Ethical broadcasting: Media outlets urged to set better code of conduct

Speakers say fair reporting the only way for journalists to remain credible.

RAWALPINDI:

With more influence comes greater responsibility - something that the electronic media, which is long out of its infancy, now needs to work upon by setting a code of ethics for broadcasting.

This was the crux of a discussion on “Towards  Ethical Media in Pakistan” organised by Rozan-Pakistan Coalition for Ethical Journalism (PCEJ) in collaboration with the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) here on Friday.

According to former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, media is a driving force and an opinion maker and taking that into consideration, broadcasts of all media houses must be positively regulated.

“Media is fully capable of performing its duty of being ethical,” said veteran journalist M. Ziauddin adding that “conditions for working journalists are much better now than in the past.”



Anchorperson Fareeha Idrees shared her experiences with the participants before urging reporters and fellow anchors to be more responsible in their individual capacities.

“Pakistani media is not following any code of ethics at the moment. The sooner it reaches a census, the better. This is the only way for the journalist community to remain credible,” added journalist Absar Alam.

Moderator of the dialogue Adnan Rehmat said information could be termed the lifeline of a society while informing that for consumers, quality as well as quantity held equal importance.

“The job of the media is to disseminate knowledge and not to create confusion,” according to the Head of Media Studies Department FJWU Shamim Zaidi.



Rozan advisor Ambreen Ahmed shared her experiences as child psychiatrist and revealed that whatever a human sees and hears has a defining impact on his or her personality, behaviour and actions.

“Considering our media is still not that mature, it can, at times switch between being ethical and unethical. At the moment, we do not expect it to show maturity, we just want it to bring reports into limelight in a fair manner,” said Aqsa Satti, a student of media studies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2013.