Our official response to social media propaganda campaign

To our viewers,

An anonymous post showcasing leaked footage of an internee reporter's interview with a child at a children's home claims that a Geo reporter tried to make the child cry and was abusive in the name of trying to benefit from the tragedy of his deceased mother. GEO Editorial Committee has conducted a detailed investigation into the matter.

Our newsroom received a tip that a child was deposited at an Edhi home and needed help locating his mother. With that intention, the package was assigned. The said report aired on May 31st, 2016 in the midnight bulletin and featured an Internee reporter. The package ran only once and its duration was less than two minutes, and hardly few seconds were aired from the leaked footage. We also confirmed from original footage, Cameramen and Video Editor as well as staff at the children center that the child was already distraught and our intern reporter tried to pacify him consistently. We feel that during this positive effort she went overboard due to her lack of experience and training and used words and gestures which should have been replaced by better ones. The internship expired naturally and the said internee is no longer associated with Geo News.

GeoAsool are the editorial guidelines and code of conduct of Geo News available at Geo.tv/asool. Geo News was the first channel in Pakistan history to make compressive code and make it public as part of its social contract with its viewers. No other media organization in the country has sacrificed as much for its journalism code. The Editorial Committee has recommended a further review of GEO Internship program to ensure Geo Asool are implemented properly.

Geo News is managed by Pakistan's most experienced and credible editorial team, viewers trust on our brand and its credibility is our biggest asset. We constantly make an effort to report stories based on hard facts not matter how high the price we have to pay and separate facts from fiction but make them interesting for our viewers to watch without sensationalising. It is a continuous learning process we would always welcome your input on [email protected].