A code of conduct for journalists should be evolved and a self-regulatory body be established for this purpose, Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami said on Tuesday. He was presiding over a seminar on the World Press Freedom Day at the Punjab University (PU) Institute of Communication Studies’ (ICS) Hameed Nizami Memorial Conference Hall.
Lahore Press Club (LPC) President and Pakistan Today Executive Editor Sarmad Bashir, TV journalist Sajid Mir and a number of ICS faculty members and students were also present on the occasion. Nizami said that freedom of the press increases the responsibilities of journalists while performing their duty. The veteran journalist said that according to his father, Nawa-e-Waqt founder Hameed Nizami, a journalist should be intelligent, diligent, honest and have vast knowledge about both national and international issues.
Nizami highlighted the various restrictions being imposed by the federal government and even newspaper owners saying that in some cases, newspaper owners wanted to impose their own ideology on the whole nation. He said that there is no concept of the information ministry in a democratic society. The Pakistan Today editor called upon various journalist bodies to come forward and play their role in protecting the rights of workers.
Sajjid Mir said that freedom of press and freedom of expression have a long history in Pakistan. He said that international imperialism, lobbies and conflict zones are big hurdles in the way of finding truth and facts. Sajjid said that a capitalistic society is a big challenge for those journalists who want to write objectively.
Sarmad Bashir said that both dictatorial and democratic regimes have their own strategy to control the press and said that the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) and the LPC struggled a lot against restrictions on the press.
He said that journalists were murdered in former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure and their families suffered a lot. Bashir said that it is dignity of their profession that journalists are playing their role in society despite all hurdles. The LPC president said that every year on the World Press Freedom Day, people should set some goals for next year and evaluate what has been achieved.
ICS Director Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz, in his introductory remarks, said that to write and speak the truth is very difficult in practical journalism and one has to pay the price for it. He said that journalists have to face big challenges to dig out facts while reporting from conflicted zone and war-hit areas.
