NEWS AGENCIES & PRESS LAWS

Muhammad Sohaib Afzaal

NEWS Agencies

• An organization that collects news items and distributes them to newspapers or broadcasters.

Agence France-Presse

• The Agence Havas was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas.

• Two of his employees, Paul Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, later set up rival news agencies in London and Berlin respectively, starting 1848.

• In order to reduce overhead and develop the lucrative advertising side of the business, Havas's sons, who had succeeded him in 1852, signed agreements with Reuter and Wolff, giving each news agency an exclusive reporting zone in different parts of Europe.

• This arrangement lasted until the 1930s, when the invention of short-wave wireless improved and cut communications costs. To help Havas extend the scope of its reporting at a time of great international tension, the French government financed up to 47% of its investments.

• Established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange

• First to report Abraham Lincoln’s assassination among other major stories

• Operates in more than 200 cities in 94 countries in about 20 languages

• Acquired by the Thomson Corporation in 2008. Now called Thomson Reuters

• Provide wire services (news, images and videos) to print and electronic news organization .

ASSOCIATED PRESS  

• The Associated Press (AP) is an American multinational nonprofit news agency headquartered in New York City. The AP is owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and television stations in the United States, all of which contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists.

• Established 1839 & Founded May 1846• In addition to more than 5,000 television and radio broadcasters.

The photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The AP operates 243 news bureaus in 120 countries. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations.

• The Associated Press of Pakistan started its life in 1947, with the independence of Pakistan. Initially it was run through a trust, but owing to financial problems, it was taken over by the Government through an Ordinance called; "Associated Press of Pakistan (taking over) Ordinance 1961", on 15th June 1961, to put it on a sound financial footing. The journalists were allowed to retain their independent status under this ordinance. They are not regarded as government or semi-government employees. They are governed by Labour Laws as is the case with the newspaper industry in Pakistan. It is administered through the Director General APP, who is appointed by the Government.

• Computers have replaced typewriters and the Agency's offices are connected through Local, and Wide Area Networks. From a transmission speed of 50 words per minute, it now provides news at a speed of 1200 WPM, most of which is directly fed into the computers of the subscribers simultaneously throughout Pakistan and overseas. APP currently has its own buildings at Islamabad and Lahore.

Pakistan Press International

• Pakistan Press International (PPI) is a news agency founded in June 1956 as Pakistan Press Association (PPA).

• The name was changed in 1968. It was first started by Mr. Muzzam Ali, the Chief Editor of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

• The agency objective was to provide competition to APP's monopoly. It began its service by hand, only in Karachi. PPA also built up a network of correspondents in the smaller cities and towns in Pakistan.

• This was in contrast to APP, which had coverage in a limited number of large cities. For foreign news the agency signed up with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in 1957, and a year later became the first Asian partner of DPA.

• PPA also posted a correspondent in the Middle East, an area of special interest to Pakistani newspapers.

• In 1958, the agency installed the teleprinters in the offices of its clients. By 1960, PPI had subscribers in all the major newspapers centers of Pakistan, namely Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Dacca.

United Press Of Pakistan

• First private sector news agency established in 1948 and "Pictorial News Review",famous among diplomats of Pakistan since 1970.• Chairman and founder: Syed Abdul Hafeez • Managing editor and director: Mahmudul Aziz• Executive editor: Sohela Aziz• Director administration and marketing:

Naveedul Aziz

• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom, headquartered at Broadcasting House in London.

• It is the world's oldest national broadcasting organization.• The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to

fund the BBC's extensive radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. From 1 April 2014 it also funds the BBC World Service, launched in 1932, which provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic, and Persian, and broadcasts in 28 languages.

• Around a quarter of BBC revenues come from its commercial arm BBC Worldwide Ltd. which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes the BBC's international 24-hour English language news services BBC World News and BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd.

1. Name of Chief Executive: Mr. Mohammad Siddiq NapperSuite No. 803, 804, 805, 8th Floor, Regal Trade Square, Saddar, KarachiChief Editor: Muhammad Siddique Napper Managing Editor: Muhammad AkramChief Executive: Sabir A. QureshiKARACHI (Sindh)Bureau Chief: S.M. ShakeelSr. Reporter Khi/Sindh: M. Salahuddin

2. ISLAMABAD:Bureau Chief: Mr. Naveed Ahmad 7-B, Muzaffar Chamber, Fazale Road, Blue Area, Islamabad

3. LAHORE:Bureau Chief: Mr. Farooq Rana, 130 Ferozepur Road, Lahore

• The Islamic Republic News Agency (Persian or IRNA, is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is government-funded and controlled under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The agency also publishes the newspaper Iran. As of 2010, the Managing Director of IRNA is Mohammad Khodaddi. IRNA has 60 offices in Iran and 30 more in various countries around the world.

• In 1934, Pars Agency was established by the Foreign Ministry of Iran (Persia) as the country's official national news outlet. For the next six years it operated under the Iranian Foreign Ministry working to disseminate national and international news. Pars Agency published a bulletin twice daily in French and Persian, which it circulated among government officials, international news agencies in Tehran and the local press.

• Kyodo News ( 共同通信社 Kyōdō Tsūshinsha) is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo.

• It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million subscribers. K. K. Kyodo News is Kyodo News' business arm, established in 1972. The subdivision Kyodo News International, founded in 1982, provides over 200 reports to international news media and is located in Rockefeller Center, New York.

• Their online news site is in Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, and English.

• The agency employs over 1,000 journalists and photographers, and maintains news exchange agreements with over 70 international media outlets.

• Editor-in-Chief : Ammar YasirMobile No:0333-5175252Address of the Head Office:Apartment No. 06, Block No. 15, PHA Apartments, G-7/1, Zero Point, Islamabad.

• The Voice of America (VOA) is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government.

• Founded 1942• The VOA provides programming for broadcast on radio, TV, and

the Internet outside of the U.S., in English and some foreign languages.VOA radio and television broadcasts are distributed by satellite, cable and on FM, AM, and shortwave radio frequencies.

• They are streamed on individual language service websites, social media sites and mobile platforms. The VOA has affiliate and contract agreements with radio and television stations and cable networks worldwide.

SHARP EYE

• Sharp Eye is Pakistan's Independent International News Agency Established in January 2000. With the aim to provide true news to T.V. Channels, national as well as international newspapers on modern lines following the modern and latest standards; "Sharp Eye" is working under the supervision of its founder Mian Muhammad Azhar Amin.

• He is renowned Journalist of Pakistan and has the experience of working for Pakistani as well as foreign Newspapers, News Agencies and a TV Channel. In the light of his Experience he felt the need for establishment of an independent news agency that could be a source for presenting true news to media all the world in different languages.

Xinhua News Agency

• The Xinhua News is the official press agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua is the biggest and most influential media organization in China. Xinhua is a ministry-level institution subordinate to the Chinese central government. Its president is a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

• The Xinhua press agency was started in November 1931• Xinhua operates more than 170 foreign bureaus worldwide, and

maintains 31 bureaus in China—one for each province, plus a military bureau. Xinhua is the sole channel for the distribution of important news related to the Communist Party and Chinese central government.

• it owns more than 20 newspapers and a dozen magazines, and it prints in eight languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic and Japanese.

Press laws

• Press laws are the laws concerning the licensing of books and the liberty of expression in all products of the printing-press, especially newspapers.

• Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through mediums including various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other legal protections.

• The United Nations' 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers"

Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO)

• The first step in introducing media laws in the country was done by the then military ruler and President Ayub Khan who promulgated the Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) in 1962.

• The law empowered the authorities to confiscate newspapers, close down news providers, and arrest journalists. Using these laws, Ayub Khan nationalized large parts of the press and took over one of the two largest news agencies.

• The other agencies was pushed into severe crisis and had to seek financial support from the government. Pakistani Radio and Television, which was established in 1964 was also brought under the strict control of the government.

Revised Press and Publication Ordinance (RPPO)

• More draconian additions were made to the PPO during the reign of General Zia-Ul-Haq in the 1980s. According to these new amendments, the publisher would be liable and prosecuted if a story was not to the liking of the administration even if it was factual and of national interest.

• These amendments were used to promote Haq's Islamist leanings and demonstrated the alliance between the military and religions leaders.

• Censorship during the Zia years was direct, concrete and dictatorial. Newspapers were scrutinised; critical or undesired sections of an article censored. In the wake of Zia-ul-Haq's sudden death and the return of democracy, the way was paved to abate the draconian media laws through a revision of media legislation called the Revised PPO (RPPO).

Musharraf ERA

• From 2002, under General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani media faced a decisive development that would lead to a boom in Pakistani electronic media and paved the way to it gaining political clout. New liberal media laws broke the state's monopoly on the electronic media. TV broadcasting and FM radio licenses were issued to private media outlets.

• The military's motivation for liberalising media licensing was based on an assumption that the Pakistani media could be used to strengthen national security and counter any perceived threats from India. What prompted this shift was the military's experience during the two past confrontations with India. One was the Kargil War and the other was the hijacking of the India Airliner by militants. In both these instances, the Pakistani military was left with no options to reciprocate because its electronic media were inferior to that of the Indian media. Better electronic media capacity was needed in the future and thus the market for electronic media was liberalised.

• The justification was just as much a desire to counter the Indian media power, as it was a wish to set the media "free" with the rights that electronic media had in liberal, open societies. The military thought it could still control the media and harness it if it strayed from what the regime believed was in the national interest - and in accordance with its own political agenda.

Other Press Ordinance 1. The Printing Presses and Publications Ordinance 1988, 2. The Freedom of Information Ordinance of 2002, 3. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) of 2002, 4. The Defamation Ordinance of 2002, 5. The Contempt of Court Ordinance of 2003, the Press, 6. Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance 2003, 7. The Press Council Ordinance 2002, 8. The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Ordinance 2005.9. The Access to Information Ordinance of 2006. 10. There were attempts in 2006 for further legislation ostensibly "to

streamline registration of newspapers, periodicals, news and advertising agencies and authentication of circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals (PAPRA).

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