Mian Ehtasham Waheed, while conducting a two-day workshop for journalists on Wednesday, said that the media’s responsibility was to present a complete and unbiased picture to the public. He said that the constitution of Pakistan ensured media’s freedom which has a responsibility towards journalists.Individualland, a non-partisan consultancy, under the umbrella of Free, Independent, and Responsible Media (FIRM) in collaboration with Fur Die Freiheit organised the workshop in which journalists and budding media students emphasized the need to take up journalistic values within the new security environment in which there was a danger of losing the truth and credibility when faced with hostile ground realities.
Senior journalists at the workshop observed that true journalistic values had been compromised, though there were journalists who did not compromise on facts.The journalists and the students of mass communication observed that there were numerous factors which hampered the pursuit of truth. The pressures, the journalists observed, were manifold and multi-dimensional. A journalist faced numerous pressures from all sides including from his own organization, advertisers and the security agencies. Moreover, there was no security and insurance for the journalists, who laid down their lives in the line of duty, they said.
Without responsibility and accountability, freedom and independence could prove harmful, the workshop participants believed. They said the parliament, civil society and the media must sit together to evolve a consensus over what constitutes national interest. The participants, which were a vibrant mix of individuals, also exercised to find out how the ‘stakeholders’ tried to influence the media through money and advertisement revenues. The group called for a paradigm shift in changing the security environment.The workshop will conclude today with the morning session focusing on various journalism tools and techniques that would equip the journalists in reporting in new and dangerous environment. Mian Ethsam Waheed, Zulfiqar Haider and Yahya Ahmad were moderators for the workshop on behalf of IL-Pakistan.
