Alliance demands compensation for deceased journalists
ISLAMABAD: The participants of a consultative conference on safety of journalists has resolved to support UNESCO’s Research Agenda for academia on safety of journalists and agreed on the need for collaboration among academia, media development and UN missions in Pakistan on media safety issues.
The unanimous resolution was passed in the one-day consultative conference on Monday organised by Institute of Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA) in collaboration of UNESCO at a local hotel.
The participants said they support the right to safety and security of journalists and media in Pakistan”. They developed consensus on forming a formal platform of collaboration among journalism, mass communication and media studies departments of Pakistani universities on research initiatives on safety of journalists. The alliance was named as the “Academia Alliance on Media Research”, they added.
The representatives of leading universities from all over Pakistan including media professionals and media development organisations attended the meeting.
Speakers emphasised on self-regulatory mechanisms by media houses instead of government imposed restriction through PEMRA or other bodies.
They observed that there is need of promoting research topics on the safety of journalists and academia, representatives are fully committed that will encourage students to work on media safety issues.
UNESCO Director Vibeke Jensen shared salient features of UNESCO’s research agenda on safety of journalists, while communication and media development expert Adnan Rehmat shared findings of study on Journalists Safety Indicators (JSIs) in Pakistan.
Aftab Alam Advocate, Iqbal Khattak, Dr Sadia Jamil, Tahira Abdullah, Murtaza Solangi, Imtiaz Gul, Shazia Hashmat, Riaz Khan, Dr Azadi Fateh, Shab bir Sarwar, Dr Faizullah Jan, Dr Baram Khan, Shabana Arif, Lala Hassan and others participants emphasised that state should fulfil its responsibility of protecting all citizens, including journalists.
Islamabad Press Club President Shaharyar Khan said suggested for the appointment of special public prosecutor for pleading the cases of attacked Journalists and media workers. Other speakers demanded compensation for deceased journalists by the government and media houses and said PEMRA should be made an independent body, while labour laws and wage awards should be implemented.