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March 29, 2024
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EditorialWalking the talk

Walking the talk

The government’s change of heart towards the media organisations and independent journalists is a welcome move. President Arif Alvi recently signed the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, 2021, and in a meeting with media professionals in Rawalpindi on Friday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry assured that the ruling party was firmly standing behind working journalists. Considering that this was the same government that just a few months back was trying to muzzle the media through the establishment of a new regulatory body called the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) that sought to bring print, broadcast and digital media under a singly body, is rather commendable. The change of heart, no matter what the reason behind, can help independent journalists and media houses flourish in the country.

Nonetheless, the incumbent government also needs to realise the reality of the environment Pakistan’s media works in today. While talking to journalists on Friday, the minister said, “We compare our media freedom with the first world. Due to lack of defamation laws, we have more freedom of media than the first world.” This statement only exposes how the government is removed from the reality on ground. Perhaps Fawad must be reminded that press freedom in Pakistan was ranked 145 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index 2020 published by Reporters Without Borders. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is also currently hearing the case of enforced disappearance of journalist Mudassar Naru, who was abducted on August 20, 2018. Independent journalists in the country have far too many times complained about torture or abduction by ‘unknown’ men but the government has done little to nothing to probe inquiries let alone make arrests.

The confession made by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz of using the government’s advertisement budget to fund certain media houses in an attempt to influence editorial policy during the party’s last tenure only exposes the lack of freedom Fawad says the country’s media enjoys. In fact, the ruling PTI has also used the same tactics to ensure positive coverage of its governance. It is then only surprising for him to make such tall claims of press freedom. If the government is indeed firmly standing with working journalists, it needs to form policies that ensure true freedom of press in Pakistan. A good start would be by formulating a policy that provides ad budget on merit. And we do have the technology in place to identify ratings of media houses.

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