Report and Recommendations appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the reforms of the media sector January-June, 2013,Launched
A launching event of the printed version of “Report and Recommendations appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the reforms of the media sector January-June, 2013” took place at a local hotel in Lahore. The launch was honoured by Former Minister of Information, Broadcasting, and Senator Javed Jabbar and notable dignitaries including I.A. Rehman Director Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Mughees Ud Din Sheikh Dean Media and Communication University of Central Punjab, Dr. Nosheena Saleem Director Institute of Mass Communication Studies PU, Yasmeen Aftab Professor BNU, Salman Abid Regional Head SPO, and Sidra Saeed Programme Coordinator FES. The event was attended by university students, representatives from SAP-PK, Aurat foundation and other prominent organizations, lawyers, MPAs, and journalist community.
Senator (Retd.) Javed Jabbar, Member, Media Commission mentioned Mr. Jabbar mentioned that the electronic media faces a vacuum in authentic public service broadcasting. A true transformation of the existing state owned media to publicly- owned media is the need of the day.
Salman Abid shared his views that in the light of these recommendations, a national debate on the reforms should be initiated and this discourse should continue towards more transparent democratic practices. He also emphasized that media literacy should be promoted to make people understand freedom of expression and just society.
I.A. Rehman expressed that role of state is already explicit and our media regulatory body is already under influence of such state driven institutions. However, this report is a starting point to initiate discourse on free and fair media. He mentioned that for monitoring purpose media and legal institutional mechanisms should be independent and strengthened.
While acknowledging the Commission’s Recommendations, Sidra Saeed, Dr. Mughees Ud din Sheik, Yasmeen Aftab, and Dr. Nosheena Salim also spoke on the occasion.