What Pakistan Knew About Bin Laden (article)
Artist:
Year: 2014
Date of Action: March 14th 2014
Region: Asia, North America
Location: Pakistan
Subject: Government Secrecy, Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Journalism
Confronting Bodies: The New York Times, Express Tribune
Description of Artwork: The New York Times had published an excerpt from a reporter Carlotta Gall, and the excerpt was intended to be a front page article for the international version of the newspaper. According to the source: "Gall’s reporting looks at the ties between Pakistan’s main intelligence service, ISI, and the Taliban. Her article points to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as one of the Taliban’s protectors who knew about Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts in Afghanistan." (1) Gall's reports have received criticism, and has been called "baseless" by Major General Asim Bajwa, the head of the Pakistani Army's PR department. (2)
The Incident: Although this story appears on copies of the international version circulates in other countries, in Pakistan, The New York Times' Pakistani printing partner, The Express Tribune, removed the story leaving about two-thirds of the front page blank. According tot the source, "The Times’s Pakistan printer, part of the Express Tribune newspaper in that country, removed the article without its knowledge, according to Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy" and that they never "self-censor." (1)
Results of Incident: Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman has expressed disappointment over the censorship but otherwise, no action taken place to date.
Source:
• Source 1: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-22/new-york-times-story-on-pakistan-censored-by-pakistan-printer.html "Source 1" has not been listed as valid URI scheme.
