Air waves in Pakistan are popular with the audiences - and the Taleban. Here a radio host in Islamabad. Photo: Finn Rasmussen/IMS

Working conditions for journalists in Pakistan are getting increasingly difficult as the conflict between the local Taliban and the army intensifies and spreads. In the settled area of Swat, now under the control of militants, some journalists carry guns, an IMS assessment team was told

Pakistani journalists operate in one of the most dangerous areas in the world. Pakistan, and in particular its tribal areas, the so-called Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), are at the centre of the war on terror. The local Taliban are locked down in a fierce battle with the Pakistani army.

Thousands of heavily armed Pakistani Taliban controls the mountainous terrain bordering Afghanistan. They have successfully tried to assert their will outside FATA, in the so-called settled areas of the North West Frontier Province since the Red Mosque incident in 2007. Here, 154 people died and 50 militants were captured following 11 days of fighting between militant Islamists and the Pakistan Army, after the militants had tried to impose Sharia Law in the capitol, Islamabad.

The Swat Valley, a former ski resort and tourist heaven, is now under the writ of the Taliban affiliates, Sufi Mohammad and Mullah Fazlullah - also know as Mullah FM due to his use of radio to spread propaganda and fear among the local population.

During an assessment mission to Pakistan in February, the IMS team interviewed journalists operating in Swat. They preferred to be anonymous.

Sources drying out

Access to sources is a problem for the journalists. They are faced by a wall of silence from a frightened population, and often have to spend hours gaining the confidence of people in order to get them talking.

Talking to a journalist can be dangerous for the locals, because the militants are well organised and fully aware of the effects of bad media coverage. Often the journalists have a militant standing by their side when they interview people. This of course limits the questions that journalists can ask. The risk of being caught in crossfire is one of the major problems facing especially TV crews and cameramen.

- Cell phones are the main tools to reach sources. But you have to catch the heat with a camera, and get away from the safety of the hotel. Going into the field, you never know what hits you. You feel you are in hell, IMS was told.

Greater risk

Previously, the journalists had relative good relations with the militants in FATA and the North Western Frontier Province. It was possible to get interviews with the militant leaders. But today, the journalists are increasingly viewed with suspicion.

- Militants have become brutal, especially in the south of Swat. Journalists have started to carry guns, stated the interviewees.

Two journalists have been killed in the past three months. On 18 February, a TV reporter from the TV-station "Geo" was shot dead just two days after the provincial government and the Taliban had agreed that Sharia law would be imposed on the valley in return for armistice.

Building awareness about safety measures

According to the interviewees, journalists are generally not aware of the wide range of possible safety precautions that may be applied in conflict areas.

- Many journalists are not trained in how to confront the new situation. They are often stringers, and some are not educated as journalists but have left their jobs as shopkeepers and teachers to go into reporting, it is stated. For many of the journalists, their job is the only possible livelihood, and many take risks to get the story done. The lack of knowledge concerning safety measures does not, however, only apply to journalists operating in Swat.

An IMS assessment report on the media situation in Pakistan is currently being completed, and will be published in April. Based upon its conclusions, IMS will consider cooperating with local and international stakeholders to establish programmes that support the Pakistani media.