KARACHI: The present code of conduct of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) does not apply to the electronic media. As a result, TV newsrooms are not answerable to any authority looking over their day-to-day reporting.

This was stated by journalists during a documentary screening and interactive session organised by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies on Tuesday. Held at the Karachi Press Club, the speakers included journalists Mubashir Zaidi, Azaz Syed from Geo News and KPC president Siraj Ahmed.

The session included screening of a documentary on the prevailing conditions for journalists in the country and a way forward. A manual titled Code of Ethics for Media in Pakistan was also distributed to the participants. It was compiled by three collaborating partners — the Pakistan Coalition for Ethical Journalism, Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (Pips), and International Media Support.

The documentary began with the interview of slain cameraman Munir Ahmed Sangi’s family members. Sangi, a cameraman with Sindhi-language channel KTN News, was killed while recording a gun battle between two tribes in the outskirts of Larkana. Some of his colleagues claimed that he was “targeted deliberately”. Sangi’s family was shown grieving the fact that he died following a news story “without taking precaution to protect himself”.

The short documentary had interviews with journalists, professors teaching journalism and press club presidents from Mohmand, Peshawar and Karachi about safety precautions that journalists should follow while reporting from a conflict zone.

Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a professor at the Federal Urdu University of Science and Technology and political commentator, criticised the media for “taking sides in conflict which proves detrimental for staff working on ground”.

Journalist Wusatullah Khan said: “No news story is worth dying for.”

Head of the Peshawar Press Club Shamim Shahid said: “Balancing a story is the surest way for a journalist to protect his/ her life.”

These comments were followed by a slideshow in which New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists’ ranking showed Pakistan as the fourth most dangerous country for journalists in the world.

Since journalists working in Balochistan were not interviewed in the documentary, Geo News reporter Azaz Syed spoke about them during his speech after the screening. “District correspondents from Balochistan do not give the actual account of incidents as they face threats from the law-enforcement agencies, separatist groups and militants.”

KPC president Siraj Ahmed said: “PFUJ code of conduct and the one presented by Pips is more or less similar in its demands of accurate reporting. Owners of TV channels are in need of reading it more than the reporters.”

However, journalist Mubashir Zaidi pointed out that the PFUJ code of conduct did not apply to the electronic media “which is where the problem lies”. He said that there’s no coordination among unions representing journalists. Explaining, he said in the West the news agenda was decided by reputable newspapers whereas it was the opposite in Pakistan. “Over here news channels decide the news agenda which is followed by newspapers,” he said. At the same time, he said journalism “will always remain a ‘dangerous profession’”, as the nature of crisis will continue to change in the country.”

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017