Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Durrani said on Tuesday that Pakistan has become a model of free media in the entire South Asian region due to the bold initiatives taken by the government to make media more dynamic and professionally vibrant.
Chairing a meeting attended by provincial information ministers and advisers, he said the government had taken different initiatives to facilitate media outlets and in this connection the prime focus had been laid on taking all the stakeholders on board in the implementation process.
The Minister urged the authorities concerned to forge better and cohesive co-ordination to help obtain the desired results for proper implementation of the media strategy.
It was also agreed to hold provincial secretaries' meetings with the federal secretary information and broadcasting on a monthly basis to ensure better co-ordination among the centre and the provinces.
Meetings on quarterly basis would also be held by respective provincial secretaries with the provincial heads of PID, PTV, PBC and APP to formulate and co-ordinate the media matters, he added. The Minister also endorsed proposals of inter-provincial visits by the media professionals and their proper training at PTV, PBC and IS academies.
Durrani asked the authorities concerned to co-ordinate further by short listing their priorities so that the issues could be clarified and the need for motivation could be underlined. He asked the provincial ministries to send their proposals for the excellence awards for journalists to finalise an awards list in time for the next year.
The Minister said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has approved 10 scholarships per annum for journalists for acquiring PhD degrees abroad. He said the journalist community had recommended that M.phil and Masters Degree programmes should also be included with the PhD degrees and the government is considering the proposal. Senator Durrani called for facilitating movement of journalists, especially for foreign correspondents.
The Minister also informed that it has been decided that District Co-ordination Officers and District Police Officers of the respective districts would be available for official briefings to the media persons if any incident occurs in their jurisdiction. Similarly, he added, the provincial information ministers would be available for official versions on issues pertaining to their respective province.
The Minister praised the role of PTV and APP in dissemination of news. The Minister said that the government, in co-ordination with CPNE and APNS, has formed a Press Council to address the complaints against media.