Internews PakistanBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
October 2007
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| Nabeela Aslam, a journalist with Meri Awaz Suno, an Internews-supported radio program that is the first in Pakistan by and about women, interviews a landless peasant in Hyderabad, Sindh. Photo courtesy of Internews. |
The DRL supported Internews program, Independent Media and Human Rights in Pakistan, is strengthening Pakistan’s media as a critical component to the long-term development of the country’s democracy and civil society sector. With the support of the United States, Internews advised the Pakistani Government on media law and provided training to journalists, including those from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, and station managers of the country’s first private radio stations.
This initiative accomplished many "firsts" in Pakistan, including the establishment of Pakistan’s first generation of women radio journalists; the first independent women’s radio programming focused on gender issues; Pakistan’s first media lawyers working on media policy and regulatory reform; Pakistan’s first university-based community station and Pakistan’s first university broadcast journalism curriculum at Peshawar University, which helped get the country’s first nongovernmental radio stations on the air and also Pakistan’s first field-based documentary series for television on rights and rule of law issues for independent TV.
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| Rashida Kiani produces documentaries on issues as varied as medical negligence, honor killings, HIV/AIDS, and vanni, the tradition of giving away young girls in marriage to settle blood feuds. Her in-depth documentaries, which are produced for Tasveer Kahani ("Picture Stories"), Pakistan's first field-based television documentary program focusing on human rights and the rule of law, have had enormous impact. Photo courtesy of Internews. |
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