LAHORE, Aug 2: Federal information minister Sherry Rehman joined senior journalists in calling for a unified code of conduct for both electronic and print media, together with a greater emphasis on self-regulation at an international journalism summit here on Saturday.

She said: “Without self-regulation, there can be no real regulation,” adding that in developed democracies there was no need for information ministries, which had traditionally taken up the role of custodians of state views.

“I think the People’s Party ministry should be more a facilitator, not just to journalism but to a process towards more self-regulation and less state regulation than anything else,” she said.

Citing the government’s repeal of the infamous Pemra “blacklaws” as an example of the present government’s progressive values, she added that the anachronistic Press and Publications Ordinances would soon be repealed in parliament and were scheduled for the National Assembly’s agenda.

“In the four months I’ve been in this ministry, Pemra has issued 1 memo only. That is because the authority has to be weaned away from telling the print media what to do,” she said.

On the confirmation of journalists’ wages and the Seventh Wage Board, she said the government would hold a tripartite dialogue in August, hoping to make headway on the issue.

She announced that information ministry would support a fund for journalists who fall victim to death or injury in the line of duty. She called for three representatives, one each from working journalists, editors and owners, to help distribute government grants.

Earlier, senior journalists and union leaders Aidan White, secretary general of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Huma Ali, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Mazhar Abbas, secretary general of the PFUJ, debated a proposed 25-point code-of-conduct to form the basis of a self-regulatory body.

Panelists suggested the body could be staffed by members of the public, such as retired judges, as well as senior industry figures along the lines of the British Press Complaints Commission.