Just because it is in Urdu doesn’t make it true! Just because it was broadcast by a Pakistani channel doesn’t make it right! Just because it shows the Pakistani flag doesn’t mean it it loyal to Pakistan or patriotic.
By Moin Ansari
QUESTIONS GEO CANNOT ANSWER: Why does Geo collude with foreign media? Why does it focus on creating chaos and general discontent? Why does it act like an instrument of an political party? Why does Geo behave like the arm of a foreign force? Why did Geo deliberately broadcast false bad news about the economy when the stock market was booming? What hand did Geo play in scaring the foreign investors away from Pakistan? Why did Geo repeat the false news about the growth figures which led to the crash of the stock market? Why does Geo show wrong Pakistani maps? Why does Geo almost never cover the insurgencies in India? Why is Geo so infatuated with Anti-Pakistan Bollywood films? Why is Geo bent upon creating a “Indianization” of Pakistan? Why does Geo pay so much attention to Bollywood? Why does Geo show dead bodies? Is this all part of a psy-op or is it part of an agenda? Mr. Husain Haqqani of the Hudson institute is on the payroll of JINSA and AIPAC (public information posted on Rupee News) is a known neocon with his own agenda. His wife Ms. Isphani is involved with VOA and Geo pursuing the same Neocon agenda.
A company is known by the company it keeps. Geo certainty deals with some “colorful” characters. Its genesis, consultants, and affiliations leave much to be desired.
We have attempted to put together a thesis and a case on why Geo has exacerbated the conditions in Pakistan and why it is biased. The article discusses the origins of Geo and its connections with shady operatives. We present the actual proof of the affiliates of Geo. The information on the CIA psy-ops discusses how the CIA operates in other countries.
“There is a hidden hand in this” Sher Bukhsh Mazari
SUMMARY OF ARTICLE
The bottom line of this article is that Geo has connived with shady characters who are associated with foreign powers and have been up up to no good. Geo’s track record in showing dead bodies, and repeating nonsense on the economy, and providing place and comfort to the enemy. These facts are described in detail with actual quites, references and pointers.
1) Questions that Geo cannot answer
2) General discussion of CIA ops
3) CIA is active in Pakistan. NY Times report
4) CIA Dirty Tricks Department
5) Details on efforts to destabilize Pakistan
6) Strange happenings at Geo that cannot be explained
7) Geo origins and the people who helped in starting Geo. Geo’s connections to some ver un savory characters
8, Geo links with David Hazinski a known Neocon with deep links to Neocon organizaitons that have spoken up against Pakistan
9) Discussion of Weinberger’s his beliefs and his association with Geo and Mr. Hazinski
10) Discussion of the beliefs of Mr. Hazinski’s
11) Detailed discussion of the Media’s role in destabilizing Pakistan
12) Appendices, Farah Ispahani role in VOA and Geo, Resume of Mr. Hazinski
Additional Research:
The Plan To Topple Pakistan
The Great Game Continues
The Great Game Revisited
Video: Secrets of the CIA
Codename Operation Enduring Turmoil Exposed! – Neocon Plans for Pakistan and rest of the World
AMERICAN MEDIA WITH GEO AND ARY UNLEASHES ANTI-PAKISTAN CAMPAIGN ON CUE:
CIA PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS (PSY-OP) FROM THE MANUAL: The declassified documents are old, but it gives us a glimpse into what can happen. New techniques are more sophisticated.
(The implements of psychological warfare are: open propaganda, subversion, special operations (sabotage, guerrilla warfare, espionage), political and cultural pressures, economic pressures. The principal effects sought are persuasion, sympathy, terrorization, confusion, division and physical interference. These operations, ancient in origin, are modernly employed, notably by Italy, Germany, the Soviet Union and other principal powers. The programs are planned more or less centrally in all nations, but executed by a variety of agencies.
THE COVERT US INTERVENTION IN PAKISTAN IS CONFIRMED BY THE NY TIMES OF JAN 6th, 2008
“At the White House and the Pentagon, officials see an opportunity in the changing power structure for the Americans to advocate for the expanded authority in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country. “After years of focusing on Afghanistan, we think the extremists now see a chance for the big prize – creating chaos in Pakistan itself,” one senior official said.
The new options for expanded covert operations include loosening restrictions on the C.I.A. to strike selected targets in Pakistan, in some cases using intelligence provided by Pakistani sources, officials said. Most counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan have been conducted by the C.I.A.; in Afghanistan, where military operations are under way, including some with NATO forces, the military can take the lead.
The legal status would not change if the administration decided to act more aggressively. However, if the C.I.A. were given broader authority, it could call for help from the military or deputize some forces of the Special Operations Command to act under the authority of the agency. NY Times Jan. 6th, 2007
In the 1980s, President Zia ul Haq was blown up in a military plane and Benazir Bhutto became the Prime Minister. However she was fired from her job for corruption.
ISLAMABAD: Was Benazir Bhutto’s assassination part of a larger international conspiracy to destabilise and de-nuclearise Pakistan? This is the question that boggles many minds even in the government circles.
Although, the government has fixed the responsibility on Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaeda on the basis of a telephonic conversation reportedly monitored by intelligence agencies, some government officials really smell a rat.
“It is not important to see who is pulling the trigger, also don’t bother much about the hired assassin. What is really important is to reach the hand that pulled the strings,” an official source said, believing that foreign factor (not al-Qaeda) could not be ruled out in this high-profile assassination that has badly shaken Pakistan.
The Pakistan People’s Party and spokesmen of Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaeda had already rejected the interior ministry’s assertion, which had been further contradicted by certain news reports that claimed that the slain leader was in contact with Mehsud.
A senior journalist, Hamid Mir, even confirmed this fact in his column in Jang that appeared on last Monday. He also revealed the startling fact he was told by Benazir Bhutto before her death that she was informed by the Americans that Washington did not want the restoration of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, when contacted, although did not rule out international dimension to Benazir’s killing but he was more convinced that it was a heinous plot hatched inside Pakistan. Ansar Abbasi in The News
OLD CIA DIRTY TRICKS DEPT. & CIA DOLLARS CREATE DEMONSTRATIONS: Tons of money was sent to Pakistan for a well organized campaign to launch street demonstrations against President Musharraf. Mr. Ahmed Quraishi has quoted $500 million in funds were disbursed. As in 1979, during the PNA demonstration millions of Dollars were dispersed among professional agitators. Uzbek and Tajiks were recruited to create mayhem in Pakistan.
* A shadowy group called the BLA, a Cold War relic, rose from the dead to restart a separatist war in southwestern Pakistan. . Bugti’s death was a blow to neo-BLA, but the shadowy group’s backers didn’t repent. His grandson, Brahmdagh Bugti, is currently enjoying a safe shelter in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where he continues to operate and remote-control his assets in Pakistan.
* Saboteurs trained in Afghanistan have been inserted into Pakistan to aggravate extremist passions here, especially after the Red Mosque operation.
* Chinese citizens continue to be targeted by individuals pretending to be Islamists, when no known Islamic group has claimed responsibility. . A succession of “religious rebels” with suspicious foreign links have suddenly emerged in Pakistan over the past months claiming to be “Pakistani Taliban”. Some of the names include Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Baitullah Mehsud, and now the Maulana of Swat. Some of them have used, and are using, encrypted communication equipment far superior to what the Pakistani military owns.
* Money and weapons have been fed into the religious movements and al-Qaeda remnants in the tribal areas.
* Exploiting the situation, assets within the Pakistani media started promoting the idea that the Pakistani military was killing its own people. The rest of the unsuspecting media quickly picked up this message. Some botched US and Pakistani military operations against al-Qaeda that caused civilian deaths accidentally fed this media campaign.This was the perfect timing for the launch of Military, Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, a book authored by Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, a columnist for a Pakistani English-language paper and a correspondent for “Jane’s Defence Weekly”, a private intelligence service founded by experts close to British intelligence. (Ahmed Quraishi is an investigative reporter, currently hosting a weekly political talk show titled Worldview from Islamabad.)
The media has been unleashed about the so called “instability” in Pakistan creating a justification for continued and more abrasive offensive action in South Asia. This to create instability in Pakistan that will be used as an excuse to continue the perpetual mimetic warfare in the Muslim world. Pakistan has been facing the brunt of the US initiative to implement “Democracy” in Pakistan even though the credentials of the champions of democracy are very weak. Neither Egypt, nor Uganda, nor Congo, nor Haiti, nor Taiwan, nor China nor Israel nor Russia face the US medias pontification on how great democracy is. This expose of Geo origins has tries to uncover the reasons why Geo acts so strangely.
Geo employs a lot of good reporters, but it also employs program hosts whose credentials and loyalty to Pakistan is questionable. For example Mr. Shaharyar Azhar is a known follower of Neocon philosophy and ideas always highlighting the negative news about Pakistan and not taking India or other countries to task. There are reports in the press that Geo has been instrumental in the campaign of disinformation about Pakistan. It has become a willing or unwilling instrument of those who wanted to destabilize Pakistan. The governemnt of Pakistan and the ISI of Pakistan got wind of Geo plans and recommended to the President to take action against Geo. The Emergency imposed by the previous government was to thwart the campaign of disinformation that was running concurrently by Time magazine and Newsweek Magazine and the Neocon News agencies in the West.
Why does Geo generally show the Indian version of events and why does its news sound like a translation of CNN news? Geo’s dangerous general policies are the main reason that the Pakistan was not allowing Geo to resume its transmission. Amazingly Geo is now starting a new “English News” channel to continue its activities against the the country. Where is the funding for all this coming from?
Whether Geo is an unwilling victim of its sponsors and her affiliates in the USA or India, or is Geo running a planned campaign and got caught with its pants down.
All Geo viewers want to find out the truth!
THE DETAILS TO DESTABILIZE PAKISTAN ARE AVAILABLE IN THE MEDIA AND KNOWN TO THE PAKISTANI LEADERSHIP WHICH HAS TAKEN PREVENTATIVE ACTIONSProfessor Michel Chossudovsky sheds some light on the plan:
* “ It has been known for months that the Bush-Cheney administration and its allies have been maneuvering to strengthen their political control of Pakistan, paving the way for the expansion and deepening of the “war on terrorism” across the region.
* Various American destabilization plans, known for months by officials and analysts, proposed the toppling of Pakistan’s military…
* The assassination of Bhutto appears to have been anticipated. There were even reports of “chatter” among US officials about the possible assassinations of either Pervez Musharraf or Benazir Bhutto, well before the actual attempts took place. (Larry Chin, Global Research, 29 December 2007)
* “Regime change” with a view to ensuring continuity under military rule is no longer the main thrust of US foreign policy. The regime of Pervez Musharraf cannot prevail. Washington’s foreign policy course is to actively promote the political fragmentation and balkanization of Pakistan as a nation.
* A new political leadership is anticipated but in all likelihood it will take on a very different shape, in relation to previous US sponsored regimes. One can expect that Washington will push for a compliant political leadership, with no commitment to the national interest, a leadership which will serve US imperial interests, while concurrently contributing under the disguise of “decentralization”, to the weakening of the central government and the fracture of Pakistan’s fragile federal structure.
* The political impasse is deliberate. It is part of an evolving US foreign policy agenda, which favors disruption and disarray in the structures of the Pakistani State. Indirect rule by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus is to be replaced by more direct forms of US interference, including an expanded US military presence inside Pakistan.
* This expanded military presence is also dictated by the Middle East-Central Asia geopolitical situation and Washington’s ongoing plans to extend the Middle East war to a much broader area.
* “U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units” (William Arkin, Washington Post, December 2007).
* The official justification and pretext for an increased military presence in Pakistan is to extend the “war on terrorism”. Concurrently, to justify its counterrorism program, Washington is also beefing up its covert support to the “terrorists.”
* …Already in 2005, a report by the US National Intelligence Council and the CIA forecast a “Yugoslav-like fate” for Pakistan “in a decade with the country riven by civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries, as seen recently in Balochistan.” (Energy Compass, 2 March 2005).
* ….Continuity, characterized by the dominant role of the Pakistani military and intelligence has been scrapped in favor of political breakup and balkanization.
* ….This US agenda for Pakistan is similar to that applied throughout the broader Middle East Central Asian region. US strategy, supported by covert intelligence operations, consists in triggering ethnic and religious strife, abetting and financing secessionist movements while also weakening the institutions of the central government. The broader objective is to fracture the Nation State and redraw the borders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan Professor Michel Chossudovsky
STRANGE HEPPENINGS AT GEO THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED: Here are some facts about Geo and some example of how Geo demorolizes the population and the general body of the Pakistani dispora.
* GEO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRASH OF THE STOCK MARKET: Geo repeatedly telecasted false news about the Pakistani economy, the political situation and hence the stock market crashed in Pakistan In a pre-orchestrated campaign.
* Geo focuses on the negative news and instead of focusing on solutions it shows bodies of dead people in contradiction of PEMRA and all decency requirements.
* Geo focuses on petrol prices but does not inform the viewers that most private cars in Pakistan now run on CNG (liqufied petroluem gas) which costs $5 for a tank full. Most people driving cars are not affected by the rise in petrol (gasoline) prices.
* In a planned manner Geo supresses and ignores good news like 5.1 billion dollar of oil refinery in Pakistan
Geo usually ignores good news like $28 Billion Emar international island development
* Geo is averse to good news about Pakistan–there is no discussion of the Bullet Trains in Pakistan.
* Geo does not focus foreign interference in Pakistani affairs.
* Geo did not discuss the 89 separatist movements in India in 2007 …from Seven Northeastern sister states, to the Naxalite insurrection, to Bihar to Kashmir, to Assam etc…
* Geo Dramas: 50 percent of the dramas are Indian dramas on Geo and 25 percent are with mix cast (Indian and Pakistani) and Indian film
* Geo focuses on showing beheading of people and other depressing news.
* Why did Geo not focus on showing 250 million people sleeping on sidewalks in India?
* Geo did not cover for 36 hours the killing of 3000 Muslims in Gujrat?
* Urdu is not used by many hosts. Morning host shows are in English and “Urdlish” ( a horrible combination). The Younger generation is being spoiled by using them as instruments of hedonism.
* Some of the shows are way beyond the pale on being modern. Nudity is not modernity. Science and Technology is modernity.
* Geo plays into the hands of the opposition parties. It does not discuss opportunities for development.
When Mr. Shaharayar interviewed the President of Azad Kashmir he interrupted him and did not allow him to speak about the problems with the article of accession of Kashmir to India (which is now lost) if it ever existed.
* Geo continues to use Indian jargon like “partition”. Partition signifies a temporary dissection of the whole. India was never whole. Even during British times there were more than 500 states in the Subcontinent. Some of them banded together to make Pakistan and others banded together to make India.
* Discussion of Kashmir, Manvanagar, Junagarh are non-existent on Geo. Most Geo maps show Kashmir as part of Pakistan. Zad Kashmir is never shown. Some Geo maps sill show the Nothern Areas as part of India or partof Kashmir.
* Kamran Khan was getting RS 25 lakh per month. Income vs. salary? Dr. Shahid Mahmud used to get Rs 22 laks per month. He was a member of NSF student Hamid Mir the Editor of “Ausaf” get Rs. 22 Lakh per month.
* Nadia Khan gets Rs 6 lacs per month. Income vs. salary?When Geo was not able to broadcast the 8-hour cricket match, Geo said they lost 1 billion Rupees, After the ban Goo kept on broadcasting for 36 hours without any income?Let us investigate the players involved with Geo from information that is publicly available. We see these links which will be analyzed.
1) The controversial David Hazinski an ex US Navy Petty Officer with contacts with the State Department and the American Jewish Committee (AJC)
2) Who is Todd Fratz and why does Geo associate with such characters?
3) Casper Weinberger, Ronald Reagan’s indicted and pardoned Secretary of Defense who predicted the “Next War” with a rogue state like Iran. Why does Geo align itself with known war mongeres.
4) Geo has strategic links with SkyTV of the UK, CNN, IBN-CNN in India and the Voice of America (VOA). See article on VOA Geo alliance in Pakistan. http://www.usembassy.gov/pakistan/h05111301.html
ORIGINS OF GEO:
Geo was started with the help of an ex US Naval Petty Officer by the name of Hazinski who has links with Mr. Casper Weinberger and many Indian channels.
According to (http://www.intelligentmc.com/people.html) “Most recently, he re-designed the central International Broadcast Center for the Voice of America in Washington and is consulting on new network launches for the VOA”. Mr. Hazinski is the principal of the company called IntelligentMC (http://www.intelligentmc.com/Welcome.html,2870 Peachtree Road #713, Atlanta, GA 30305-2918, USA, email: info@intelligentmc.com, url: http://www.intelligentmc.com).the other principal of Intelligent MC is Mr. Todd Frantz. “Todd comes to IMC from 10 years at CNN in Atlanta”. He has links to “Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at The University of Georgia”
David Hazinski, associate professor at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is the principle architect of GEO-TV and managed the station’s launch. Hazinski was contacted by the Jang Group, Pakistan’s largest newspaper publisher and GEO-TV’s owner, after he shepherded the successful launch of a similar station in India in January 2001. Aaj Tak, the first all-news, Hindi-language channel in India, now has a 60% share of the news audience in India.
As one of the owners of Intelligent Media Consultants, an Atlanta-based company that helps its clients design efficient and profitable network operations through the creative application of broadcast technology, Hazinski has worked all over the world launching news operations in markets starved for unbiased reporting. “This is really the cutting edge of technology and journalism,” says Hazinski, a former NBC news correspondent who says he and his partners have helped launch at least a dozen news operations in the last 10 years. “These are new markets. They haven’t been exposed to lots of TV.”
Because most of Intelligent Media’s clients are unfamiliar with broadcast news techniques, Hazinski says he is able to tailor unique approaches that maximize their limited budgets. “These people are willing to try new things because they don’t want to pay the outrageous costs associated with news production in the United States,” he says. “Right now, based on what we learned in Pakistan, we’re convinced we can launch a network today for half of what it would have cost three years ago. And no one would see any quality difference on the air – even if we aired it in the U.S.”
At GEO-TV’s main broadcast center in Karachi, Hazinski built a newsroom around 24 Mac G4s running Final Cut Pro. News footage is captured with 40 Sony PD150s and 15 PD100s. NewTek Video Toaster 2 systems are used at bureaus in Islamabad and Lahore to switch between the main broadcast center.
In addition to designing a systems approach for GEO-TV, Hazinski helped teach the station’s staff how to use the equipment and how to produce television news. Greg Pope, a freelance editor and producer formerly with CNN, spent one month in Karachi this summer training GEO-TV’s news staff, which primarily consists of newspaper journalists. “We basically had to convert people from print journalists to TV journalists,” says Pope, adding that he had never taught production techniques in a classroom setting to non-English speaking students. “These print people were basically issued cameras and editing equipment and within months were transformed from pen and paper to this new electronic media. Some of them didn’t even know how to use a keyboard when we started.”
Considering the steep learning curve for the Pakistani journalists, Pope says he was amazed at their perseverance and enthusiasm. “These people are tired of having Western news and government news shoved down their throats,” says Pope, who estimates that he taught 100 people to shoot and edit video. “They want their own voice. They want to represent themselves in their own way.”
But there is still a chance that the government will shut down GEO-TV. Pope says that while he was training the news staff, it was widely believed that there were spies for PTV within their ranks. However, in recent years the Jang Group has won many battles for freedom of the press, so there is hope that GEO-TV will succeed.
“If they have minimal government interference, [GEO-TV] will change the face of Pakistan,” says Pope.
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/broadcast/video_voice_people/
WHO IS DAVID DAVID HAZINSKI? Why did Geo hire a known Neocon for help in content?
He owns Intelligent Media Consultants, LLC, a company responsible for training the staffs and helping to launch eight television networks around the world, mostly on the sub-continent. These include Aaj Tak and CNN-IBN in India and GEO TV in Pakistan. He has also consulted for broadcasters and publishers such as the Voice of America, Gramedia in Indonesia, and Alsumaria in Beirut and Baghdad. While on the faculty, Hazinski spent two years as writer, co-host and technology advisor of the internationally syndicated World Business Review with Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan. Before coming to UGA, Hazinski served six years as an international correspondent for NBC News, covering the U.S., Europe, and Central America — and ten years before that as a TV reporter with stations in Charlotte and Pittsburgh. Office: 139, Fax Number: (706) 542-2183, E-Mail Address: hazinski@grady.uga.edu
Hazinski holds a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the university’s highest teaching award and has been appointed a Senior Teaching Fellow and a member of the Teaching Academy. He has received more than a dozen local, state, and national journalism awards, including a Golden Quill for Investigative Reporting.
Mr. Hazinski has been advocating restricting what he calls “Citizenship jounalism” which he considers dangerous. (http://tinyurl.com/yvjoox),(http://tinyurl.com/26byuh)
Investigative reporters may scrutinize the details of Mr. resume posted at the bottom of this post. Also posted on (http://www.grady.uga.edu/CV/Hazinski.2005.pdf)
http://www.athensworld.com/2007/12/response-to-professor-david-hazinski.html
WHAT DOES THE GEO CONSULTANT MR. HAZINSKI BELIEVE IN? His address to the American Jewish Council dated 12/13/2007. You can read his article at the bottom of this page.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/12/12/citizened_1213.html
WHO IS CASPER WEINBERGER? And why did Geo associate with a known war monger?
Caspar Willard “Cap” Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006), was an American politician and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after Robert McNamara and Donald Rumsfeld. He is also known for his roles in the Strategic Defense Initiative program and the Iran-Contra Affair.
Following his resignation as Secretary of Defense, Weinberger was placed under indictment by Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh. The formal indictment charged Weinberger withseveral felony counts of lying to the Iran-Contra independent counsel during its investigation. Weinberger received a Presidential pardon from President George H.W. Bush on December 24, 1992, after Bush had failed to win a second term.
In 1996, Weinberger co-authored a book entitled The Next War, which raised questions about the adequacy of US military capabilities following the end of the Cold War. After he published his book, his colleagues from the Reagan administration broke contact and refused to speak with him.
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (’GBE’) in 1988, awarded in recognition for an “outstanding and invaluable” contribution to military cooperation between the UK and the US, particularly during the Falklands War of 1982. Wikipedia
WEINBERGER DISCUSSES IRAN AND THE NEXT WAR: From Publishers Weekly
Weinberger, secretary of defense for most of the Reagan years, collaborates with Schweizer, president of the James Madison Institute, to present five possible near-future scenarios in which the U.S. goes to war. Scenario one is based on a North Korean invasion of South Korea that ends in stalemate after a limited nuclear exchange. Number two casts Iran as a rogue state using ballistic missiles to alter the Middle East’s balance of power. The third scenario postulates a radical Mexican government scapegoating the U.S. as the source of its country’s woes. A fourth describes the conquest of Europe by a resurgent Russia?again with the aid of nuclear weapons. In scenario five, the U.S. and Japan reignite the Pacific War of 1941-1945, this time using “cyberstrikes” against information systems, chemical warfare and a nuclear exchange. The authors tell their stories through the eyes of fictional participants. This format, familiar to readers of techno-thrillers, is an effective framework for dramatizing a set of pessimistic conclusions. Because of America’s reduction of its conventional armed forces and its failure to build a missile defense system, none of the scenarios have outcomes more positive than stalemate achieved at high cost. The authors’ lament for such a missile system and for the armed forces of the past won’t convince those who believe that the dominant modes of future conflict will be terrorism and guerrilla war, however. Weinberger and Schweizer nevertheless make a case deserving serious consideration by citizens and policy-makers alike. PUblisher’s Weekly posted on Amazon
DESTABILIZING PAKISTAN: Geo has been blamed for participating in and highlighting events per CNN instructions.
Why is Geo not reporting Gen. Kayani’s statement that he suspects a foreign hand in the assassination to destabilize and denuclearize Pakistan? The silence is deafening!
Saboteurs trained in Afghanistan have been inserted into Pakistan to aggravate extremist passions here, especially after the Red Mosque operation.
Chinese citizens continue to be targeted by individuals pretending to be Islamists, when no known Islamic group has claimed responsibility. . A succession of “religious rebels” with suspicious foreign links have suddenly emerged in Pakistan over the past months claiming to be “Pakistani Taliban”. Some of the names include Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Baitullah Mehsud, and now the Maulana of Swat. Some of them have used, and are using, encrypted communication equipment far superior to what the Pakistani military owns.
Money and weapons have been fed into the religious movements and al-Qaeda remnants in the tribal areas.
Exploiting the situation, assets within the Pakistani media started promoting the idea that the Pakistani military was killing its own people. The rest of the unsuspecting media quickly picked up this message. Some botched US and Pakistani military operations against al-Qaeda that caused civilian deaths accidentally fed this media campaign.This was the perfect timing for the launch of Military, Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, a book authored by Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, a columnist for a Pakistani English-language paper and a correspondent for “Jane’s Defence Weekly”, a private intelligence service founded by experts close to British intelligence.
This compares Geo with ARY and PTV
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/ptv.com.pk+arydigitaltv.com+geo.tv/?metric=uv
This compares Geo with CNN and Foxnews websites.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/cnn.com+foxnews.com+geo.tv/?metric=uv
Here are the statistics on the number of posts and discussion of Geo on various boards:
http://boardreader.com/tp/Geo+tv.html
If things do not change, Pakistanis should cancel Geo and let them suffer.
END OF ARTICLE
APPENDIX A
press releases: VOA Launches Urdu TV For Pakistan, 11/13/2005
Washington, D.C. – The Voice of America (VOA) will launch Beyond the Headlines-its new television program in Urdu-on Monday, Nov. 14. The half-hour program will air on GEO TV in Pakistan at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on selected international satellites, including AsiaSat (Virtual Channel 409) and IOR (Virtual Channel 420).
Beyond the Headlines (Khabron se Aage), a fast-paced, contemporary production designed with young and urban Pakistanis in mind, will continue VOA’s 63-year tradition of broadcasting accurate and balanced information. Programs will examine international developments, technology, politics, social issues, education, religion, sports, and entertainment.
“We look forward to opening this important new channel of communication between the American people and Pakistan,” said Steven J. Simmons, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all United States international radio and television services. Simmons is chairman of the BBG’s Voice of America Committee, and has played a key role in increasing radio and TV service to Pakistan, including Beyond the Headlines.
“We’re particularly delighted with our partnership with GEO TV, the leading cable/satellite broadcaster in the Urdu language,” Simmons added. “This new program, together with our expanded radio service, demonstrates our growing commitment to reach the people of Pakistan with new, engaging programs on both radio and TV.”
“The links between Pakistan and the United States are strong and growing, and our new show is a reflection of that,” said VOA Director David S. Jackson. “Beyond the Headlines will focus not only on the big issues of the day, but also on features, business, and culture stories that illuminate the world we live in. For example, we’ll show how Pakistanis live and work and go to school in the U.S. We want to provide a unique mix of stories that viewers can’t find anywhere else.”
Farah Ispahani is the managing editor and executive producer for Beyond the Headlines. She joined VOA earlier this year, bringing more than 20 years of experience in print and television media at such news organizations as CNN, ABC, and NBC. Before she joined VOA, Ispahani, who is a fluent Urdu speaker, was instrumental in the launch of CNN’s Paula Zahn Now and Anderson Cooper 360.
Anchoring Beyond the Headlines will be Aneka Osman. A familiar face to Pakistanis, Osman worked as an English language news anchor on Pakistan Television. She has covered regional and national security issues, Pakistan-India relations, the conflict in the Middle East, and Pakistan’s general elections. She has also worked on Prime Television, the UK-based Pakistani channel, and on the Business Plus Channel.
Ayaz Gul is VOA Urdu’s Chief Reporter and Pakistan Coverage Coordinator for Radio Aap ki Dunyaa (Your World Radio), VOA’s Urdu radio service, and Beyond the Headlines. Gul, who is based in Pakistan, has been filing on-the-scene reports in Urdu and English for VOA since 1996, and his reports are translated into numerous languages throughout VOA. Prior to joining VOA, he worked for the Japanese network NHK and for the German news agency DPA as a reporter specializing in Pakistan’s foreign and domestic news.
VOA’s Urdu Service broadcasts 12 hours a day of news and information to millions of Pakistanis and other Urdu speakers on Radio Aap ki Dunyaa. The program is distributed by medium wave at 972 kHz, digital audio satellite, the Internet and a three-hour shortwave broadcast. The launch of Beyond the Headlines adds two-and-half hours of television to the Urdu Service’s weekly broadcast schedule.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages.
For more information, call VOA’s Office of Public Affairs at or E-Mail publicaffairs@voa.gov
Unfettered ‘citizen journalism’ too risky By DAVID HAZINSKI, Published on: 12/13/07
You’re beginning to get a lot more news … from you.
It ranges from the CNN YouTube debates to political blogs to cellphone video of that sniper who opened fire at an Omaha Mall. These are all examples of so called “citizen journalism,” the hot new extension of the news business where the audience becomes the reporter.
David Hazinski, a former NBC correspondent, is an associate professor of telecommunications and head of broadcast news at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism.
Supporters of “citizen journalism” argue it provides independent, accurate, reliable information that the traditional media don’t provide. While it has its place, the reality is it really isn’t journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse. The news industry should find some way to monitor and regulate this new trend.
The premise of citizen journalism is that regular people can now collect information and pictures with video cameras and cellphones, and distribute words and images over the Internet. Advocates argue that the acts of collecting and distributing makes these people “journalists.” This is like saying someone who carries a scalpel is a “citizen surgeon” or someone who can read a law book is a “citizen lawyer.” Tools are merely that. Education, skill and standards are really what make people into trusted professionals. Information without journalistic standards is called gossip.
But unlike those other professions, journalism – at least in the United States – has never adopted uniform self-regulating standards. There are commonly accepted ethical principles – two source confirmation of controversial information or the balanced reporting of both sides of a story, for example, but adhering to the principles is voluntary. There is no licensing, testing, mandatory education or boards of review. Most other professions do a poor job of self-regulation, but at least they have mechanisms to regulate themselves. Journalists do not.
So without any real standards, anyone has a right to declare himself or herself a journalist. Major media outlets also encourage it. Citizen journalism allows them to involve audiences, and it is a free source of information and video. But it is also ripe for abuse.
CNN’s last YouTube Republican debate included a question from a retired general who is on Hillary Clinton’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendersteering committee. False Internet rumors about Sen. Barack Obama attending a radical Muslim school became so widespread that CNN and other news agencies did stories debunking the rumors. There are literally hundreds of Internet hoaxes and false reports passed off as true stories, tracked by sites such as snopes.com.
Having just anyone produce widely distributed stories without control can have the reverse effect from what advocates intend. It’s just a matter of time before something like a faked Rodney King beating video appears on the air somewhere.
Journalism organizations should head that off. Citizen reports can be a valuable addition to news and information flow with some protections:
• Major news organizations must create standards to substantiate citizen-contributed information and video, and ensure its accuracy and authenticity.
• They should clarify and reinforce their own standards and work through trade organizations to enforce national standards so they have real meaning.
• Journalism schools such as mine at the University of Georgia should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures, much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff’s auxiliaries are trained and certified.
Journalists generally don’t like any kind of standards or regulation. Many argue that standards could infringe on freedom of the press and journalism shouldn’t be regulated.
But we have already seen the line between news and entertainment blur enough to destroy significant credibility. Continuing to do nothing as information flow changes will further erode it. Journalism organizations who choose to do nothing may soon find the line between professional and citizen journalism gone as well as the trust of their audiences.
Associate Professor/Head, Broadcast News .
Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. 1987 to present. Teach upper level and graduate professional courses in radio/ television news production, broadcast news writing, documentary production and advanced television news. Leads a professional focused faculty which originated and administers student-produced, commercially broadcast college news and public affairs television programs.
NBC NEWS (NEW YORK, N.Y.)
Correspondent, 1981-1987. International network news correspondent based in the Atlanta, Ga. bureau, responsible for primarily hard news coverage in the Southeastern United States and Central America. Reports appeared regularly on the TODAY SHOW, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, NBC Weekend News, and the NBC and The Source national radio networks. Also responsible for primary field-testing and implementation of the NBC News computer system.
WPXI-TV (PITTSBURGH, PA.)
Service on international issues including the return of the Iranian hostages, the installation of Pope John Paul II, the rise of Solidarity in Poland and the ongoing civil war in Northern Ireland.
WSOC-TV (CHARLOTTE, N.C.)
Reporter, 1973-1976. Political and general assignments reporter. Morning and elections anchor. Freelance assignments for NBC News, Newsweek TV, United Press International Television, and the TVN international syndication service.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
STAR ANANDA (KOLKATTA, INDIA), Associate Project Manager/Training Director, 12/2004 – 5/2005, Directed a team of international consultants who created, along with their Indian counterparts, a 24-hour local news and information channel in the Bengali language which launched in May, 2005. Took part in all levels of macro-planning. Specifically direct a two month staff training process which trained approximately 100 people in all phases of television news production.
PULS-TV (VIENNA, AUSTRIA), Associate Project Manager/Training Director, 4/2004- 7/2004. Co-direct a team of international consultants who created, along with their Austrian counterparts, a 24-hour local news and information city channel, the first in that country. Took part in all levels of macro-planning. Specifically direct a two-month staff training program which trained approximately 100 people in all phases of television production.
GEO-TV / JANG PUBLISHING GROUP (KARACHI, PAKISTAN), Associate Project Manager/Training Director, 4/2002- 9/2002. Co-direct a team of international consultants who created, along with their Pakistani counterparts, a 24-hour news channel based in Karachi, Pakistani with major centers in Islamabad, Lahore and Dubai, UAE. Took part in all levels of macro-planning. Specifically direct a three-month hiring and staff training process which processed 15,000 applicants and trained a staff of 300.
Vice President, 1985-present. Officer and part owner of a firm engaged in trucking, warehousing and freight consolidation with gross receipts exceeding three million dollars a year. Contributor to all levels of corporate decision making including future planning, personnel, equipment acquisition and finance.
VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (ATLANTA, GA.)
President, 1989-present. Chief Executive Officer and equity owner of a firm engaged in television production, media consulting, satellite distribution, the production of video news releases, and industrial and instructional video materials.
INTELLIGENT MEDIA CONSULTING, LLC (ATLANTA, GA.)
Principal, 1999-present. Owner and executive officer of a firm engaged in international television and media startups and systems design. Projects include Aaj Tak in India, Gramedia’s launch of Channel 7 in Indonesia, and the re-design of the U.S. Voice of America’s International Broadcasting Bureau in Washington, D.C.
BROADCAST PRODUCER/TALENT, 1987-present. Engaged as an independent writer, producer, narrator and/or on-camera performer for both broadcast and instructional information, education and public service programming.
Clients included:
•National Association of Retired Persons •IBM (instructional and national video news releases)
•National Air and Space Museum •Bass Anglers Sportsman Society
•United Way •Sioux Nations
•Government of Indonesia •Apple Computers
•Georgia Board of Education •U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
•Federal Bureau of Investigation •American Guernsey Association
•Sylvan Learning Centers •MIT
•Atlanta Committee For The Olympic Games •Lucent Technologies
•BellSouth •AT&T
•Sterling Commerce
EDUCATION
Masters of Education, Educational Communications and Technology, Graduate School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1980.
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1973.
MILITARY
U.S. Navy, Radioman, Second Class Petty Officer, discharged honorably, Da Nang, Republic of Viet Nam, 1968-70.
Navy Courses Completed:
- Basic Electronics and Electricity
- Radioman Class “A” program
COURSES TAUGHT
- Radio and Television News Production
- Advanced Radio and Television News Production
- Broadcast News Writing
- Documentary Production Management
- Broadcast Show Origination
- Television News Reporting
- originated CNN Newsource college affiliate program, made nationwide spring, 1990. 300 participating schools at this time.
- originated University News college news program, which on a half dozen commercial stations, with contributions from six other universities, 1987-1990. Superceded by a daily, live news program broadcast to three area counties, which continues.
- originated Broadcast News Bluejeans Workshop, bringing network level professionals to campus to work with students, 1988-present.
- originated, with Professor Al Wise, Camera South, magazine format entertainment program shown on commercial stations, spring, 1992.
- originated a broadcast news writing course now the foundation for the broadcast news sequence, 1990.
- created, with CNN Director of Technology Todd Fantz, a multimedia interactive program to teach broadcast news writing, 1994.
- principal faculty, with Clarke County School District, cooperative Micro-society Broadcasting Program, 1995.
- created, with Prof. Martha Cameron, Georgia GameDay, a student produced sports show, 1999.
- Initiated a new remote broadcasting system on campus which allows student journalists to report “live” via electric news vehicles and cable channel modulation, 2000.
- Initiated a joint venture with R/com Networks, inc. to certify distance learning courses and programs for adult education courses, 2000-present.
- Initiated remote field video editing for the construction of on-scene reports using laptop computers and digital cameras, 2001.
- Produced (to our knowledge), the first student television “live shots” over the internet, 2004.
- Expanded student “internet live shots’ to include wireless video-over-IP transmissions, 2005.
- Currently developing with IMC Principal Todd Fantz, an Apple-based newsroom information and video playback system that includes teleprompter, story management, rundown, news wire parcing, scripting and scheduling system.
* Management Consultant, Orange County Newschannel, 1990.
* Executive Producer, Production and Satellite Coverage, American Association of Retired Persons 1990 International Convention.
* Correspondent/Producer, American Association of Retired Persons 1988 International Convention.
* Executive Producer, TV satellite coverage, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society National Championship, 1987- 2000.
* Consultant, Office of the Attorney General of the United States, 1992-93.
* Consultant, Media Management & Crisis Communications, Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1990- 2000.
* Peabody Awards, faculty screening committee, 1987- 1999.
* National Association of Farm Cooperatives, judge, 1988-89.
* Golden Quill Awards, judge, 1986.
* Radio-Television News Directors Association, 1988- present.
* International Association of Business Communicators, judge, 1990.
* U.S. Army Headquarters, Forces Command, judge, Keith L. Ware Awards, September, 1991.
* Broadcast Education Association, 1993. Chair, National University News Network Committee.
* Broadcast Education Association, 1994-present, Co-chair, News Division.
* Executive Producer, CNN Broadcast News Training Program, 1993- 1995.
* Consultant, WJCL-TV, Savannah, Georgia, 1992-93.
* Consultant, new media systems design, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1995.
* Consultant, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, on media management and crisis communications, 1991-present.
* Education Task Force, Radio-Television News Directors Association, 1998-present.
* Turner Broadcasting/CNN Educational Committee, 1998-2000.
* Consultant, International Broadcast Bureau, Voice of America, 2001.
* Consultant, Gramedia International, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2001.
* Consultant, National Public Radio, Washington, D.C. 2002.
* Consultant, Weather News International, Tokyo & Norman, OK, 2004-present.
* Consultant, Alsumaria Television Network, Baghdad & Beirut, 2005-present.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- “Video News Release Labels Go Unread”, Electronic Media, November 4, 1991.
- “Video News Releases That Work”, Outdoor ADventures, October, 1991.
- “Digital Compression’s Maiden Voyage”, Electronic Media, November 18, 1991.
- “A Powerful Tool For Publicity”, Outdoor ADventures, August, 1991.
- “Television Guide”, training pamphlet written for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, spring, 1990.
- “Equal Time”, Feedback, Broadcast Education Association, Winter, 1989.
- “Hi Tech/Low Cost College Computer Graphics”, American Journal of Commercial Art, February, 1990.
- “Women See Opportunities in TV News”, Electronic Media, September 24, 1990.
- “The Future of TV News”, Electronic Media, October, 1992.
- “Crisis Communications”, training pamphlet written for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, summer, 1993.
- “Throwing Money After High Tech No Help to News”, Electronic Media, December 12, 1994.
- “(Almost) Free Live Shots Using Apple iChat AV”, DL Quarterly, January, 2005
- “New Age Broadcast News Instruction”, DL Quarterly, January, 2005.
HONORS AND AWARDS
- Kappa Tau Alfa, Journalism Scholastic Honorary.
- Winner, Meigs Department Teaching Award, 1992.
- First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1975, North and South Carolina Radio and Television News Directors Association.
- Co-winner, Best News Story of The Year, 1977, Pittsburgh Chapter, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
- Winner, Best News Story of The Year, 1978, Pittsburgh Chapter, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
- Winner, Outstanding Use of Television, 1981, Pittsburgh Chapter, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
- Winner, Golden Quill Award, 1981, Enterprise/Investigative Reporting.
- Winner, San Francisco State Media Award, 1981, Investigative Reporting.
- Winner, Golden Phoenix, 1994, Public Relations Society of America, Best Video News Release.
- First Place, News Division, 1995 Broadcast Education Association, juried faculty production.
- First Place, 1995 American Corporate Video Awards, Best Video News Release.
- Finalist, 1995 International Mercury Awards, International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences, Video News Release.
- Silver Award, 1995, International Mercury Awards, International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences, Video News Release.
- Award of Excellence, 1996, Apex Awards For Publication Excellence, Communications Concepts, Video News Release.
- Silver Award, 1996, International Mercury Awards, International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences, Video News Releases.
- Award of Distinction, 1997, International Merc Mercury Awards, International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences, Video News Releases.
- Distinguished Teaching Award,, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003. University of Georgia.
- Awarded Joshua Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship, 2004.
- Appointed, Senior Teaching Fellow, 2004.
- Appointed, Teaching Academy Member, 2004.
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
SELECTED GRANTS AND DONATIONS
�� Multi-machine video editing, University of Georgia, 1990, $23,000.
�� Apple Computer digital editing, $75,000, 1994.
�� CNN technology, $580,000, 1995.
Georgia lottery matching grant, $240,000, 1995
CNN Headline News set, $35,000, 1995.
Sony Corporation video switcher, $55,000, 1996.
Cox Broadcasting analog router, $220,000, 1997.
Georgia Public Television satellite truck, $400,000, 1998.
Fox Broadcasting Atlanta television set, $110,000. 1999�� Remote digital broadcasting, University of Georgia, $98,000, 2000.
VizRT Graphics Grant, University of Georgia/VizRt, $520,000, 2003.
COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES
- Scholarship and Awards
- University Council
- University Unified Grievance Committee
- Faculty Affairs Committee
- Cox Center for International Training and Research
- Department Facilities Committee
- Joint Faculty/Staff Grievance Committee (Chair)
- National College News Network Committee, Broadcast Education Association, (Chair)
- Academic Honesty Committee
- 1999-2000 Facilities Self-Study
- University Technology Advisory Committee
- University CIO Search Committee
- University Provost’s IT Task Force Member
- Faculty Search Committee (Chair)
- College Informational Resources Committee (Chair)
- Department Admissions Committee
INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTION
CHARLOTTE BAY TRADING COMPANY (CHARLOTTE, N.C.)
MULTI MEDIA PRODUCTIONS “USA”, INC. (BOCA RATON, FLA.) Co-Host and Technology Advisor, World Business Review with Caspar Weinberger, 1996-1999. Write, co-host and advise the production of a weekly, internationally syndicated radio, television and Internet distributed program featuring interviews with CEO’s from Fortune 500 companies on their latest technology and business systems.
AAJ TAK / INDIA TODAY (NEW DELHI, INDIA) Project Manager, 4/2000-12/2000. In charge of an international team of consultants who created, along with their Indian counterparts, a new satellite and terrestrially distributed 24-hour national news channel in the Hindi language. Project involves creating a main facility from scratch, establishing 14 bureaus around the country, and the introduction of new technology and systems design. Project management included establishment of programming, policies and procedures, hiring and personnel guidelines, look and feel, contracted construction, the training of 250 initial staff, vendor oversight, and overall organizational structure and control.
David C. Hazinski
