Transparency, merit in ads urged | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Transparency, merit in ads urged

KARACHI: Chairman Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) Raja M Shafqat Khan Abbasi on Thursday emphasised on transparency and merit in issuing official advertisements to newspapers through an independent forum.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar ‘Media and the Challenges’ organised by the Karachi Union of Journalists at Karachi Press Club (KPC) to mark the World Press Freedom Day.

Abbasi said that there should also be one regulatory body and a unified policy for the entire media — print and electronic.

He said that the media, especially the electronic one, would have to show professional responsibility while reporting or commenting on some issue/event. Standards and quality must be developed in journalism, he said.

He supported the demand from media and assured that PCP would sit together with representatives of media — journalists and owners of newspapers and TV channels — to review the laws relating to media and access to information, including the defamation law.

KPC General Secretary Moosa Kaleem highlighted the historic role of Karachi Press Club for democracy and for rights of people, and promotion of professionalism and ethics in journalism.

President KUJ Aamir Latif said that these days the media was relatively free. However, he regretted that some pressure or violent groups had appeared on the scene who have made very difficult for journalists to fulfil their professional responsibilities freely.

Prof Dr Tauseef Ahmed said that press cannot be free without democracy.

Daily Times