Self-regulation in media is practically impossible. Even in the developed countries where the private sector is strong enough, the need of a government statute remains necessary to regulate the industry, said Javed Jabbar, advisor to chief executive on information, while addressing a seminar on Media Laws in Pakistan, organized by Press Club, at its premises, in collaboration with the British Council, on January 27, 2000.

He observed that Pakistani press is segmented on issues relating media and the present government does not want to play with this divide. The government believes in plurality and participation of the people as its guiding principles. We want, he added, an open and transparent policy about information.

Commenting on the role of media he said that media and judiciary are the two institutions that can act as watchdog for public interest. But some of the proprietor-editors have been holding public offices and were become part of the political system that impinges on their independence of work.

Mr. Jabbar was of the view that because of the physical and economic aspects media is inherently diverse, hence, separate laws are required for electronic and print media. He also pointed to the contradiction in press trade unions' thinking where, on the one hand, they demand minimum government intervention in their affairs and, on the other, prompt the government to enforce and implement certain labour laws regarding working conditions of the journalists.

He added that since our normal judicial process is slow, we need some form of forum to settle the media disputes. The journalists should facilitate debate on the proposed press council, consider its potential virtues and should not reject it out-rightly, he maintained.

Earlier, President Press Club Saqlain Imam presented his paper on media regulatory laws in which he focussed on history of media laws in Pakistan and compared them to those prevailing in other parts of the world.

He viewed that these laws restrict media on the pretext of false news, which causes a chilling effect on free working of journalists as well as the media industry. 

Moreover, complete government control over electronic media is also in conflict with Article 19 of the constitution, and its associated rights to information and expression.
He advocated a comprehensive change in the media laws and regulatory regimes. The incumbent media rules, regulations and procedures should be amended in view of the local socio-economic and administrative conditions. In the presence of regressive laws, he said, the idea of establishing a press council or any other media regulatory body was redundant.

However, if we decide to remain within the framework of the proposed press council, he noted, a sanction should be included to receive complaints on the denial of rights to have access to official information. The council should also audit the circulation of various publications through private sector bodies the way private chartered accountants audit the accounts of the companies in the private sector.

Mr. Saqlain suggested to empower the proposed council to the extent that it makes a formula for an equitable release of government advertisements to different publications and broadcasting companies. He further recommended that the press council should function as a forum to redress any grievance of the constituent media members regarding violation or non-enforcement of laws so that they are not abused.
Mr. Saqlain stressed on the need for strict and better implementation of The Newspaper Employees Act 1973 as a minimum guarantee so that human resources are properly built in this industry.

Academician, Dr. Mehdi Hasan, while giving his deliberations on the presentation, said that in the presence of 16 regulatory laws for media, there was no social responsibility on the journalists. In fact, by formulating these laws, the government had took all powers upon itself as the implementing agency. He said establishment of a press council would further restrict the freedom of press combined with already enforced regressive media laws. 

Dr. Mehdi was of the opinion that where the state monopoly on electronic media needed to be ended, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), which was taken over by the government in 1961, should also be handed over to a journalists' trust for independent operations. He said that CPNE no longer represented the institution of the professional editors since owners of the newspaper have assumed the role.

He suggested that the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) should take the initiative by establishing an institution that could ensure the observance of its code of ethics.

While highlighting various other problems that were akin to the media industry, he said that lenient membership policy for organisations and individuals has created chaos in the press media. These organisations and individuals violate media rules and regulations, but the journalist unions have a little grip on them.

He also criticised some of the 'volunteer' journalists who do not get any salary from their organisations but they use unethical practices for their petty material gains. 
Renowned lawyer Dr Humayun Ehsan suggested that the media industry should be viewed with a futuristic point of view. He said that with the multimedia developments all around the world the expression of information is bound to change, hence, the debate should focus on the establishment of media council for settling media disputes rather than a press council, which can only look into press media affairs. He proposed that the media council could function as an appellate tribunal with a panel of arbitrators. 

While conceding that most of the laws were stringent to information, he said that the laws regarding contempt of court and subjudice matters should also be reviewed as 'justice should not be delivered in dark corridors'. These matters should be liberalised instead, he added. 

Senior journalist Khadim Hussain noted that journalists have lesser idea of their professional and social obligations. It could be gauged from the fact that most of the working journalists have not even read the code of ethics prepared by PFUJ. It was about time, he added, that the journalists resolved as to how much freedom they needed and what far the freedom they sought could be constructive or otherwise. 
Journalist Mazhar Abbas raised the point that the question of press council arises only if there were any professional press available in

He maintained that the consumer/reader has choices as s/he can shift to some other newspaper if s/he does not like one, but working journalists, on the other hand, have little choices owing to the exploitative culture prevalent in the media industry.

Referring to the deplorable working environment especially in Sindh, he said that the owners of the newspapers expect gifts and other benefits from the reporters and to come up to these expectations, they resort to blackmailing and other tactics. He also lamented the mushroom growth of news agencies that would increase the dubiousness of information. Vested interest groups could misuse these agencies and misinform the public, he added.

He prompted the government to introduce laws to stop violence against press. Violence against journalist should be made a cognisable offence for which the punishment should be at least 7 years rigorous imprisonment, Mazhar Abbas suggested.

The journalists were being killed while performing their professional duties but neither the newspaper management nor the government were ready to their take responsibility. Even the family of the aggrieved is not compensated by newspaper organisations inspite of the fact that right of the family is ensured by current labour laws, he went on. He cited a recent example of journalist from Thatta, Sindh, who died in mysterious circumstances and the case was still in the abyss. The press had to face a double-edged sword, which was being used by the interest groups to cut the press down to its size, he noted. 

Commenting on the need of a press council, Mazhar Abbas maintained that if a journalist is committed with his profession, he hardly needs any code of ethics to govern him. If the government was to interfere in the media affairs, it should also work to implement the acts that ensure protection for journalists i.e. Newspapers Employees Act 1973. In the absence of such laws, he said, the media professionals have no security of their jobs. Even a newspaper like Dawn sacked as many as 80 permanent employees off were their jobs last year, he mentioned.

He proposed that to safeguard rights of the working journalists, the government should release advertisement only to those media organisation that ensure better working conditions for the journalists. He said that it should be made mandatory for the media organisations to give, at least, appointment letters to their working staff. While, there are cases where the newspapers with a meagre circulation of 1,500 copies have been bestowed with advertisements worth rupees 500 thousand with the connivance of information officer who received 60 per cent of the amount.

Commenting on the market conditions of the media industry Mr. Shamim Shahid said that the new newspapers and publications are introduced with lucrative offers to the editorial staff but they collapse quickly, even two months later, leaving hundreds out of job.

He demanded that the declaration of the publications should only be given to those who are professionally qualified and financially stable.

Mr. Shabbir Anwar, an officer of Press Information Department viewed that the laws do not aim at repressing the media, rather to curb any irregularities that may arise out accidentally or on purpose. He stressed on the need for establishing a healthy relationship between the government and the press. He said that laws are mandatory since they promise discipline. About the press council, he said that APNS and CPNE had been consulted regarding the draft of the council with sincere intentions. He further maintained that there was nothing in the offing by the present government regarding establishing of the press council.

Mr. Siddique Azhar highlighted the wrong choices of the successive governments regarding relations with the press. He quoted Noam Chomsky's book, What Uncle Sam really wants?,  in which it was claimed that the CIA and Pentagon hunted for the ex-Gestapo employees and recruited them for their cause. He said in the same way those journalists are hired here on priority basis who had caused damage to the freedom of press during the previous regimes. Discussing the role of the journalist bodies with owner's representation he maintained that APNS and CPNE were the biggest threat to the freedom of journalist and they should not be allowed to determine the fate of press freedom.

Former President Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) Ataul Mussawar said that the state interference would not stop in journalism unless journalists are taken as professionals. He said that media should be considered as industry and media practitioners as skilled workers. 

He noted that sometimes during the professional course, journalists tend to invade the privacy of others, which is against the ethics of journalism. As an example he mentioned the case of civilised societies where protection is granted to children involved in crime but the same was not practised here.

He informed that the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) have already reached an agreement with the provincial government according to which ads would be released only to those newspapers that comply with the media laws.

Mr. Aziz Mazhar said that the journalist unions had struggled since 1952 for law of declaration for the newspapers and journals and it should not be repealed now as it protects media from spurious institutions that may spring out otherwise. 
He said that through a press council the editors and publishers would be able to nominate the guilty, which again would generate problems for the journalists curbing the freedom of press.

Journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai said that press councils are operative in all the major countries of SAARC except About the Indian press council he informed that it was established in 1966. He quoted a recent incident when Indian magazine Outlook published a report against the Indian army and the press council there supported Outlook instead of succumbing to the army pressure.

He said that the professional journalists should do more homework about press council as the CPNE and APNS seem more active in this regard. He said that if the press council was formed the majority of the pressmen would have no role to play.
About the powers of the press council, Mr. G N Mughal maintained that the press council should be regarded as a conspiracy against the press freedom. He observed the mysterious ways in which press council was being introduced makes it even more flimsy a matter. 

He said that, strangely enough, in all the other matters government talks of deregulation but for the press, government wants to regulate. He questioned that if the governments could afford to be non-serious about constitution, what made them so responsible about the press council. He said that management of the newspapers are one of the biggest impediment in the way of press freedom. He said that the interest of the APNS regarding the press council was not a stance for press freedom, "they are only concerned about the ads," he added.

Senior journalist and president of All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (APNEC) Abdul Hameed Chhapra, Shafqat Mahmood the provincial minister of information also spoke on the occasion, while I. H. Rashid president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), presided the seminar.

A large number of MA students of the Mass Communications Department  from the Kinnard College for Women also took part in the open house session.

In the plenary session of the seminar, following recommendations were reached at by the house.

Dr Humayun Ehsan (lawyer), Ata-ul-Musawwer (daily Sun), Mazhar Abbass (eveninger Star) and Iqbal Haider Butt (JRC) drafted the recommendations. These were discussed later in detail with Javed Jabbar, advisor to chief executive, and the provincial minister of information and other participants. 

1. All draconian laws relating to Press, such as parts of the Official Secrets Act and Sedition Act and special laws should be abolished and discriminatory application of restrictive laws, such as the Maintenance of Public Order laws should end.
2. Increased tendency of violence against journalists should be curbed through stringent laws. Where necessary, relevant laws should be amended for this purpose.
3. It is felt that the proposed draft of the Access to Information Act, 1996, should be promulgated without further delay.
4. The office of editor should be open only to professional journalists having an experience of no less than 10 years.
5. The government must ensure full and thorough implementation of the Newspapers Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1973.
6. The use of government advertisements as political leverage should be stopped. Availability of these advertisements should be linked to continued implementation of the Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1973, and relevant labour laws.
7. We are mindful that the proposed establishment of a Press Council under the auspices of the Council of Newspaper Editors will marginalise the role of working journalists. All regulation of the profession must be by institutions evolved by the journalists themselves.
8. Electronic media and the Associated Press of Pakistan should be freed of State Control. The management of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) should be handed over to a trust comprising senior journalists' Private radio and TV channels should be allowed to produce and present independent news and current affairs programmes.
9. Control to be lifted from APP and APP should be handed over to a journalist trust.