Saturday, 7 April 2012

Change in mindset of policymakers must to ensure safety of journalists

Karachi, Journalists working in conflict areas face enormous challenges and threats and there is a dire need to change the mindsets of policymakers in media organizations to ensure safety and security of journalists.
This was said by participants of a roundtable discussion on  Reporting Conflict  held at Hotel Avari Towers in Karachi on April 6, 2012, which was organized by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF).
Senior electronic media professionals including news directors, bureau chiefs, reporters and representatives of civil society organizations across from all four provinces and tribal areas/FATA participated in the discussion.
They said that reporting in conflict areas is a difficult task, and it needs proper training so as to ensure responsible and impartial reporting, keeping personal security in view. It was also observed that most of the time desk staff does not understand the ground realities in some cases, which also put journalist in danger.
The participants said that an effective campaign should be run to discourage  Lifafa Journalism,  which they said had turned into  Easy Paisa or Card Loading journalism.  They said that one cannot imagine ideal conditions for reporting in Pakistan, adding that there is lack of trainings and self accountability, which hinder responsible journalism.
General Secretary, Pakistan Press Foundation, Owais Aslam Ali said that life of journalists has become very difficult and one third of journalists working in tribal areas or conflict zone have already left their homes and shifted to other places to save their lives.
On the occasion, Vice chairman of HECP Tahir Hassan Khan, Shahzada Zulfiqar from Quetta, Faisal Aziz Khan of Geo News, , Ali Shinvari from FATA, Trainer Saeed Minhas, Rabiah Baig of Internews, Sadaf Baig of Intermedia,  Imtiaz Chandio of Waqt News TV, Riazul Haq of CAMP , Wahid Jaskani of KTN News, Aamir Ahmad, and others also shared their views.

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