There is legal dichotomy with regard to the regulation of the electronic media, according to the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Dr Nasim Hasan Shah. Speaking at a seminar on Electronic Media Freedom Day, organised by the Citizens Media Commission of Pakistan in Karachi, on Wednesday, Justice Shah said Pakistan Television and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation are exhibiting new levels of freedom and private channels are also providing frank and candid discussions besides investigative reporting. However, the laws governing them are different.
While Radio Pakistan works under a specific law, PTV & STN are operating as joint stock companies without any specific statute governing them, said Dr Shah. On the other hand, private TV channels and FM radio stations are licensed and governed under the Pemra Ordinance 2002.
Another glaring discrepancy, he said, is that of channels beaming out of Dubai and Bangkok with largely Pakistani content. There is no rule governing them. This is both discriminatory and inequitable and needs immediate rectification.
Earlier, former Senator Javed Jabbar, who initiated the discussion, said that changes in the electronic media scene were notable. Even state-owned entities were exhibiting a greater freedom and as regional language channels are now being beamed, viewers now have many more choices. But these new horizons have their own hazards, he added.
Jabbar was critical of Pemra meetings being chaired by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Information, while the regulatory body was conceived to be an autonomous institution with arm's length distance from the executive branch.
He called for non-official members of Pemra to assert themselves and was critical of excessive commercialisation with lack of regard for both the viewer and the dignitaries appearing in interviews and discussions.
Many participants at the seminar felt that the amendments made in Pemra law need to be discussed with the stakeholders and they regretted that even after 28 months the parliamentary committee on information had not been constituted.