Consultative workshop on ‘Media for Peace’ held
There is a greater need for cross-media collaboration within Pakistani media to promote peace in the country through exchange and implementation of best practices of responsible reporting, said prominent broadcast and print media journalists at the end of a two-day consultative workshop on peace building that concluded here on Tuesday.
Around 27 TV anchorpersons and talk-show hosts hailing from 25 districts of Pakistan participated in the national consultative workshop entitled “Media for Peace” jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Search for Common Ground Pakistan, supported by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
On the second day, a panel discussion entitled “Cross-Media Collaboration for Peace in Pakistan” saw senior broadcast and print journalists holding a dialogue with participating journalists on Pakistani media’s coverage of violence and conflict. Moderated by Dr Moeed Pirzada (PTV News), the discussion featured Jawaid Siddiq (daily Nawa-e-Waqt), Najib Ahmed (Power FM99), and Afzal Bajwa (Online News Agency).
The panellists discussed avenues for cross media collaboration to promote peace through exchange of best practices of responsible reporting. They said, both mediums, print and electronic, have different characteristics having different perceptions and diverging treatments.
The participants stressed upon greater synergies among media institutions and cross media collaboration for creating common space for peace and harmony within society. Danish Ambassador to Pakistan, Ole E. Moesby stated that conflicts are not just limited to violence and terrorism: “It is also a conflict when a person is not enjoying basic human rights of security, prosperity, quality education, accessible healthcare, clean water and a clean environment.”
Ambassador Moesby shared that Denmark is supporting this program of promoting dialogue for peace-building because it believes that all stakeholders need to connect and develop a consensus-based approach to seek solutions to Pakistan’s challenges for achieving sustainable peace.
“Pakistan’s solutions cannot be given by others, but the Pakistani people themselves,” said Ambassador Moesby. “This is where the media in particular has a role to play in educating the masses and creating awareness. Denmark has seen its benefits of peace. Today Denmark is ranked among the most competitive nations in the world in terms of economy and social welfare systems. We want to see it happen in Pakistan too,” he said.
In her remarks earlier, Country Director SFCG Pakistan, Ammara Durrani said that media in Pakistan has already begun a constructive debate on its role as a guardian of public interest. Executive Director SDPI, Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that media plays a defining role in the process of peace building. “It shapes up public discourse, impacts nature of debate, strategy and raises or lowers the public standing on some particular issues,” he added.
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