Friday, February 8, 2008

AAJ TV taken off the air


Beena Sarwar


Aaj TV was taken off the cable network in Rawalpindi/Islamabad at around 11.45 pm on Feb 6 – Aaj reported it was shut down up to Chakwal, 60 km away.


According to Director Current Affairs Nusrat Javeed it was because of his appearance in 'Live with Talat' - "My face not the content is the reason" - as he is among the six talk show hosts (including Shahid Masood and Mushtaq Hamid) that the Musharraf regime has banned from appearing on TV.


According to another source in Islamabad, the shut down could also have been due to Aaj live broadcast of Nawaz's Lahore address in which he said that militants shot down the army helicopter. There is a ban on live broadcasts under the new Pemra code of conduct that all the restored channels either signed, or implicitly agreed to adhere to.


Remember caretaker information minister Nisar Memon's warning to the media to adhere to the Pemra code or face Nov 3-like consequences, speaking in Hyderabad on Feb 2....


(AP News report about the incident here)

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