PM orders state-owned media to cover all political parties

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday directed the state-owned media to give enhanced coverage to all political parties including the opposition, both in news and current affairs programmes.

"The democratic government was a staunch supporter of media freedom and had scrapped the draconian laws introduced in past to curb media," he said during a presentation given to him by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the Prime Minister House here.

The briefing was attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, the Secretary Information and heads of attached departments of the ministry.

The Prime Minister described media freedom and democracy as inseparable and said the government would ensure press freedom and free debate which is critical for the evolution of a pluralistic society.

The Prime Minister appreciated Pakistan Television (PTV) for reaching out to maximum number of people in the country as a terrestrial channel, which was disseminating news to its viewers with responsibility.

The success of PTV Sports Channel merited special appreciation during the presentation. The Prime Minister directed to overcome shortage of DSNG(Digital Satellite News Gathering) vehicles on emergency basis.

He said in media's competitive world, it was important to equip the state television channel with latest technology to ensure live coverage of important events.

He hoped that it would enable the official television to focus on the issues of the people in rural areas.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to take immediate steps for making it's media university functional to impart advanced training to working journalists.

He asked the media heads of Information Ministry to focus on projecting achievements of the government in various fields.

The Prime Minister mentioned several steps by the government including National Finance Award, constitutional amendments, identity to Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, introduction of reforms in FATA, and making Pakistan a wheat exporting country, which he said would have far-reaching effects on federation and national economy.

The Prime Minister directed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to exercise its authority under law against the channels engaged in airing indecent and unauthorized material.

Earlier, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira in his presentation said there was a marked improvement in the current affairs and news programmes of PTV. However, he said there was still an ample margin for improvement.

He said his Ministry was pro-actively engaged to set the trend of news dissemination with responsibility.

The Minister said the Press Council of Pakistan under its Chairman Shafqat Abbasi was doing good job because people now had access to a forum to file their complaints against media organizations for redressal of their grievances. (APP)