Journalists in Balochistan are operating in an environment marked by pervasive pressure, intimidation and violence from multiple actors, leaving little space for a free press, a new research report by Freedom Network has revealed.

The report, titled “Journalism in Balochistan: State of Media Freedoms, Access to Information and Safety of Journalists and Media Professionals in Balochistan – Way Forward,” concludes that enforced and self-censorship have become the dominant survival strategies for journalists in Pakistan’s largest province by area. It examines the media landscape in detail, including threats to free speech, newsroom structures, gender dynamics, legal challenges, censorship, harassment and dismissals.

“This report shows that journalism is effectively lost in Balochistan, where self-censorship prevails the most as journalists try to stay safe and avoid any mishap,” Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak said while releasing the report on Sunday, December 28, 2025. He expressed hope that the findings would draw the attention of all stakeholders to reverse the situation and ensure the safety of media workers so citizens can access credible information.

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The study is part of a wider series of regional assessments by the Islamabad-based media watchdog highlighting the state of media freedoms in Pakistan’s peripheral regions. Earlier reports covered the merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, South Punjab, central and northern Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the report, Balochistan’s media ecosystem has been shaped by long-standing security challenges, weak governance, economic deprivation and demographic factors, resulting in a chronically constrained information environment. Local media outlets are described as financially fragile, structurally marginal to national media agendas, digitally disadvantaged and exposed to overlapping coercive pressures from both state and non-state actors. The cumulative impact, the report notes, is systematic under-reporting of public-interest issues, increased self-censorship and a steady erosion of citizens’ right to know.

While Pakistan’s electronic media expanded rapidly after the establishment of PEMRA in 2002, the report finds that Balochistan’s regional media footprint has remained thin. National television channels and newspapers have steadily reduced their bureau presence in Quetta, and outside the provincial capital coverage is described as sparse or entirely absent. The province still lacks a terrestrial current affairs television channel, while state-run outlets such as PTV and Radio Pakistan operate mainly from urban centres, limiting reach in remote areas due to language and transmission constraints.

On the private side, the report highlights Vsh News, a Karachi-based Balochi-language satellite channel, as one of the few platforms targeting Baloch audiences nationally and in the diaspora. FM radio exists but remains severely restricted by PEMRA’s coverage limits of 35 to 40 kilometres, which the report says are impractical in a vast and rugged province like Balochistan. Print media is largely confined to Quetta and is hindered by high costs, long distances and low literacy rates in rural districts. Of more than 120 periodicals listed with the provincial Directorate General of Public Relations, only about a dozen dailies have meaningful readership, while many outlets function primarily to secure government advertising. Urdu-language newspapers dominate the market, with only a handful of Balochi and Pashto publications and a small English-language presence.

The report also points to a worsening financial crisis for legacy media. As advertising budgets shift online and public-sector tenders move to digital platforms, traditional publishers have seen revenues collapse. A newly formed Digital Publishers Association comprising outlets such as Azadi, Balochistan Express, Intikhab, Qudrat and Quetta Voice is attempting to transition to sustainable digital models, but the report notes that staffing and budgets have already been cut by half over the past two years.

The digital divide has further deepened Balochistan’s isolation. While Pakistan had an estimated 116 million internet users at the start of 2025, Balochistan’s penetration stands at around 15 percent, with 60 percent of the province lacking fibre connectivity. Prolonged and localised internet shutdowns, sometimes lasting weeks or months, have compounded the problem. The report cites areas such as Panjgur, where connectivity has been disrupted since May 2025, and Khuzdar, where blackouts have followed security incidents. These shutdowns, the report says, severely impede reporting and create starkly unequal digital realities within the country. Although social media has become essential for newsgathering and dissemination, it has also exposed journalists and citizen reporters to surveillance, takedown demands and retaliation.

In terms of safety, the report documents threats from a wide range of actors, including separatist and militant groups, security and intelligence agencies, political and tribal elites, and hostile mobs. Over the past two decades, 40 journalists have been killed in Balochistan, with around 30 target-killed and the rest dying in bombings or attacks. Khuzdar is identified as one of the most dangerous districts for journalism. Journalists are often coerced into publishing militant statements or assisting security agencies in tracing callers, with both refusal and cooperation carrying serious risks. While compensation schemes exist for victims of terrorism, the report highlights the persistence of impunity, noting that no convictions have been secured in journalist murder cases despite repeated official assurances.

The situation is even more restrictive for women journalists, who remain very few in number and are largely confined to Quetta. The report finds that they face multiple layers of constraint, including limited mobility, unsafe field conditions, sexism in newsrooms, pay disparities, lack of basic facilities such as transport and childcare, and harassment. Editors frequently bar women from district reporting assignments in the name of safety, reinforcing stereotypes while still demanding output, and many women journalists are forced to work off-camera or have male colleagues voice their stories.

Overall, the report paints a bleak picture of journalism in Balochistan, warning that without urgent reforms to improve safety, access to information and economic sustainability, the province will remain effectively cut off from independent and credible news.