ISLAMABAD: The journalists from all over the country on Friday formally rejected the recent amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, terming them as a \u201cdraconian black law, specifically engineered to facilitate the arm-twisting of journalists and the suppression of Pakistan\u2019s media landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe demand the Parliament to review all media laws that are contrary to Article 19 of the Constitution,\u201d reads a declaration issued at the conclusion of National Journalists Convention on \u201cMedia Laws, Regulations, and Ethics\u201d organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Article 19 of the Constitution grants right to freedom of speech to every citizen, including journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the declaration, known as \u201cIslamabad Declaration\u201d, the journalists \u201cdenounced the violation of the government\u2019s solemn promise that these laws would never be weaponised against the press.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nParticipants formally reject Peca amendments, terming them \u2018draconian\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The convention was attended by more than 600 journalists and media workers, including a large number of women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe observed that the authorities have instead escalated a campaign of judicial harassment, including the arbitrary offloading of journalists from flights and the restriction of professional travel abroad, creating a pervasive environment of fear and intimidation,\u201d says the declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Convention expressed grave concern over \u201ccontinued retrenchments and the deliberate job insecurity created by media owners, particularly in the electronic media sector, where layoffs are taking place without justification, leaving hundreds of professionals jobless amid record-high inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe declare these mass firings a systematic design to bring the media under the control of government institutions. We further condemn the introduction of third-party hiring as a tactic to bypass the wage board and national labour laws, and to serve the interests of the Seth Mafia,\u201d says the declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the declaration, the participants of the convention \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d the denial of basic employment rights to journalists and media workers, including health insurance, gratuity, and EOBI registration and benefits, adding: \u201cSuch denial is not merely an administrative failure but a deliberate violation of workers\u2019 dignity, security, and lawful entitlements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The declaration called for an employment structure for electronic media through a parliamentary act for the safety and security of the jobs of media workers and technicians working within electronic and digital media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Convention expresses serious concern over government\u2019s policy of using public advertisements as a tool of financial pressure to dictate editorial content and enforce censorship through informal press advice. Daily Dawn, in particular, is a victim of this policy; it is being denied not only public-sector advertisements but is also facing a situation in which the private corporate sector is being persuaded to withhold advertising,\u201d says the declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the Convention \u201cspecifically denounced the government\u2019s role in forcing media-house managements to terminate the services of specific journalists and media workers as a prerequisite for releasing advertisement funds or providing patronage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the Declaration, they demanded immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all cases against journalists under Peca and \u201ccalled for a transparent review of the legal framework to ensure that it is no longer used for political victimisation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The participants of the convention also demanded initiation of the process for the 9th Wage Board Award, which should cover print, electronic, and digital media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Convention further demanded that all media houses provide health insurance, gratuity, and EOBI registration and benefits to journalists and media workers without discrimination or delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe urge the media owners to respect human dignity and prioritise the rights of the lowest-paid staff instead of resorting to ruthless retrenchments while continuing to accommodate highly paid anchors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On this occasion, a resolution was also passed by the participants \u201cnoting with deep concern that despite the enactment of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, 2021 by the Parliament, journalists continue to face violence, intimidation, and harassment without adequate legal recourse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The resolution calls upon all four provincial assemblies to immediately enact the similar legislation to ensure journalists\u2019 protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD: The journalists from all over the country on Friday formally rejected the recent amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, terming them as a \u201cdraconian black law, specifically engineered to facilitate the arm-twisting of journalists and the suppression of Pakistan\u2019s media landscape.\u201d \u201cWe demand the Parliament to review all media laws […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","inline_featured_image":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_798604363342440":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[{"account":"facebook_3859443944190656_798604363342440","service":"facebook","timestamp":1779521100,"status":"success"}],"rop_publish_now_status":"done","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21741,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21739\/revisions\/21741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}