Wednesday, August 29, 2012

NA body asks nation to boycott anti-Pakistan media

* PCP chairman says no foreign media publishes, broadcasts content against national ineterst

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday asked the nation to boycott media organisations which were highlighting anti-Pakistan and anti-Two-Nation Theory material.
The Standing Committee Chairperson Belum Hasnain requested TV channel viewers and newspaper readers to boycott media organisations that gave coverage to those who spoke against the country and the Two-Nation Theory.
She said that anti-Pakistan propaganda could not be tolerated and these newspapers and television channels could be boycotted by force in order to avoid spreading hate.
Raising the issue, MNA Bushra Rehman said that nowhere in the world did the media gave converge to people who spoke against their own nation.
“Even in the United States, media does not give space to those who talk of dismembering the union, but unfortunately in Pakistan news against national interest are carried out by some media outlets and no action is being taken against them,” she added.
Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) Chairman Raja Shafqat Abbasi said that all over the world no newspaper or channel published or broadcasted material against national interest.
While clarifying a remark by an MNA about secret funding to these organisations, Information Secretary Rashid Ahmed informed the committee that the ministry did not spend a single penny outside of that approved in the Finance Bill.
Regarding the issue of providing security to media professionals, he said that primarily it was the responsibility of the media owners to ensure the security of their staff during the discharge of their duty, however, the federal government remained in touch with the provincial governments over the provision of security to journalists, as it was a provincial matter.
He said if a journalist became a victim of robbery in some city, the Information Ministry could not directly help him, as it could only write to the provincial government to take appropriate action.
He said the Information Ministry provided financial assistance to the journalists’ widows and bore expenses of injuries during the performance of their duty.
MNA Pir Aftab Jilani appreciated the performance of the PCP and hoped that it would succeed in creating a consensus over implementation of the code of conduct in the near future.
PML-N MNAs Shirin Arshad and Shakil Awan expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the PCP, saying that it had failed to take any concrete steps for providing security to the journalists.
Earlier, the PCP chairman briefed the committee about the working and ambit of the council. He said that the PCP, as an autonomous and independent apex body, monitored media practices.
He said that the main objective of the council included receiving complaints about the violation of the ethical code of practice relating to newspapers, news agencies, editors and journalists.
Revision, updating, enforcement and implementation of the ethical code of practice for the newspapers, news agencies, editors, journalists and publishers as laid down in the schedule to this ordinance also come in its ambit, he added.
The meeting was attended by members of the National Assembly (MNAs) Pir Aftab Jilani, Syed Amir Ali Shah, Mehboobullah Jan, Samina Mushtaq, Shamshad Sattar Bachani, Shakil Awan, Bushra Rehman, Istaqbal Khan and Shirin Arshad.
Senior officials from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Press Council were also present in the meeting. app

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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