Responsible journalism: Roundtable discusses recommendations of media commission

The commission was formed by the Supreme Court to address nine terms of reference.

PESHAWAR: A roundtable constituting NGOs and the academia reviewed the recommendations of the media commission appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday.

The roundtable was jointly arranged by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Pakistan, Citizen Initiative on Media Issues (CIMI) and the Journalism and Mass Communication department of the University of Peshawar (UoP).

The commission was tasked by the Supreme Court to prepare a report based on nine terms of references (ToRs), one of which was to enquire allegations of corruption in the media and to make recommendations to ensure impartial and independent media coverage of the May 11 general elections.



Former federal minister for information and member of the commission, Javed Jabbar, was the lead speaker and briefed the participants about the scope, purpose and work done by the commission so far.

He informed that the commission was formed on January 15 following a flurry of writ petitions regarding the media, including one from journalists Absar Alam and Hamid Mir. “The court formed a two-member commission comprising Justice (Retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid as the chairman and I as a member to prepare a report based on nine ToRs entrusted by the court,” Jabbar said.

The commission submitted the first part of its report to SCP on March 21. The remaining part addressing the other eight ToRs were submitted later in June after detailed meetings and interviews with about 166 people, including journalists and government officials, among others associated with 85 organisations.

“The report submitted by the media commission is a first of its kind and shows a way forward for the Pakistani media with suggestions from other stakeholders,” Jabbar said.

He pointed out issues highlighted in the report pertaining to the inherent bias in the media and said the subjectivity and selectivity of content by journalists leads to suppressing reality.

Jabbar suggested the media direly needs an ombudsman who can regulate coverage in light of objectionable content. Commenting on media laws, he said there are 64 different legislations, but many of them were outdated. “The National Assembly and Senate need to establish a committee to review existing laws.”

The former minister has also taken up the issue of licensing private television channels and said the commission suggested that no new license should be issued till the transition from analog cable technology to digital is completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2013.