a journalist’s political affiliation which caused his or her death. In countries like Pakistan, it is difficult to evaluate the motives of
journalists’ killings clearly because of their political and sectarian affiliations (Jamil, 2014). Therefore, CPJ’s criteria of assessing the
nature and motive of a journalist’s death appear as highly important.
2 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is a non-profit and Paris-based organisation. The organisation evaluates press freedom in all five
continents of the world. The organisation measures the level of violence and abuses against journalists working for both traditional
(print and broadcast) and new (online) media.
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House3 and UNESCO4) have well-developed indicators to assess the level of journalists’ safety in different
regions of the world. The review of journalists’ safety indicators suggest that the international organisations
focus on indicators relating to the psychological, legal, digital and financial protections of journalists. This
study seeks to identify threats to journalists’ safety, more broadly exploring the diverse types of threats to
them such as physical, psychological, legal, financial, social, emotional, gender-specific, digital, topic-spe-
cific and public risks within the context of Pakistan. In addition to the investigation of diverse safety risks
to journalists, this study analyses whether Pakistan’s universities are providing the required education and
training to produce ‘well-aware and well-trained’ journalism professionals who can practise peace journal-
ism with the objective of fostering societal peace.

Conflict reporting and peace journalism education in Pakistan

In journalism studies, several scholars have investigated and theorized conflict and war reporting (Hallin,
1989; Herman and Chomsky 1988; Knightley 2002; Lasswell, 1927; Lynch 2014; Taylor 1992; Thussu and
Freedman 2003). Most of the literature on conflict reporting has identified a variety of issues such as na-
tional security and interest; professional, individual and gender-based constraints; social, political and eco-
nomic factors influencing the news content and war reporting. The growing interest of scholars for analys-
ing war and conflict journalism is probably because journalism is predominantly conflict-oriented in many
countries of the world – especially in the countries suffering from war or internal conflicts such as Pakistan
(Rehman and Eijaz, 2015). Galtung (1998) has put forward a very explicit model describing four key orien-
tations of war journalism: war and violence, propaganda, and Lynch 2014). elites’ efforts for peace-making
and victory. He argues that “today’s media report on conflict that is war-oriented” and he encourages on an
alternative style to report which is “peace-oriented rather than war-oriented” (Galtung 2007, p.8).
In the past two decades or so, ‘peace journalism’ has emerged as an alternative approach to conflict report-
ing and that is usually oriented towards truth-seeking, peace and conflict resolution. Lynch and McGoldrick
(2005, p.6) define peace journalism as “a set of choices of what to report and how to report it – which cre-
ates and opportunities for readers and audiences to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict.”
Shinar (2007, p.200) identifies five aspects of peace journalism: It “explores backgrounds and contexts
of conflict formation; gives voice to the views of all rival parties; airs creative ideas from any sources for
conflict resolution; exposes lies, cover-up attempts and culprits on all sides; pays attention to peace stories
and post-war developments”.
The scope of peace journalism widens in conflict-ridden countries such as Pakistan. The country has been
confronting the challenges of internal and external conflicts since its inception: the India-Pakistan conflict,
the Taliban conflict, the Baluchistan conflict, Karachi’s ethnic conflict, and sectarian and political conflicts
3 Freedom House is a US based non-profit organisation that has been evaluating press freedom since 1980. Initially, in 1978, the
organisation began with publishing a global survey of freedom known as ‘Freedom in the World’. Freedom House’s press freedom
indicators evaluates broader threats to journalists’ safety such as killing, kidnapping, harassment, physical violence, financial risks,
political and legal pressures. Thus, the organisation attempts to assess the financial, legal, physical and psychological protections of
journalists (see Freedom House’s methodology, 2015).
4 The UN’s ‘Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists’ has been endorsed by the UN’s Chief Executive Board in 2012, which aims
to promote safe journalism through mobilizing different stakeholders including UN agencies, governments, governmental bodies,
NGOs, media organisations and workers, civil society members and academics. The national level indicators that evaluate the state of
safety issues and collaboration among all stakeholders within a country have been developed from some general indicators of UN’s
Media Development Indicators (MDI), which are: “Journalists and associated media personnel are not subject to threats, harassment
or surveillance; journalists and associated media personnel are not physically attacked, unlawfully detained or killed as a result of
pursuing their legitimate activities; media organisations are not forced to close down as a result of pursuing their legitimate activities,
or threatened with closure; crimes against journalists are prosecuted and there is no climate of impunity; media organisations have poli-
cies for protecting the health and safety of their staff and free lancers; measures of social protection are available to all staff, including
temporary and freelance employees; journalists do not routinely self-censor because of fear of punishment, harassment or attack; and
confidentiality of sources is protected in law and respected in practice” (UNESCO 2013a: 5-6).
At a national level, UN’s indicators assess the actions of four groups of actors whose actions can impact on the level of journalists’
safety including (i) UN and other intergovernmental bodies functioning directly in a country; (ii) state and political actors; (iii) civil
society and academia; (iv) the media and intermediaries. In each category, indicators covers a variety of actions such as: “monitoring
safety issues (information collection), promoting norms on safety (which includes the publishing of information, amongst other steps),
co-ordination with other actors, training and capacity building programmes, as well as other activities” (UNESCO 2013a: 7).
At an international level, the United Nations has devised three major indicators, including: (i) “United Nations organisations promote
journalists’ safety issues at the international level, (ii) international and regional intergovernmental organisations promote journalists’
safety issues at the international level, and (iii) international non-governmental organisations promote journalists’ safety issues at the
international level.” As with the indicators for journalists’ safety at the national level, the emphasis in these international level indica-
tors is on the physical and psychological safety of journalists, and the related issue of impunity that protects those who commit crimes
against journalists from being punished (UNESCO 2013b: 1).
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(Jamil, 2014). Therefore, the role of Pakistan’s media is crucial in representing these conflicts and in foster-
ing social cohesion and peace in the country. According to a recent study on ‘peace journalism and conflict
reporting in Pakistan’, journalists believe that media foster peace.
Results show that 70.07% respondents were found agreed while 63.58% strongly agree with the notion
that journalism can build peace in the country and peace journalism was considered to conceal the conflict.
……………Media plays a central role in the promotion of peace, therefore it is the prime duty of reporters
and editors to adopt a balanced stance during conflict and take on board all stakeholders. Peace journalism
helps bridge the gap between enemies, so peace building practitioners require understanding of the process
of advocacy (Jan and Khan, 2011, pp. 311-324).
Pakistan is a conflict-ridden country where journalists need to play their role in peace-making and conflict
resolution despite challenges of war, internal conflict and the high level of violence against them. Interest-
ingly, Pakistani journalists and media professionals do seem to agree about the significance of peace jour-
nalism (Jan and Khan, 2011). Nevertheless, the question is whether Pakistan’s universities are giving quality
education and training about conflict reporting and peace journalism to its journalism students who un-
derstand the process of advocacy and who can contribute their journalistic skills in peacemaking attempts.
Therefore, this study explores these aspects of journalism education within Pakistan.

Methodology
This study has used the quantitative method of survey and the qualitative method of interviews in order
to investigate three research questions, namely: (i) What are the threats that most affect journalists’ routine
work and freedom of expression in Pakistan? (ii) Do Pakistani journalists receive regular safety training to
carry out their routine work? (iii) What is the role of Pakistan’s universities in promoting conflict reporting
and peace journalism education in the country? A total of 75 male and female journalists5 from five ethnici-
ties (Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtu, Baluchi and Urdu-speaking) and of religious sects (Shia and Sunni) has taken
part in the survey. While the selected journalists in this study are from the most well-known newspapers
and television news channels in Karachi (a total of 22 media organisations), they do have work experience
in more than one city of Pakistan and 17 of them have worked in the country’s conflict areas, including
Khyber Phaktunistan Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), North Waziristan and Balu-
chistan Province. To ensure the diversity of feedback, journalists of diverse beats (such as politics, crime,
judiciary, defence, sports, business, social and religious affairs, health and education) have been selected
for the survey.
The survey questionnaire is based on nine types of safety risks, namely: (i) physical risks,6 (ii) psycholo-
gial risks7, (iii) financial risks8, (iv) legal risks9, (v) social and emotional risks10, (vi) gender-specific risks11,
(vii) digital risks12, (viii) topic-specific risks and (ix) public risks.13 In each risk category, journalists were
surveyed about whether they have faced safety threats from or because of sources, including government,
military, local intelligence agencies, political parties, religious or militant organisations, pressure groups,
public and their media organisations.
Moreover, twelve public and private sector universities have been selected in order to review the curricula
5 The concept of the ‘journalist’ in this study: ‘Journalists’ as the subject of this study were considered to be individuals who were
employed by Pakistan’s mainstream newspapers and television news channels; and who were engaged in the jobs of reporting, news
gathering, news monitoring, news anchoring, editing, news and current affairs programmes’ production and administrative jobs (such
as director and controller of news).

6 Physical risks here refer to the risks of killing, kidnapping, detention, imprisonment, physical or sexual assault, rape, injury and any
sort of physical attack that may lead to physical disability and harm.
7 Psychological risks here refer to stress and pressure that may affect a journalist’s ability to perform his/her job freely and safely.
8 Financial risks mean the threats of job insecurity, pay-scale disparity and forced job terminations.
9 Legal risks include the existence of impunity for crimes against journalists; unfair trial against journalists; manipulation and abuse
of laws against journalists and the existence of stringent media laws.
10 Social and emotional risks include the risks of anxiety, fear, depression, and lower self-esteem that mainly arise from the
country’s social context or a journalist’s surrounding environment (for example, the workplace environment and the socio-political
environment).
11 Gender-specific risks refer to those threats that a journalist may encounter by virtue of his/or her gender such as sexual
assault, rape, gender harassment, discrimination and black-mailing.
12 Digital risks refer to online threats that are caused because of hacking, abusive or threatening e-mails or mobile messages
and abusive comments on social media.
13 Public risks refer to the threats that are caused because of violent, unethical and abusive attitudes of the local public to-
wards journalists, such as verbal abuse and physical harm or attack.
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of conflict reporting and peace journalism. They are the University of Karachi, Sindh University of Jam-
shoro, the University of Peshawar, the University of Baluchistan, Punjab University, Bahahuddin Zakiria
University in Multan, the Federal Urdu University, Jinnah University for Women (private), the Institute of
Business Administration (private), IQRA University (private), ZABIST University (private) and the Inter-
national Islamic University in Islamabad.
Ten journalism and media academics have also been interviewed to address the role of Pakistan’s universi-
ties in promoting conflict reporting and peace journalism education. The names of interviewees have been
replaced with numbers (1-10) in order to ensure their confidentiality. The collected data has been analysed
thematically using the research question themes, namely: threats affecting journalists’ work and their free-
dom of expression; the level of journalists’ safety training; and the role of academia in promoting conflict
reporting and peace journalism education

Findings and analysis

Threats affecting journalists’ work and their freedom of expression

The thematic analysis of collected data suggests that the Pakistani journalists face physical, psychologi-
cal, financial, topic-specific, emotional and social risks most while performing their routine jobs, whereby
almost 97% (73 out of 75) male and female journalists have confronted financial threats of job insecurity,
forced job termination and low pay-scale; 92% (69 out of 75) male and female journalists have faced
physical threats of killing, physical torture, injury and attack; almost 87% (65 out of 75) male and female
journalists have experienced the psychological risks of organisational pressure, government pressure to
censor news content and imprisonment, political threats, government/or military surveillance and threaten-
ing phone calls; nearly 85% (64 out of 75) of male and female journalists have faced social and emotional
risks (such as depression, offence, fear, anxiety and lower self-esteem) due to the fearful environment of
Pakistan, their financial constraints, the insulting behaviour of media owners (within organisations) and the
local public (during rallies), and 84% (63 out of 75) journalists have sustained topic-specific risks, mostly
while working on religious, political, ethnic, some social issues (such as honour killing) and defence issues.
Moreover, 68% (51 out 75) journalists have experienced public risks because of abusive language and
physical attacks by the public during rallies, political events and in general. Not so many journalists have
faced legal and digital risks while at work and only 28 % (21 out of 75) of them have experienced such
threats. Noticeably, all female journalists (13 out of 75) and three male journalists (out of 75) have confront-
ed gender-specific risks of harassment, discrimination and blackmail. The table below sums up the various
types of threats that affect journalists’ work and their freedom of expression in Pakistan.

Threats to journalists’ safety in Pakistan.

Physical Psychologi- Financial Legal risks Social and emo- Gender- Digital Topic- Public
risks cal risks risks tional risks specific risks risks specific risks
risks

92% 87% 97% 28% 85% 21% 28% 84% 68%

69 out 65 out of 73 out 21 out of 64 out of 75 16 out of 75 21 out 63 out 51 out of

of 75 jour- 75 journal- of 75 jour- 75 journal- journalists journalists of 75 of 75 75 journal-
nalists ists nalists ists journal- journal- ists
ists ists

The Pakistani journalists working in the conflict areas of Baluchistan, Khyber Phakhtunistan and the Fed-
erally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are no doubt performing a very risky job. The most obvious
physical risk in the conflict areas is that they are in danger of being killed in the crossfire of two opposing
forces or terrorists groups. Journalists also face other physical risks, such as assault, detention, rape and
sexual harassment in areas where law and order has broken down. However, physical risks are not merely
a challenge for the Pakistani journalists, but also for international journalists working in the country. It is
worthwhile mentioning here the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped
and later assassinated in 2002 in the Southern port city of Karachi. In the same year, four local people were
sentenced for the assassination of Daniel Pearl, when Pakistan’s government came under immense interna-
tional pressure. A report by Amnesty International (2014) highlights the level of journalists’ safety working
for foreign media in Pakistan. The report reveals:
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In recent years, all foreigners based in Pakistan, including journalists, have had their travel through the
country drastically curtailed by the authorities’ often ad hoc application of travel and visa restrictions. Some
journalists are restricted to one or more cities and all are excluded from carrying out unauthorised travel to
dangerous and politically sensitive areas like Baluchistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (hence-
forth ‘the Tribal Areas’) and interior Sindh. The authorities have increasingly required foreign journalists to
apply for No Objection Certificates (NOCs) before visiting these areas. (Ibid. 23)
The issue is not just confined to threats to journalists’ physical safety. However, this physical threat is ag-
gravated because of the climate of impunity for crime against them. Daniel Pearl’s or Wali Khan Baber’s
(GEO News’ correspondent) murder cases are just two prominent examples of solved cases. At present,
there are still a number of unresolved cases of violence against journalists that call upon Pakistan’s govern-
ment and judiciary both to perform their respective roles to ensure a safe environment for journalists and
media workers (ibid.)
In addition, feedback from surveyed journalists in this study also reveal that they do face physical risks (of
kidnapping, killing, imprisonment, detention and attack) and psychological threats (of pressure and stress)
by government and intelligence agency sources themselves. The study suggests that government’s and in-
telligence agencies’ surveillance not only affect information gathering process but also compel journalists
to restrict their on-duty activities, which ultimately affect the quality of news content. Not surprisingly, this
study confirms other sources of physical and psychological risks to journalists, including from political par-
ties, religious organisations, ethnic and sectarian groups, criminals, terrorists and the public.
Furthermore, the findings reveal that Pakistani female journalists face further physical threats and they
are targeted just for being a journalist, as well as for being female, and they experience gender harassment,
physical injury and the public’s verbal abuse while at work. Responses from female journalists reveal that
they receive threatening messages and calls by political elements, religious fanatics, criminals and the pub-
lic. Some of the surveyed female journalists view the mind-set of the public and Pakistan’s culture as the
main reasons for the psychological pressure on them. Hence, Pakistani journalists are victim of physical
and psychological risks in either conflict or non-conflict situations, and this is for a range of diverse reasons,
including the country’s growing religious extremism, conservatism, terrorism, gender disparity and volatile
political situation.
When responding about other types of threats, journalists have shared some striking facts. For example,
as aforementioned, almost all of the surveyed journalists (97%) have highlighted financial risks (of low or
unequal pay-scales and forced job terminations) imposed on them by their owners. International organisa-
tions (such as Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders and UNESCO) do assess the financial protection
of journalists but these organisations must consider the role of media owners in posing threats to journalists’
financial well-being, which is actually imperative to discourage corruption and to enhance the quality of
journalism in the country.
Pakistani journalists do experience social and emotional risks (of anxiety, fear, depression, and lower
self-esteem). The survey results suggests a number of reasons that cause social and emotional risks to
journalists, namely: media owners’ insulting behaviour and constant pressure; the public’s attitude, con-
servatism and religious extremism (that cause fear while working on social and religious issues), political
parties’ pressure and terrorism. Surprisingly, none of the international organisations assessing journalists’
safety level worldwide consider the ways any country’s culture and socio-political structure pose threats to
journalists, and the sources and reasons of emotional risks to them. I think the evaluation of social and emo-
tional risks is as equally essential in assessing risk because a journalist with good emotional health (without
fear, anxiety, pressure and depression) is in a better position to investigate and report reality and truth.
Many of the surveyed journalists in this study (84%), reveal that they experience topic-specific risks,
especially while working on defence, political, religious, ethnic and some social (such as honour killing) is-
sues. Journalists suggest that they mostly receive topic-specific threats from intelligence agencies, political
parties, religious organisations, ethnic groups and the public. Interestingly, this study reveals the public as a
higher source of risk to journalists’ safety compared to legal and digital risks.
Drawing on sociological institutionalism, this study validates the impact of Pakistan’s unsafe environ-
ment on journalists’ work and their right to freedom of expression. Sociological institutionalism recognises
the influence of the environment on actors’ actions through coercive (political/or institutional pressures),
regulative (laws and regulations) and mimetic forces (Scott, 1995). However, in the case of Pakistan, many
threats to journalists’ safety arise because of other factors that foster conflict situations and violence against
them including: corruption, terrorism, religious extremism, conservatism, government’s and intelligence
agencies’ autocratic attitude, impunity, organised crimes, gender harassment, poverty, the public’s attitude
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and social mind-set.

The level of journalists’ safety training

Unfortunately, despite severe safety threats, the majority of the journalists surveyed in this study (78%
– 57 out of 75) have not received safety training either by any governmental body, local university, their
media organisation or the journalist’s union. Journalists’ feedback suggests that Pakistan’s government,
universities, media organisations and journalists’ unions have a very limited role in establishing journal-
ists’ conflict reporting guidelines and in providing them with regular safety trainings and instruments (such
as bullet-proof jackets). However, some surveyed journalists have received safety trainings (18% - 13 out
of 75) and they appreciate big media groups’ (such as Geo Television Network, Lakson Group, SAAMA
Television News Channel and ARY Digital Network) initiatives to enhance journalists’ awareness about the
risks of conflict reporting and the ways they can protect themselves while at work. The majority of journal-
ists (67 out of 75) have urged their media organisations, journalists’ unions and the government to allocate
funds for safety training and protection (including the provision of bullet-proof jackets and life insurance).

The role of academia in promoting conflict reporting and peace journalism

education
However, journalists’ safety training is not merely the responsibility of media organizations and local
journalists unions. The role of academia is crucial in fostering safe journalism and producing well-aware
journalism professionals who can work effectively in conflict and non-conflict circumstances in Pakistan.
According to a journalism academic from a public-sector university in Pakistan, “universities are the first
training place for journalism professionals; however, journalism education is not up to international stand-
ard here because of a lack of resources and unrevised curriculum” (Interviewee Number Seven). Paki-
stan’s education system is in such a bad state that it is totally ill-equipped to fulfil its essential functions of
broadening intellectual spheres and social development. Eventually, this builds a situation where instead of
serving as a counterbalance to extremism, Pakistan’s universities become part of the problem by failing to
prepare the journalism students to become productive members of civil society.
Interviewees’ feedback suggests that most journalism departments in Pakistan’s universities tend to focus
on teaching techniques and ethical standards of reporting that are used in normal socio-political and eco-
nomic conditions. According to Interviewee Number Six:
We teach our students ‘who says what’ type of journalism. Most of the news in the Pakistani media is not
based on facts [but] rather on statements by politicians, government and military officials. Is this journal-
ism? No! ........... A three-hour written examination on the theory and ethics of journalism is not enough to
teach reporting on conflict. Students must understand the practical challenges that they may confront due
to Pakistan’s socio-political context while working as a journalist, and cultural hindrances and safety risks.
Journalism becomes more challenging when peace is disrupted by conflict, violence and catastrophe.
There is no doubt that many young journalists are venturing out into the field without a proper understand-
ing of conflict reporting and risks to their safety in Pakistan. In conflict or crises situation, the journalist is
required to go beyond routine journalism, to work as a crucial information link for the public and to act as a
peace-maker through producing conflict resolving content. In Pakistan, conflict (either political or ethnic or
religious) places enormous pressure on local journalists, who are not adequately equipped, both in terms of
technology and expertise, to handle such difficult situations. Regardless of the increasing frequency of con-
flict or war coverage, there is a scarcity of instructional material in journalism curricula about how to report
a conflict or crises. Another journalism academic at a local public-sector university in Pakistan suggests:
In Pakistan, in the majority of cases, there is a disconnection between the market and academia. There
are many reasons for it, one being the lack of communication between the two. There is no platform or
mechanism for frequent interaction between universities and industry to create a synergy in what is taught
and what is being practised — or what needs to be practised. Second, the universities with the traditional
annual system of examination have put in place a cumbersome system for designing new courses. More
importantly, teachers have a very little say in the design and evaluation of the courses they teach. In short,
there is a gap between the theory and practice of journalism. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has
designed courses that can address many of the questions, but it has no power (as far as I know) to make them
compulsory for universities. It is left to the universities to adopt (or reject) these courses. I would suggest
that Pakistan’s HEC should have a ‘board’ for every discipline that critically evaluates courses offered by
universities (Interviewee Number Four).
Apart from the weak role of the Higher Education Commission, interviewees’ response demonstrates the
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many loop-holes in the tertiary-level education of journalism in the country including: ill-equipped public-
sector universities (in terms of technology and expertise); a lack of communication between the media
industry and universities; the apathetic attitude of journalism schools towards curriculum revision, a similar
attitude towards introducing innovative pedagogical models and teaching techniques or towards including
peace journalism and conflict reporting education, and an unwillingness to promote local-context research
within this field. And while Pakistan’s private universities are better resourced, they do not seem to be em-
bracing peace journalism education.

Recommendations
Given the fact that Pakistan is a part of the war on terror and the country has been prone to various sorts
of conflicts, there is a need for some essential new initiatives by academia in the country. Namely, journal-
ists’ safety and peace journalism education should be a compulsory part of the curriculum at tertiary level;
awareness of ‘contextual journalists’ safety education’ should be promoted amongst journalism academ-
ics; the ethics of conflict and war reporting should be taught to journalism students; internship should be a
mandatory part of all journalism degree programmes; quality research should be done within this field; and
collaboration with international universities should be encouraged to introduce effective instructive tech-
niques. Ultimately, these initiatives will help to buttress the role of academia in encountering the problem
of journalists’ safety through producing well - aware journalism professionals who can report on conflict
objectively and ethically, while simultaneously safeguarding themselves from possible foreseen risks.

Conclusion
This article has addressed the level of journalists’ safety in Pakistan, revealing the diverse threats to jour-
nalists’ safety and their right to freedom of expression in the country. Freedom of expression is an individual
right, for which no one should be attacked or killed. However, in this study, journalists’ feedback reveals
that not only their lives but their right to freedom of expression is at risk because of the prevailing unsafe
environment in Pakistan. The study suggests journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan because of
physical, psychological, financial, social, emotional and topic-specific risks, which constrain journalists’
right to freedom of expression and affect them most while doing their routine jobs. Despite the unsafe
environment and constant threats, this study indicates that only 18% of surveyed journalists have received
safety training to protect themselves in conflict and non-conflict situations. The following questions need
to be addressed when analysing issues around journalists’ safety training in Pakistan, namely: who are the
trainers? Are trainers themselves trained for journalists’ safety training, bearing in mind the local safety
circumstances? What is the role of local and international NGO’s in promoting journalists’ safety education
either at university or media organisational level? Further research on these aspects is crucial for the better
training of journalists.
This study reveals that the education of conflict reporting and peace journalism is not the major part of
journalism curricula in Pakistan’s public and private sector universities. The curriculum in most of the uni-
versities do not reflect distinctively the local aspects of journalism teaching and approaches, which is impor-
tant for enabling journalists to understand the context within which they perform their work. As highlighted
by Abit and Kenneth in their article, the case of Kosovo is quite similar to Pakistan – where journalism edu-
cation lacks local teaching approches. Therefore, in this article, I emphasize certain initiatives such as: the
inclusion of journalists’ safety and peace journalism modules in curriculum; collaboration with international
universities for innovative pedagogical models; regular curriculum revision and local-context teaching and
research within this field. Others have underlined the need for a few more significant inititatives that I think
are crucial as far as journalists’ safety education is concerned, such as: enhancing journalists’ awareness of
their rights and physical and psychological safety; protection of their equipment, and legal protection while
covering war or conflict.
Thus, universities’ initiatives for the promotion of safe journalism in Pakistan should not merely be an
effort to end impunity for crimes against journalists. It must be recognised as a big step towards a progres-
sive Pakistan where journalists can practise their right of freedom of expression freely and can protect
themselves from possible foreseen risks; so that the broader objectives of informed citizenry, women’s
empowerment, gender equality, economic development, justice, rule of law and democratic governance can

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Volume 6 number 2 Journalism Education page 15
be achieved through a vocal media.

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