McClatchy’s Tim Johnson reports from Islamabad that Musharraf has agreed to let GEO TV broadcast. GEO is one of a handful of feisty independent channels that were muzzled in Pakistan’s state of emergency; you may remember it from Shahan Mufti’s eeriely prescient November/December CJR piece.
Alas, there’s a catch. GEO’s owner, says Johnson, had to sign an agreement “not to criticize Musharraf, the military, foreign policy or the judiciary, and to limit visual images of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.” And several of the station’s most popular personalities aren’t allowed back on the air.
Hamid Mir is one of those banned reporters. His take on GEO’s return? “I don’t think it’s a clear victory.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Clint Hendler is the managing editor of Mother Jones, and a former deputy editor of CJR.