Pemra avoids action against violators: chairman
July 12, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (Pemra) Mushtaq Malik on Saturday appealed to the electronic media to strengthen the hands of the government by reporting events in a balanced manner.
In an interview with this news agency, he said foreign investors are reluctant to invest in Pakistan as the media coverage of acts of terrorism some times creates negative image of the country abroad.
The Pemra chief urged the media to act responsibly and should not air views of persons of the banned organisations as this tantamount to glorifying them.
To a question, Mushtaq Malik said the government has asked the Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA) to prepare a code of ethics for itself. He said Pemra has also imported latest equipment to block illegal FM channels.
He said Pemra has issued two FM radio licenses to the NWFP government for facilitation of the IDPs. Since March 2008, he said, Pemra has issued licenses to 26 private TV channels.
When asked about content of the cable operators, he said there are over 2,400 cable operators working in the country. He said that Pemra has no access to monitor the content of cable operators in the far-flung areas. However, he said, the authority has given advertisements in regional papers appealing to the people to inform Pemra on given phone numbers if they see any objectionable content on their cable.
He said now Pemra has been converted into a facilitator and not a regulator for the electronic media.
He said that the present government has never taken any step against any channel on violation of its code as such an act could be interpreted as coercion. He said Pemra sends notices to the concerned channels but no action has been taken against any channel.
In an interview with this news agency, he said foreign investors are reluctant to invest in Pakistan as the media coverage of acts of terrorism some times creates negative image of the country abroad.
The Pemra chief urged the media to act responsibly and should not air views of persons of the banned organisations as this tantamount to glorifying them.
To a question, Mushtaq Malik said the government has asked the Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA) to prepare a code of ethics for itself. He said Pemra has also imported latest equipment to block illegal FM channels.
He said Pemra has issued two FM radio licenses to the NWFP government for facilitation of the IDPs. Since March 2008, he said, Pemra has issued licenses to 26 private TV channels.
When asked about content of the cable operators, he said there are over 2,400 cable operators working in the country. He said that Pemra has no access to monitor the content of cable operators in the far-flung areas. However, he said, the authority has given advertisements in regional papers appealing to the people to inform Pemra on given phone numbers if they see any objectionable content on their cable.
He said now Pemra has been converted into a facilitator and not a regulator for the electronic media.
He said that the present government has never taken any step against any channel on violation of its code as such an act could be interpreted as coercion. He said Pemra sends notices to the concerned channels but no action has been taken against any channel.
