PFUJ cautiously welcomes Pemra bill

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Wednesday declared as historic the provision of stopping of government advertisements to media organisations over non-payment of salaries to their employees under the Pemra Amendment Bill, 2023.

In a press release issued here, the media representative body called upon Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb to make it binding on the media houses owners the payment of salaries to their employees from first to seventh of every month. They said the ambiguity should also be removed that the channel owners would pay salaries to their workers after two months now. The PFUJ also welcomed the amendment to end Pemra chairman’s powers to suspend transmission of any TV channel and transfer these powers to the Council of Complaints.

PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Arshad Ansari welcomed the amendment, giving representation to Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and PFUJ in the Council of Complaints as a result of long consultation process of the Joint Action Committee and the Ministry of Information. The Council is authorised to hear complaints against TV channels, news directors, bureau chiefs, reporters, video journalists, producers, newscasters, etc. They also demanded that the PBA and the PFUJ should also be given the right to vote at the Council.

The PFUJ urged the government and all political parties in Parliament to widen the scope of consultations to address the concerns of working journalists regarding punishments over the issue of ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’, announced in the Pemra Amendment Bill, 2023. They stressed that the provision should not be made part of the bill till completion of consultation process.