ISPR to vet defence analysts ahead of TV appearance: Pemra

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has instructed all television channels to seek approval from Pak Army’s media wing before inviting retired military officers for commentary. The media watchdog issued a notification on Thursday stating that ‘concerned quarters’ have observed that retired military officers ‘are usually not fully conversant with the latest defence and security developments due to their service background and post-retirement time’ when sharing their views on programs. The regulatory body directed media franchises to seek ISPR’s approval when inviting former military officers as “defence analysts”, however, if the discussion involves non-security matters, the guest be introduced simply as an ‘analyst’. The notification notes that discussions featuring such retired personnel mostly switch from security matters to politics, which inadvertently embroils military officers into political debate terming it undesirable. “Strict compliance is desired by all the News and Current Affairs TV Channel licensees,” it added and instructed that approval should be sought from ISPR before inviting any officer as defence analyst. Let it be known that for years, Air Marshal (r) Shahid Lateef, Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shoaib among others have been making appearances on TV shows as ‘defence analysts’, prompting calls for thorough scrutiny of the individuals prior to identification with such roles.