Surviving the Story& highlights economic plight of slain journalists & families, displaced reporters
ISLAMABAD – January 08, 2018: The government should partner with media organizations to
encourage and institutionalize life and health insurances for journalists, emerged as a key
recommendation of the Field Study Report and the Documentary ‘Surviving the Story’,
launched here at National Press Club (NPC) on Monday.
The report and the documentary are jointly produced by Communications Research Strategies
(CRS) and JournalismPakistan.com.
‘Surviving the Story’ highlights the plight of Pakistani journalists and their families in the wake
of serious financial, security and professional challenges faced by them. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
has been the area of focus for this report and documentary as it witnessed the highest number
of cases of journalists losing their lives or threatened to leave their area. It urges all the
stakeholders including professional journalists, press clubs, unions, government, media owners,
civil society and international bodies to come together for streamlining media practices in
Pakistan by redressing the foremost issue of financial security that the journalist community in
Pakistan faces.
‘Surviving the Story’ 
has documented the cases of families of five journalists killed by the
miscreants and five journalists who had to leave their homes after being threatened by the
militants. Those who laid down their lives in the line of duty are Saleem Tahir (D.I.Khan), Musa
Khankhel (Swat), Azmat Ali Bangash (Peshawar), Fazal Wahab (Swat) and Hayatullah Khan
(North Waziristan). The families of these slain journalists received either little or no
compensation. The other five journalists who came under deadly attacks and were forced to
relocate to safer areas to protect themselves and their families are Anwar Shakir (South
Waziristan), Adnan Bhitani (Tank), Abu Zar Afridi (Khyber Agency), Haji Pajir Gul (North
Waziristan) and Sahibzada Bahauddin (Bajaur Agency).
Chairman Journalist Panel and former President National Press Club, Farooq Faisal while
speaking at the occasion said the report and the documentary ‘Surviving the Story’ will be a
good addition to the Resource Centre at the National Press Club, established to help build the
professional capacity of the journalists. He pointed out that journalists had not forgotten their
colleagues who had lost their lives and referred to a recent addition of a Monument at NPC to
honor them. He said documenting the issues related to the wider question of journalists’
security and safety was an important step for continuing to work for journalists’ rights.
