The military dictators and elected representatives have almost always exploited and misused their powers and authority to control the press from open public debate and criticism on state institutions in Pakistan. The social movement of PTM recently launched protests across the country to demand basic rights for Pashtuns that are guaranteed in the constitution, but Pakistan’s mainstream media has boycotted the coverage of all those demonstrations. Apparently, the only reason behind media blackout was that PTM finger-pointed at Pakistan’s strong military for its alleged human rights' violations during its operations in erstwhile tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This project will explore the challenges to free press and democracy and the effects of restricted press on society.
Mass Media and Governance: Issues and Challenges to Free Press in contemporary Pakistan
MEMBER IN THE JOINT ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIP
since
Prof. Dr. Natascha Zowislo-Grünewald
Institut for organisational communication.
www.strategic-communication-management.de
Projects:
Prof. Dr. Oliver Hahn
Professor Oliver Hahn, PhD, is Professor of Journalism and Vice-Dean for Internationalization and Research in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Passau, Germany. He is specialized in international comparative research of journalism, media and communication. He serves as Co-Vice-Chair of the Journalism Research and Education (JRE) section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and as Liaison Officer to the World Journalism Education Council (WJEC).
Projects:
- Narration research in the delicate balance between (counter-) public spheres, media manipulation and propaganda
- Panama Papers and football leaks. The way in which international research associations and publishing networks are transforming investigative journalism.
- Being German as a framed narrative? A constructive systemic approach.
- Ethical dimensions of immersive journalism
- Mass Media and Governance: Issues and Challenges to Free Press in contemporary Pakistan
Awais Ahmad
University of Passau
I am Awais Ahmad and I belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. I am a seasoned journalist with a master’s degree in Mass Communications and having five years of work experience in the field of Journalism, Public Relations and Development Sector with reputable international organizations including BBC World News, The News International and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
I am an enthusiastic Journalist, Civil Society, Human Rights, Youth and Peace Activist. My main areas of coverage were issues of human rights, role of press in bringing good governance, civil-military relations, sectarianism, terrorism, Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, and Pakistan-U.S. relations.
I represented Pakistan and my respective organizations in different countries of the world, including USA, Germany and UAE and has participated in dozens of journalistic trainings. I got several awards for best news reporting and DAAD summer school scholarship of Erfurt University, Germany, where I represented the University of Peshawar as a Youth Ambassador and participated in debates on political communication and social media role in the Muslim world.
Being a grantee of DAAD, I have recently completed another master’s degree in Public Policy and Good Governance from the University of Passau. And this year I got enrolled in Ph.D. in Media Studies in the same university.
