Press Releases

Internews Helps Pakistani Journalists Fill Gap in Elections Coverage

Slide show of Pakistani journalists in training

Internews Pakistan “The national elections will be held on February 18, President Pervaiz Musharraf announced today…” Power 99 Islamabad’s drive-time news show is hosted by reporters on a rotational basis and carries stories that are of relevance to listeners in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. (See Slide Show)

(January 27, 2008) In preparation for Pakistan’s February elections, Internews Network has built newsrooms at three independent FM radio stations in Pakistan – Power 99 in Islamabad, Mast 103 in Lahore and Apna 107 in Karachi. Internews has also been training radio station staff in international journalism standards and ethics and helping them put well-researched and balanced news programs on the air.

“In Pakistan, reaching out to traditionally information-deprived areas is fraught with challenges for the broadcast sector,” said Adnan Rehmat, Country Director for Internews in Pakistan. “There is a dearth of professional journalists, an extremely limited grasp of technical and research skills, and insufficient field-based and relevant information programming. This elections project is intended to fill that gap as well as provide Pakistani citizens with accurate, professional news through the election season.”

In the February national elections, Pakistan’s 82 million voters will elect a new national parliament, a federal government and four provincial legislatures, including ones in the troubled provinces of North West Frontier and Baluchistan.

These will be the first elections in Pakistan to be held in the presence of independent broadcasters. The country now has 65 radio stations and 70 television channels, which could play a significant role in educating voters and ushering in an era of democracy.

Internews’ work building newsrooms at radio stations in Pakistan is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy.

Internews has created an online slide show documenting the process of preparing Pakistan’s reporters for elections coverage, from installing phones in the newsrooms to working with reporters to plan and edit stories.

Slideshow of Internews’ Pakistan election journalism project