• Freedom Network report says journalists ‘caught between’ security agencies and militant groups; self-censorship remains only way to ‘stay out of trouble’
• Khuzdar emerges as most dangerous district for journalists
• Women journalists very few in number, largely confined to Quetta, face several constraints including limited mobility and hostile conditions in the field
• National channels and newspapers steadily reducing their presence in the province

ISLAMABAD: Journalists in Balochistan face threats from separatist and militant groups, security and intelligence agencies, political and tribal elites and mobs, creating an environment where independent reporting is no longer possible, says a Freedom Network report released on Sunday.

Titled, Journalism in Balochistan: State of Media Freedoms, Access to Information and Safety of Journalists and Media Professionals in Balochistan — Way Forward, the report notes that journalism in Balochistan has reached a critical point as pressure, intimidation and violence from multiple actors have virtually erased the space for a free press.

Over the last two decades, the report said, 40 journalists have been killed in Balochistan, 30 of them in target killings, and the rest in other attacks and bombings, while Khuzdar has been cited as one of the most dangerous districts for journalists in the province.

Journalists are frequently coerced to carry militant claims or assist security agencies in tracing callers and refusing either of them can trigger retribution, it noted. According to Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak, enforced and self-censorship had become the most effective strategy for journalists to stay safe and avoid any mishap.

The report said that security and politics dominate editorial agendas, squeezing out development, health, education and social welfare coverage. Investigative work is also rare due to risk and cost. Districts such as Turbat, Awaran, Panjgur, Zhob, Dalbandin and Sherani are chronically under-covered and even provincial capital Quetta often appears nationally only during spectacular violence.

The report traces how security conditions, governance failures, economic constraints and demographic realities have shaped the media ecosystem and journalists’ safety in Pakistan’s largest province by area.

While the country’s electronic media expanded rapidly after 2002 under Pemra, the report notes that Balochistan’s regional media footprint has remained thin.

National television channels and newspapers have steadily reduced their bureau presence in Quetta, as digital distribution becomes the norm, leaving coverage outside the provincial capital sparse or non-existent.

“Drawing on desk research, focus group discussions and key informant interviews, it (the report) finds a chronically constrained information environment in which local media are financially brittle, structurally peripheral to ‘national mainstream’ agendas, digitally disadvantaged, and exposed to overlapping coercive pressures from state and non-state actors,” the report stated in its executive summary.

The province still lacks a terrestrial current affairs television channel. State-run outlets such as PTV and Radio Pakistan operate mainly from urban centers, and their multilingual mandate complicates both content production and audience reach. Transmission into remote areas remains limited.

On the private side, the report points out that Vsh News, a Balochi-language channel based in Karachi, has positioned itself as a 24/7 satellite channel for Baloch audiences with national and diasporic reach.

FM radio exists but is constrained by Pemra’s 35 to 40-kilometre coverage caps, which the report describes as unworkable in a province having vast distances and difficult terrain.

Print media is largely concentrated in Quetta and struggles with high costs, long distances and low literacy rates in rural areas, the report notes.

Of more than 120 periodicals listed with the provincial Directorate General of Public Relations, only about a dozen dailies have real readership.

The report highlighted severe gender disparities in the media in the province with women journalists remain very few in number, largely confined to Quetta, and face constraints including limited mobility, hostile field conditions, newsroom sexism, pay gaps, lack of basic facilities and harassment.

Editors often bar women from district assignments in the name of safety, reinforcing stereotypes while still expecting output without adequate support.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2025