The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Friday issued a show-cause notice to ARY News for airing what it called was “fake/unverified news” based on informal sources about the stance of Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, regarding the ‘Cablegate’ controversy.
The cable in question refers to a communique sent by Majeed that former prime minister Imran Khan has continuously claimed contains evidence of a conspiracy to topple his government. The National Security Committee (NSC) convened a meeting on the cable yesterday — the second time in as many months that the NSC held a meeting to review the cable’s contents — in which the former US ambassador was also present and testified before it.
According to the show-cause notice, the channel aired the news, regarding the ambassador’s stance in the meeting, at 6:52pm on Thursday.
According to the comments quoted in the notice, ARY News claimed citing sources that Majeed, in the NSC meeting, maintained that the cable’s contents amounted to interference in internal affairs, and that it was a “reality” that threatening language had been used in the cable and the ambassador remained steadfast on his stance despite government pressure.
Pemra said that the airing of “fake/unverified news” quoting informal sources without taking Majeed’s point of view appeared to be an “intentional move on the part of ARY News and tantamount to malign state institutions”.
“Moreover, this act is against the established journalistic ethics wherein an official statement of the NSC was issued and yet ARY News is relying on informal sources with ulterior intentions to mislead viewers,” the notice said.
