KARACHI – Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry FawadHussain Tuesday said rapid technological advancement had left little roomto challenge independent media and value of freedom.Addressing the participants, mainly journalists and media professionals, ofa ceremony to mark Excellence in Journalism Award – 2018 here at CEJ-IBA,he said the concept of censorship was nowadays in its last phase as nogovernment could be in a position to impose curbs or restrictions on themedia.”Technology will turn irrational the interventions to restrict public rightto information,” he said in most categorical terms, emphasizing thatdistinction between right and responsibility must also be understood by allthose associated with the field of media.Mentioning that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government cherished thevalue of freedom and considered it to be an inherent right of thejournalist community, he said in the “era of ideas” only professionalsmight flourish.Responding to a suggestion made by an award winner about security andsafety of the working journalists, he said the government stood by thejournalists and professionals associated with print and electronic media.It was the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said, which during itslast tenure worked for the security of journalists through introduction ofseries of measures as insurance cards etc.”We are now in process of introducing a bill in the National Assembly withregard to protection of the journalist community,” he said and particularlyreferred to the proposal for health insurance cards for working journalists.Reiterating that the present federal government was fully conscious of themodern day needs, he said with the fast changing media, different divisionsof the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting were also being modernized.”Focus will be on updated training and education of the youth,” he said,mentioning that making optimum use of available resources in terms ofbuilding, material and human resource, a media university was in the offing.”The envisaged university will comprise training schools encompassingdiversity of the subject, besides an engineering school,” he said, addingthe country where radio transmitters were locally manufactured, could nowbe witnessed even importing needles.Earlier, awards were conferred upon winners in different categories,including excellence in English reporting for newspapers and onlinecontent; Urdu newspapers and Urdu online content; excellence in reportingfor radio and TV, and excellence in reporting for district correspondents.The winners having contributed in issues related to health rights, childrights and women rights represented different parts of the country, clinched awards on basis of their investigation and research basedapproach.Winners included Zofeen Ibrahim, Hina Said, M Atif Shaikh, Xari Jalil,Ghulam Dastgir and M Rizwan Safdar, Rashda Sadiq Kayani, Saman Khan, MureedMohamamd, Umer Bacha, and M Yousuf.It was appreciated that the winners on subjects related to women rightsmainly comprised men contributors reflecting a pleasant change and neededchange in the public perception.The ceremony was also addressed by senior journalists, including GhaziSalahuddin. – APP
PTI government to setup first ever dedicated Media University in the history of Pakistan
