Press Freedom and Threats to Journalists in Pakistan

This book explores the media landscape of Pakistan to locate the status of press freedom as a sacred trust within the limits prescribed by the local moralities and universal truth and to situate threats to journalists. The press plays a vital role in our lives and its freedom is inevitable for functioning as a watchdog to keep the institutions of power in check for democracy to flourish- as a government of the people, by the people and for the people while the free flow of information, from access to dissemination and feedback, needs to be guaranteed by all stakeholders for no interruptions. The press as a particular social position that reflects the conditions around it is subject to a sacred oath of neutrality and a commitment to a professional set of values and goals. The study follows the freedom of the press as a right in accordance with article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948) in collaboration with responsibilities as prescribed by article 19 and 19A of the constitution of Pakistan 1973 powered by the bill of Access to Information (2010) and guided by the notion“freedom with responsibility”.