Senate body urges media to uphold objectivity, impartiality
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting has directed the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting not to spare any efforts for ensuring a fair, balanced and objective coverage to all political parties besides upholding the freedom of expression, which remains an essential pre-requisite to every democratic system.
“The immense potential possessed by the Media must be utilized for promoting national integration and improving the lot of the people”, said the members. They urged the Media Managers of the Government to promote objectivity and credibility in the print as well as the electronic media by truthful depiction of events.
Earlier, the Committee met at the Parliament House on Wednesday under the aegis of its newly elected Chairman, Senator Liaqat Ali Bangulzai further directed the Ministry to strive for projecting a better image of the country in and abroad and make efforts for strengthening freedom of the Press and Media in the country. It expressed its satisfaction over opening-up of the Media particularly the state owned PTV, PBC and APP and termed this as a healthy trend. It observed that the launching of new electronic channels would go a long way towards strengthening freedom of Press and Media and the public right to know. “The Media must truly reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people”, said the Committee members. The Chairman of the Committee Senator Liaqat Ali Bangulzai expressed the view that an independent media plays a key role in reshaping the nation’s destiny whereas the information based on wrong footings always proves counter-productive.
He exhorted the official media to give equal coverage to both the Opposition and the Government. The members of the Committee were of the view that a free and independent media being the guardians of people’s rights, expected the print and electronic media not only to project the useful and national building activities of the Government but also to provide honest feed-back on its policies.
It was observed during the meeting that proliferation of the electronic channels has not only thrown up new challenges but also provided new opportunities. The Media has made the world a global village and therefore the need for responsibility, objectivity and impartiality is even greater today than it was ever before, observed the Committee Members. The Committee expected from the free media that it would avoid sensationalism and glamorization of crimes alongwith observing the social and ethical norms and moral values.
The Committee asked the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to ensure that all appointments in the organizations under its control must be made purely on merit and only the most suitable persons be assigned the task of projecting the country’s image abroad. It also urged that efforts be made to address the issue of funds and other bottlenecks, which are hampering efforts aimed at better projection especially in the foreign media. The Committee commended the new initiatives taken by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting like improvement in the news contents of PTV and its presentation upholding greater objectivity and propriety.