Uks Research Centre organised a one-day consultative meeting titled ‘Promoting Public Discourse on Media Content in Pakistan’ as part of its ongoing project with the National Endowment of Democracy (NED) at a local hotel on Thursday.
Uks has partnered with eight universities from all over Pakistan to promote public discourse and discussion on media in Pakistan. As a part of this project, these universities undertook a four-month long media monitoring exercise at their locations that included monitoring and analysing different newspapers and TV channels in Pakistan, and conducting focus group discussions with various segments of the society based on this analysis.
The aim of this conference was to bring together media representatives to discuss the progress and findings of the media monitoring and focus group discussions that have been conducted at the partner universities, and to seek feedback and opinion of the media. Amir Mateen, Muhammad Malick, Talat Hussain and Asma Shirazi along with project coordinators from three of Uks’ partner universities – Zafar Iqbal, HOD, Media and Communication Studies from International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), Ismat Waseem, coordinator BS-MS/SS programme at Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Islamabad and Shujaat Ali Khan, Station Director at Hazara University Mansehra were present at the occasion.
The project coordinators from these three partner universities delivered presentations on their findings and analysis on the media monitoring and focus group discussions. The media persons gave their feedback and views on this exercise. They commended the varsities’ efforts and urged that such initiatives should be encouraged in Pakistan. They emphasised on the need of public discussion and a more responsible media.