A national summit of journalists in Lahore, organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), today adopted a plan of action to strengthen journalism and media ethics in Pakistan.

In what the IFJ describes as "a breakthrough moment" for journalism, the summit involving more than 120 journalists from throughout Pakistan endorsed a programme that will 

- establish a national code of journalistic ethics;

- develop a proposal for an independent media complaints commission; and

- ensure that journalists across the country receive long-overdue wage increases.

Editors and publishers present at the meeting agreed to implement immediate increases in staff salaries and agreed on actions to strengthen professional ethics and self-regulation of Pakistan’s media.

The summit adopted a 26-point draft code of ethics and agreed to a work programme including  preparation of proposals for an independent media complaints commission, to be adopted in collaboration with associations of publishers, editors and broadcasters.

PFUJ President Huma Ali will lead a committee that will draft a proposal on the operation and structure of the new commission. The committee will report within one month of its constitution.

At the summit, the editor-in-chief of the Frontier Post, Rehmat Shah Afridi, pledged to honour the Seventh Wage Award for journalists and media employees, which was due to be implemented two years ago under a statutory national structure for collective bargaining. His media company is the first to put the award in place.

Arif Nizami, editor of The Nation, who is also president of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), said media staff in his organisation would receive a 20 per cent wage rise from August 1.

"This summit is a breakthrough moment for journalism in Pakistan," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, who attended the summit. "Now is the time to unify all sides of media around a programme to lift standards of journalism and to improve the conditions and wages of people in the industry."

Amid increasing threats and attacks against the media by state and non-state actors, the summit registered deep concerns about the deteriorating security situation for journalists and media workers in Pakistan.

The Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sherry Rahman, told the summit that the Government would support any endeavour from the journalists’ community to adopt an independent code of ethics. She added that the government would convene a tripartite meeting to discuss implementation of the Seventh Wage Award.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0919
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries