USIP held a panel discussion about a new policy briefing on Pakistan media by BBC Media Action.

Photo Credit: Flickr/Konstantinos Koukopoulos

The challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan’s media in many ways reflect the challenges and opportunities facing the country’s democracy. After a decade of transformation, Pakistan’s media have become an increasingly coherent platform for raising popular concerns and needs. Yet, considerable constraints remain. Decades of state manipulation undermined the development of robust media organizations. Legal protections are weak, security threats are many and the industry is not financially sound. Consequently the media remains vulnerable to exploitation by state and non-state actors as they compete for power.

USIP held an interactive panel discussion at USIP on January 23, 2014 about these issues. The event featured a new policy briefing from BBC Media Action, a case study from USIP’s research into political violence reporting, and analysis from Pamela Constable, author and longtime reporter on Pakistan.

  • 2:15pm to 2:25pm | Moeed Yusuf, USIP Director of South Asia and Sheldon Himelfarb, USIP Director of the PeaceTech Initiative, Opening Remarks
  • 2:25pm to 2:40pm | Huma Yusuf, Discussant, BBC Media Action consultant and co-author of “The media of Pakistan:  Fostering inclusion in a fragile democracy?”
  • 2:40pm to 2:55pm | Michael Dwyer, Discussant, USIP Senior Program Officer
  • 2:55pm to 3:10pm | Pamela Constable, Discussant, staff writer for the Washington Post and the author of "Playing with Fire: Pakistan at War with Itself"
  • 3:10pm to 4:00pm | Q&A Discussion

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