News dissemination: ‘Advertisers rival govt oppression’

Status of press freedom in Pakistan critiqued at LCWU seminar

LAHORE: Speakers at a seminar here berated the status of press freedom in Pakistan, saying journalists worked under constant threats and were frequently harassed, even killed in the line of duty.

The seminar was organised by the Department of Mass Communication of Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) on Thursday to mark the International Press Freedom Day.

The participants said Pakistan had a vibrant electronic and print media. They said hundreds of journalists were employed in the media industry. They said journalists played an important role in highlighting various issues. Chief guest Salman Ghani as well as Saadia Salahuddin, Asif Sindhu and Nasarullah Malik said media owners, advertisers, the government and the extremists were major oppressors of press freedom. Assistant Professor Faiza Latif spoke on the importance of press freedom for a developing country.

Ghani said students should be aware of how various interests influenced the freedom of expression. “On this day, we should take an oath to continue to demand freedom of expression. I am hopeful about the future of media in Pakistan because well-educated young women and men are joining this field. They must take responsibility for reporting facts as they see them.”

Saadia Salahuddin said one of the obstacles to dissemination of news was the difficultly of discovering facts. “There are so many no-go areas in Pakistan and this makes it hard for reporters to gather information,” she said. Nasarullah Malik said though media in Pakistan was free, it was not responsible.

Dr Anjum Zia, head of the Mass Communication Department, was also present at the seminar. She said that the views discussed at the seminar should be a lesson for students of the department. She said, “The issues of ownership and advertisers are major impediments in the way of press freedom.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2016.