09 May 2004	Sunday	18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 8: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Saturday decided to convene a meeting soon to finalise its recommendations on the proposed amendments in the Pemra Ordinance and rules with a view to giving relaxation in the existing cross media restrictions for grant of satellite channels.

In its 25th meeting, the authority considered the proposed amendments and considered proposals for making the ordinance more effective for ensuring a fair competition and a level playing field for all media players.

It was felt that the authority's enforcement mechanism needed to be streamlined to safeguard the interests of all players. It was, therefore, considered necessary to consult the stakeholders on the proposals in order to provide for any constructive suggestions before making final recommendations for amending the ordinance and rules.

In this context, the authority felt that it was necessary to elicit the view point of the owners of the media houses affected by the proposed amendments in the existing provisions of the ordinance.

The meeting also examined comprehensive proposals for policy guidelines on advertisement and decided to hold a public consultation by releasing the proposals to the public. It also decided to organize a public forum on the advertisement policy guidelines where representatives of the Pakistan Advertising Association and other media organizations would be invited to provide their views.

The meeting was presided by the Pemra chairman Mohammad Javed which was also attended by members including Syed Anwar Mahmood, secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shahzada Alam Malik, chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Abdur Rehman, Dr Seemi Naghmana Tahir and Umer Aziz.