Early history Founded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 26 October 1941 as a mouthpiece for the Muslim LeagueMuslim League , Dawn was originally a weekly publication, published in DelhiDelhi , then the capital of British India. Jinnah summed up the paper's purpose when he stated: "The Dawn will mirror faithfully the views of India's Muslims and the All India Muslim League in all its activities: economic, educational and social and more particularly political, throughout the country fearlessly and independently and while its policy will be, no doubt, mainly to advocate and champion the cause of the Muslims and the policy and programme of the All India Muslim League, it will not neglect the cause and welfare of the peoples of this sub-continent generally". Dawn became a daily newspaper in October 1942 under the leadership of its first editor, Pothan Joseph. In 1944 Altaf HusainAltaf Husain took over as the editor and brought nation wide fame to its daily circulation. After the creation of Pakistan, Altaf HusainAltaf Husain moved the newspaper to Karachi, the capital of the newly formed nation state,under the instruction of Mr.Jinnah, the owner of DAWN in Delhi which was then the official organ of the Pakistan Muslim League.Dawn reflected and espoused the cause of the Muslims of India.It was the sole voice of the Muslims in English language.Altaf Husain, its' editor galvanized the Muslims of India by his powerful inspiring and passionate editorials, which earned him wrath of the entire Hindu leadership of the Congress Party as well as Lord Mountbatten the last Viceroy and Governor General of the British Raj.In early August 1947 some senior DAWN staff led by Mr.Altaf Husain arrived in Karachi to start the publication of DAWN from August 15, 1947. The day after Pakistan gained its independence. Mr. Yusuf HaroonYusuf Haroon a close confidant of Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah was given the task to facilitate the publication of DAWN. The offices of the newspaper was housed in the small premises on the commercially busy and a crowded narrow street then known as South Napier Road. These premises belonged to Mr. Haroon. He was at that time planning to bring out a newspaper called "The Herald". Instead at the bidding of Mr.Jinnah he agreed to publish DAWN at his facilities. DAWN grew strength to strength as a most out spoken publication under the editorship of Altaf Husain. He became a legend both at home and abroad for his fearless opposition to the tyranny and corrupt practices of politicians and military dictators after the independence of Pakistan.. He was forced by President General Ayub Khan to leave his newspaper job to become a cabinet minister in his government. So DAWN said goodbye to Mr. Altaf Husain in 1965. The street where Dawn was first published is now known as Altaf Husain Road. Since then DAWN has prospered and has moved to new and larger premises. DAWN still shines as an icon amongst many other newspapers that are being published today in Pakistan. Freedom of expression Dawn has seen a "two-thirds decline" in government spending on advertising, which it relies heavily on for funding. The publisher has accused the government of deliberate measures to put pressure on Dawn. In addition, Dawn regularly carries syndicated articles from western newspapers like The IndependentThe Independent , The GuardianThe Guardian , the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times and The Washington PostThe Washington Post . In Pakistan Dawn has in-paper magazines such as Sci-tech World, Young WorldYoung World , "Images", "Books & Authors" etc. On Sundays, the weekend advertiser carries three sections namely "Ad Buzz", "Career" & "Real Estate". Censorship In the wake of the Kargil WarKargil War in 1999, the Dawn website was blocked from access within IndiaIndia by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, a government-owned telecommunications company which at the time had monopoly control of the international Internet gateways in India. Media site Rediff elicited that the ban was instigated by the Indian government, and then published detailed instructions as to how one could bypass the filter and view the site. 24-hours News Channel On Friday, May 25, 2007, DAWN Group of Newspapers launched the test transmission of Dawn NewsDawn News . It is the first 24-hour English news channel in PakistanPakistan . The launching ceremony of the channel was inaugurated by President Pervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf . The channel started full transmission in late July.