• January 26, 2004
• General News, Training and Capacity Building
• Web Desk

Date: January 26-30, 2004
Location: Karachi

Internews, an international organization, working for journalism development in the developing countries conducted the workshop. Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister on Information and Archives Salahuddin Haider was the chief guest at certificate awarding ceremony on Friday, January 31, 2004.

He deplored that some reporters working for local dailies don’t authenticate their stories from officials concerned and appealed to editors of local newspapers to guide their reporting staff.

He said press and media were relatively free nowadays but some newsmen were taking unfair advantage of government’s relaxation.

Mr. Salahuddin Haider maintained that press suffered in Martial Laws in Pakistan due to unnecessary restrictions on it but the present government has adopted a liberal media policy and allowed private TV channels to operate and granted declaration for publishing newspapers in the country.

“I believe that press and media help in bridging gap between people and the government and nowadays, debates are regularly being held on various social, political and religious issues, of which nobody could think of in the past” he added. Lauding people running PPF and management of Pakistan Press International (PPI) for their services for promotion of journalism by organizing training courses and workshops, he expressed hope that these
Mr. Salahuddin Haider awarding certificate to one of the participants.
courses and workshops will help in improving journalistic standards in the country.

He also appealed to the Radio Pakistan authorities to replace their “outdated” broadcasting equipment with modern and sophisticated technology to improve quality of their production and save precious time.

Earlier, Ms. Lisa Upton, Resident Journalism Advisor of Internews, in her remarks introduced her organization, saying it is working in over 40 developing countries for promotion of radio journalism and provision of training and modern broadcasting equipment to journalists, especially women.

Lauding the policies of President Pervaiz Musharraf and his government regarding freedom of expression and establishment of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), she said only 3 percent women were working for media organizations.

“Internews wants to encourage women to adopt journalism as profession as they can easily highlight the problems confronting their folk”; she said adding that visiting Pakistan and interaction with local journalists was an exciting experience. Chairman PPI and Secretary General PPF Owais Aslam Ali also spoke on the occasion while Vice Chairman Fazal Qureshi; Research and Training Coordinator Internews Aurangzaib Khan and local journalists were also present. Later, Mr. Salahuddin Haider Distributed certificates among participants of the training workshop.