PAKISTAN: ALL GEO CHANNELS BACK ON THE AIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000326 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK PREL SUBJECT: PAKISTAN: ALL GEO CHANNELS BACK ON THE AIR REF: ISLAMABAD 5193 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) After 78 days off the air, President Musharraf announced on January 20 that the GEO news and sports channels would resume broadcast immediately. These were the last two channels that remained blocked after access for many television channels was severed November 3 when Musharraf announced the state of emergency. ¶2. (U) Information Minister Memon told the press January 20 that GEO had been allowed back on the air because it finally signed the media code of conduct. GEO continues to insist that it has not signed the media code of conduct; however, it did succomb to government pressure and resume broadcasts without two of its most popular talk shows. Reportedly, the GOP objected that the hosts of these two shows were anti-government. During its suspension, GEO executives report that the network experienced a loss of 25 million USD. GEO executives had argued that the ban on its sports channel, in particular, was proof that the govenment was using economic retribution to force GEO to cooperate. ¶3. (C) Comment: The government's economic pressure appears to have succeeded, at least for now, in curbing anti-government commentary on GEO, but the good news is that Pakistanis again have access to all media channels - albeit with self-censorship - before the upcoming elections. Some have suggested that Musharraf resolved the GEO issue just before he left on a week-long tour of European capitals to avoid continuing criticism about media freedoms. End Comment. PATTERSON