As Pakistan’s Long March protest heats up, the government has begun to crack down, arresting and torturing activists, blocking roads and banning public assembly.
The next casualty? The media.
The Long March is nationwide protest in Pakistan in which lawyers are marching from all corners of the country to stage a sit-in March 16th in Islamabad, demanding the restoration of judges fired during Ex-President Pervez Musharraf’s reign.
The rallies have the country in upheaval, and media censorship is underway. Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists confirmed that cable carriers have dropped Geo TV, the largest independent news broadcaster, in five major cities. On Twitter, user @Sharj commented that "Pakistani Government has also blocked the transmission of News Channels in many cities."
And indeed, Twitter has begun to serve as Pakistan’s news hub in the absence of a functioning media. There’s a Long March ‘hashtag’, #longmarch, which functions to make related news updates more easily found.
As events unfold, GroundReport has identified local reporters via Twitter, culling the best updates and analysis.
Local Pakistani blog Chowrangi is using Cover It Live to display realtime Twitter updates and chat messages from selected bloggers.
The latest? Pakistanis are doubting that the lawyers will even make it to Islamabad, suggesting, as @kashaziz does, that they will reach an agreement beforehand.
Leave Your Comments