Media men boycott NA proceedings
ISLAMABAD: Media persons on Monday boycotted the first day of the proceedings of the National Assembly to record their protest against the killing of journalists, torture and humiliation of The News senior reporter Umar Cheema and non-implementation of government promises regarding protection of journalists and formation of the Journalist Victim Fund.
The journalists unanimously decided that there will be no credit line used for the National Assembly stories and only wire stories could be used. It was also decided that the media persons would resume coverage of the National Assembly from today (Tuesday) but the protest would continue.
As the journalists staged walk out, Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza sent Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Riaz Hussain Pirzada to hold talks with the journalists and to persuade them to come back to the press gallery.
The media persons told Babar Awan that the relevant authorities should provide them protection and introduce health insurance. They also demanded creation of Journalist Victim Fund and arrest of culprits involved in killing of three journalists and manhandling of The News senior reporter. The minister assured the media persons that their demands would be taken up with the relevant authorities.
Source: The News
Date:9/21/2010
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