Journalists covering security-related incidents in Balochistan say a pattern of delayed or withheld information from district authorities is creating an information vacuum that fake news and unverified reports routinely fill, according to an account shared with The Balochistan Dispatch by Baloch journalist Dauran Baloch.

Reporters in the province are frequently required to cover insurgency-linked incidents attacks on buses and trucks, vehicles set ablaze, seizures of weapons and ammunition from security personnel, abductions of security officials, and passengers taken off buses and private vehicles. In the aftermath of such incidents, Dauran Baloch said, district administrations including Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, police, and Senior Superintendents of Police often fail to provide timely or accurate details on casualties or the broader circumstances of the incident.

That silence, he said, does not typically stem from a lack of information. Journalists maintain direct contact with relevant officials and hold their official phone numbers, and in many cases the officials are fully aware of what has happened but choose not to disclose it. Left without an official account, journalists and news outlets are often forced to rely on local social media pages or eyewitness accounts from affected areas sources that are not always verified.

Dauran Baloch also described a practice of selective disclosure within police and bureaucratic circles, in which some officials share information only with journalists they know personally, on the condition that the source not be named or quoted. He said this creates unequal access to verified facts among reporters and undermines professional journalism in the province.

He called on authorities in Balochistan to adopt a policy of timely, transparent, and factual communication during security incidents, arguing that consistent, verified information provided to all media organizations rather than a select few would help present an accurate picture of events, curb the spread of misinformation, and allow journalists to report responsibly in the public interest.

Published in Balochistan Dispatch, August 4th, 2026