Geo back on air after deal with military: Sources
TV channel told not to air pro-sharif, anti-establishment and anti-judiciary news
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan’s largest TV station has been allowed back on the air at some major cable operators after talks with the military on demands it make changes in political coverage, two oficials who work for the channel’s media group told reporters on Wednesday.
After Geo TV, Pakistan’s most popular station, was taken off the air across much of the country at the end of March, military representatives pressed the channel to cease favourable coverage of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and stop any criticism of the Supreme Court and the “establishment,” according to the two people, who had knowledge of the negotiations.
The “establishment” is a commonly used euphemism for the military in Pakistan.
Written instructions by Geo management to staff last week that were reviewed by media spelled out “key editorial points that we have to manage and implement” to be restored to the airwaves.
Besides banning negative portrayals of the “establishment” and any allegations the Supreme Court might be interfering in politics, the instructions said there should be no reports on Nawaz Sharif’s ongoing corruption trial “that helps build a narrative that he and his children are innocent.”
The two sources, employees of The Jang Group of Newspapers, Geo’s parent company, said the company had reluctantly agreed to most of the military’s demands, although there was no inal deal confirmed and the situation was in lux.
“As for the deal or tough conditions, we are following them and Geo has been restored. That restoration is the result of obeying those dictations,” one of the sources said on Wednesday.
Geo TV Network President Imran Aslam declined to answer questions about any military involvement in the shutdown or whether any deal had been made or was in the works.
A Geo spokesperson said in a statement: “Geo will always strive to provide both sides of the story and an independent editorial policy for which it has suffered in every regime, military and civilian.
“If we ever surrender on that independence we would rather shut down the channel ourselves,” added the spokesperson, who would not answer questions about any negotiations with the military.
The military’s press ofice did not respond to written questions and phone calls about whether it had pressured the cable operators.