Ethical Decision Making in Pakistan

Television stations in Pakistan are under pressure these days to stop their live coverage of rallies opposing the suspension of Pakistan's chief judge by President General Pervez Musharraf. You can click on the title to link to the full article, "As TV Coverage Feeds Protests, Musharraf Reacts,"

In Witte's article, we learn that live coverage of protests showing lawyers being beaten by police and conflict between pro-Musharraf and demonstrators are stirring more people to action then ever before.

Television stations, such as AAJ and ARY, have come under intense pressure from the Musharraf government to shut down their broadcasts. ARY chose to shut down a polital call-in program.

Conversely, AAJ has continued to cover the story even though they were in the middle of a demonstration where protesters attacked their office and although the police were called no one came to help. That day more than 40 people were killed in the city. In addition, the government has blocked AAJ's transmission to much of the country.

Witte reports, "...several of the channels have toned down their coverage of the crisis, and there is widespread speculation that they made deals with the government in order to continue broadcasting."

Questions that need to be considered:
Does a station choose to stop broadcasting under government pressure?
What happens if the government blocks transmission as punishment for continuing to broadcast?
Should a station continue broadcasting no matter what or does the amount of unrest and loss of lives need to be considered?

This article is a good depiction of how different decisions can be made on the same ethical issue when using an ethical decision making process. Some stations chose to pull programming or tone down their reports while others continue even under government threats of being shut down.