Flood-stricken journalists

Most of these journalists have had to suspend work because of the displacement.

ISLAMABAD: Floods have affected hundreds of journalists across Pakistan with about 230 having been displaced after their houses were washed away or badly damaged. Most of these journalists – particularly those in the suburban districts– have had to suspend work because of the displacement, or are severely hampered in their work by lack of support for their rehabilitation.

We should support these journalists either financially or materially, and restore access to humanitarian information in the dozens of flood affected districts. The good thing is that the apex body of the journalists, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), has researched and compiled a list of journalists seriously affected by the floods. Any help should focus on these journalists so that they can be helped to get back to what they do best: keep citizens informed.

Helping distressed Pakistani journalists who have kept the torch of information burning brightly in regions that were until a few years ago deliberately kept in information darkness, particularly in large swathes of territories affected by conflict, could be one way of acknowledging their efforts to ensure an informed citizenry. Currently no one is supporting the flood affected journalists in Pakistan because the scale of the flood disaster is so huge and there are 20 million victims who manage to draw attention away from the journalists in need. Thus any help for Pakistani journalists in dire straits will be hugely appreciated by the media community.

Adnan Rehmat

Executive Director

Intermedia

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2010.