• August 25, 2016
• PPF Activities
• Web Desk

HYDERABAD, August 24: While condemning the recent attacks on media houses in Karachi, Hyderabad’s journalists said that journalists’ organizations, media houses, and government should jointly make an integrated strategy to protect media persons.

“The tradition of attacking and harming journalists, and then seeking apology must be brought to an end now, while accused involved in such attacks should be punished according to the law,” they said while addressing a three-day Journalism Skills Workshop, organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in collaboration with the International Media Support and the Denmark Embassy Islamabad in Hyderabad. The workshop was attended by electronic and print media journalists.

Hyderabad Union of Journalists (HUJ) President, Iqbal Mallah, said that the media will have to organize technical trainings for their workers to further improve its standard. Due to lack of training, quality of journalism is declining, he pointed out.

Mallah further said: “Attacks on media houses, press clubs and journalists have created a serious situation; therefore, it has now become necessary to devise a joint policy to get rid of this situation.”
Hyderabad Press Club’s (HPC) former General Secretary, Mansoor Marri, said that HPC had also come under such attacks, but attackers made apologies in a bid to settle the issues; however, fact is that joint efforts should be made to punish the accused as per law.

He said: “No any party should try to protect its activists involved in the attacks on media houses, press clubs and journalists. It is not possible that the parties will produce their workers for facing the law; therefore, media organizations should not accept any apology after attack on media houses, or journalists.”

The journalists said: “The administrations also exert pressures on press clubs and journalists in a bid to settle such issues and not to raise the same. Due to this tradition, attacks on journalists are being continued.”

The participants thanked PPF for organizing skills training for journalists. Certificates were also presented to the participants at the end of workshop.