RAWALPINDI, May 5: Media persons should adhere to journalistic ideals, objectives and impartial reporting even in the face of strong resistance from states, commercial organizations, groups and individuals.

This was the viewpoint at a panel discussion on "Support to media in violent conflicts and in countries in transition", held at the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) here on Wednesday. The FJWU in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre had organized the programme in connection with the World Press Freedom Day.

The simplest but still the hardest question on the occasion was whether journalists were free in the real sense of the word or were themselves suffering from some universal human factors like prejudice, emotional, religious, political and ideological attachments, patriotism and nationalism, etc.

Another issue which was put before the experts was whether the presence of journalists at the actual site of an event, even in situations like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars or the military operations in Wana, was essential or whether reporters should accept, as a reality, the official versions and statistics.

Paul Anderson of the BBC said one of the best and reliable options with reporters was official statistics and description of the event. Jean-Herve Deiller of AFP, however, said an event could best be reported if it was witnessed by journalists themselves, because official statistics and version often misled the journalists.

It was also highlighted that Pakistani media, especially the press, had born out of conflicts. From Pakistan Movement to the Dhaka debacle and from the three wars with India to four military coups, the media here has passed through constant turmoils each time.

The journalists had and still have no safty. The media are still far from being free. Again, the English press, which was presenting a more realistic picture of society, had consumers only in the elite or upper middle classes. The ordinary people only relied on Urdu press, they said.

Besides, the journalists here have no access to official information. While the government and commercial organizations could still press any newspaper to abandon its justified campaign against any of their activity.

They said the international community had failed to condemn the violence meted out to journalists in Pakistan after Gen Musharraf took over. The international community, including the UN, criticized governments for their anti-media policies only in those states where it had no interests.

Director UNIC Onho read out UN secretary-general Kofi Annan's message on the World Press Day, which said the day was being observed to pay tributes to those journalists whose reporting had led to their imprisonment, detention and even murder.

Mr Annan regretted that the Committee to Protect Journalists continued to document sombre facts about the danger and hostility faced by journalists. FJWU vice-chancellor Dr Najma Najam paid tribute to journalists and asked the international community to ensure their safty not only during wars but also at time of peace.