In the video, anchorperson Asma Shirazi, while commenting on JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman’s long march, said, “What would happen if Maulana fails to pressurize Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan into tendering his resignation?”
Meanwhile, the same video showed journalist Hamid Mir speaking at a conference where he said, “Journalists need to form a united front because they cannot fight alone.”
Mir added that lawyers, political parties and human rights activists needed to join hands with journalists against the government, similar to what happened during General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorship.
https://twitter.com/InsafPK/status/1186126791318163461?s=20
The PTI video tried to imply that journalists were actually acting as political parties while criticising the incumbent government and blamed them for taking sides and not remaining neutral.
Ever since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has come to power, its supporters have continuously run campaigns and trends on social media targeting journalists for criticising the PTI-led government. Supporters of the party have at various times claimed that journalists who criticise the government are on the ‘payroll’ of opposition parties.
It is interesting to note that these same journalists had criticised the previous governments and had given coverage to and had conducted programmes on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s protests against the ruling government.