ISLAMABAD: The tragic death of two camerapersons in the Quetta blast has highlighted the ad hoc manner in which news organisations procure life insurance policies for their field staff.

News channels are not bound by law to get life insurance for their employees. As a result, while some channels have adopted the ethical stance of getting life insurance, others simply get their equipment insured and ignore the human beings on their payroll.

“Lack of insurance is a huge issue with a number of smaller channels – many of them are not even paying employees’ salaries regularly,” said Karachi Press Club Secretary A.H. Khanzada. “There is a need for all the unions to concentrate their efforts on the rights of employees in the electronic media.”

But amid the tragedies of terrorist attacks and lives lost are smaller, hopeful stories of channels looking after their employees.

For instance, the standoff between the state and militants during the Lal Masjid siege in 2007 led to two camerapersons being hit by stray bullets. Of the two men, Javed worked for DM Digital and Israr was employed by SAMAA TV.

Without legal safeguards, field staff of journalistic organisations are dependant on their employers’ goodwill

“Javed passed away, while Israr was paralysed as his spinal cord was injured,” said Mohammad Javed, president of the Video Journalists Association of Islamabad. “His channel’s management continues to pay his salary, which is increased when the rest of the staff gets an increment.”

However, the Rs500,000 compensation announced by the government in 2007 is yet to be paid to Israr.

There are other such examples as well.

“Cameraman Arif of ARY was killed in the Karsaz bomb blast while covering Benazir Bhutto’s caravan – the management has financially supported his family by continuing to pay his salary,” Mr Khanzada said.

Likewise, Iftikhar Sheerazi, the DawnNews Islamabad bureau chief, said the organisation has a fair policy in this regard and a handsome insurance policy is ensured for field staff.

“But there is no way to make up for the life lost, so it is not appropriate to announce the amount given to the family of the deceased,” he added.

Unfortunately, such efforts, when they have been made, are initiatives by the channels themselves. And if channel owners are not willing to offer such compensation, there is no law that would make it mandatory for them to do so.

However, experienced journalists who are involved in union activities feel that the safety of mediapersons cannot be addressed by financial measures alone.

For example, Mr Khanzada pointed out: “Managements need to make efforts to train the people at the desk who tend to encourage field staff, including reporters, camerapersons and DSNG staff to get too close to situations where they are exposed to danger.”

Another union leader, Afzal Butt, felt that certain channels were not paying adequate attention to the security issue.

“Media houses should provide a couple of bulletproof jackets, as well as ensure that a first aid box is placed in every DSNG van.” He added that a database should be made to provide details of which channels provided life insurance and which did not.

It is also noteworthy that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), which is supposed to monitor the working conditions within channels, has not taken any steps to in this regard.

The Pemra chairman – who has worked as a journalist – acknowledged that his focus has remained on streamlining content in accordance with the law.

“However, this incident has brought to our attention the need for life insurance for all field staff,” Absar Alam said, adding, “We held a meeting in this regard and Pemra will play a stronger role in the affairs of the channels to ensure the rights of the employees.”

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2016