NEW YORK, March 28: The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed concern over the deteriorating media environment in Pakistan, including business retaliation and outright attacks on media companies.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the media watchdog group noted that “Pakistan’s largest independent English-language media group, the Dawn Group of Newspapers, distributed a letter on Friday from Publisher Hamid Haroon, who said President Pervez Musharraf has become increasingly intolerant towards criticism in the press and towards the publishing of news that reflects poorly on the performance of his government on security matters.”

The letter said the authorities had punished his company by withholding government advertising, a revenue source on which Pakistani papers relied heavily.

“Since December 2006, the Dawn Group is facing massive advertising cuts equivalent to two-thirds of total government advertising,” it added.

“We are very concerned by threats to the independent Pakistani press,” said CPJ executive director Joel Simon.

“When the government pulls advertising and holds up licences, it sends the unmistakable signal that it wants critical coverage to be toned down.”

At least one other media group has come under attack this month.

On March 16, riot police fired tear gas and roughed up staff inside the Islamabad office of the Jang Group, which houses Geo TV, the Urdu-language Daily Jang, and English daily The News.

The raid came a day after authorities ordered Geo to stop airing its daily news programme, "Aaj Kamran Khan Ke Saath" (Today with Kamran Khan), the statement said.