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Pak TV networks accused of fanning political instability

AlP, Karachi
Pakistan's television networks are heaping political pressure on an increasingly unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari with critical and influential programming that offers a voice to the poor.
In the decade since military ruler Pervez Musharraf issued licences and softened state control on media after seizing power, more than 50 channels have mushroomed in the country, with around half dedicated to news broadcasts.
The channels have become campaigners against the leadership, have whipped up fervour for and against the Taliban. have embarrassed the security services and sown fear with 24-seven coverage of attacks beamed into living rooms.
"The government is under constant pressure from the media," Mutahir Sheikh, head of international relations at Karachi University, told AFP.
A recent Gallup survey claimed that more than half of
Pakistanis -- 57 percent of those polled -- blame the media for stirring up political instability in the country, which has known regular periods of military rule.
There are dozens of private satellite channels based in Pakistan and abroad that present every possible political opinion, pumping out news and debate in Urdu, English and regional languages to the country's 167 million people.
Owned by newspaper groups, wealthy businessmen and private individuals, critics accuse them of sensationalism and peddling conspiracy theories, particularly about perceived interference from India and the United States.
Renowned author Ahmed Rashid accuses talk show' hosts of "demonising the elected government, trying to convince viewers of global conspiracies against Pakistan led by India and the United States or insisting that the recent campaign of suicide
bomb blasts... is being orchestrated by foreigners.
"The campaign waged by some politicians and parts of the media -- with underlying pressure from the army -- is all about trying to build public opinion to make Zardari's tenure untenable," he wrote on the BBC website.
This week, authorities banned a Dubai-based show presented by an outspoken critic of the government on Pakistan's most influential private channel, Geo.
"Apparently the Pakistani government, President Zardari to be specific, used his position to get the authorities in Dubai to impose a ban on the airing of the programme," Azhar Abbas, Geo's managing director, told AFP
"The government is unnerved and uneasy over the independent criticism it faces in our unbiased programmes. But instead of countering argument with argument it goes for tactics which bring more embarrassment.”