• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2012: Not Free (144th/197)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2012: 151st/179
• Pakistan has been dubbed “the world’s most deadly country for journalists” for two consecutive years by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Northwest Pakistan, where Radio Mashaal broadcasts, is especially dangerous due to militancy and a general lack of security. Illegal radio stations in the region spread pro-extremist propaganda and harmful disinformation and journalists are routinely threatened, kidnapped, and attacked.

Highlights

• Radio Mashaal provides local and international news and in-depth political reporting featuring local policy makers and tribal elders. It broadcasts several programs that are unique in the region, dedicated to youth, women’s issues, human rights and health care.
• In response to the extremist environment of the tribal area, Mashaal programs seek to foster moderate Islam, especially among the region’s majority youth population. In 2011, a series of reports explored how moderate Islam is taught at Egypt’s Al Azhar University, while in May 2012, Mashaal sent a correspondent to report on the Turkish brand of Islam.
• In May 2012, Mashaal launched a new live entertainment program combining musical content banned by the Taliban with audience participation that highlights the need for religious, social and cultural tolerance.
• Another new program launched in May 2012 follows Mashaal reporters who discuss with ordinary people on the challenges of daily life in the borderlands.
• After the Taliban banned a World Health Organization polio vaccination campaign as an “act of infidels,” Mashaal started an awareness campaign and covered the WHO effort extensively. The FATA Health Department has declared that 65% of those vaccinated learned about the campaign from Radio Mashaal.
• Mashaal reported exclusively about a schoolboy who set himself on fire in April 2012 because his family could not afford to buy his school uniform.  In response to the story, a local charity was founded to support poor students; it offered a scholarship to the boy’s older brother.