HARIPUR: Growing challenges posed by a flood of information to the news industry, economy, governance and global peace in present digital era ought to be faced with a robust collective approach by academia, journalists and civil society organisations.

This was the gist of a seminar titled “Media ethics and ethical journalism” organised by the law department of Haripur University here the other day.

Speakers discussed the effects and repercussions of fake news and how it had lowered the standard and morality of journalism in Pakistan.

In his presentation on fake news and ethics of journalism in modern information landscape, Mohammad Sadaqat, president of the Haripur Union of Journalists, noted that the nation’s reliance on social media and growing digital consumerism, coupled with a lack of data storage and hosting facilities, had knowingly or unknowingly made it easier to manipulate the flow of information.

In order to counteract the detrimental effects of compromised journalistic ideals and the repercussions of fake news, he asked the government to safeguard the dying media business.

He said, “It is incumbent on media organisations, universities, and governments to join hands and evolve strategy to improve the quality of journalism.”

He urged the attendees to refrain from spreading information blindly and viewing contents from unreliable and unrecognised online communities.

In his address, senior journalist Riffatullah Aurakzai stated that as traditional media was slowly collapsing, universities needed to step up and develop coping mechanisms to avoid the expected mass layoffs in the media sector, which he felt would make matters worse. He recommended that colleges should create and provide specialised courses on social media because it was nearly impossible to eliminate the increasing dependence on it.

Abdul Saboor Qureshi, a political activist and a freelance journalist delved into the principles of journalism, and stressed that the journalistic bodies needed to revisit their policies with an impartial approach. He said that over 1,000 journalism graduates were passing out of the universities in the country every year but the quality of journalism was being compromised at a similar pace.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024