Pakistsn_Electronic_Media_Regulatory_Authority(Pemra)

PAKISTAN ELECTRONIC MEDIA REGULATORY AUTHORITY (PEMRA) The print and electronic media has witnessed a revolutionary growth in Pakistan during the last few years.The monopoly of the state television came to an end as the government generously permitted scores of channels to go on air.The expansion was also accompanied by independence and freedom of expression.This is a fact that has been duly acknowledged by Jamilur Rehman,a prominent media man.In one of his published reports he says,"although the president is a military dictator yet he never made any law to muzzle the press.He understands the value of free press and open debate." Freedom of expression with responsible behaviour,the president in all sincerity tried to meet a mandatory requirement of the constituition that states"every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression,and there shall be freedom of the press,subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity,security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof,friendly relations with foreign states,public order,decency or morality,or in relation to contempt of court,{commision of} or incitement to an offence." To meet the provision of "reasonable restrictions imposed by law" a media watchdog,Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was established under an ordinance in 2002 to regulate the private electronic media.On 16th may 2006,the national assembly adopted an amendment to PEMRA to empower the authorities to shutdown broadcasting channels on the groung of telecasting contents "offensive to commonly accepted standards of decency".Under the amended act,PEMRA is authorized to seize equipment,withdraw licenses and conduct investigations and empower the police to arrest electronic media journalists without a warrant.violations are punishable by prison sentences of up to 3 years. Objectives of PEMRA: The PEMRA in its orignal form created a mechanism to control the electronic media to honour the objectives given in the ordinance.These objectives were to "improve the standards of information,education and entertainment",to "enlarge the choice available to the people in the media for news,current affair,music,sports,drama and other subjects of public and national interest",to "facilitate the devolution of responsibility and power to the grass-roots by improving the access of the people to mass media at the local and community level",and to"ensure accountability,transparency and good governance by optimizing the free flow of information." In feb 2007,the pemra act was further amended to insert some more clauses providing further that the authority or the chairman may seize a broadcast or distribution service equipment or seal the premise,which is operating illegally.A new provision was made that authorized the PEMRA to make rules and regulations on its own from time to time by simply issuing notifications in the official gazette.The amendment also increase the fine for violators to rs.10 million from the existing rs.1 million. The above fact sheet shows that the expansion of television network was the work of the government itself.The president was under the impression that for this kind of contribution,his name will be written in letters of gold in the history's of Pakistan media.Little he realized that the media was essentially a show business with ethics of its own.It would always remain on the look out of the matter that would appeal to the eye of the viewer regardless of moral,official,religious or social implications.In view of this it had to work in harness for which a disciplined environment was needed.The authority,therefore,gradually enforced laws,ordinances,rules,regulations and procedures as mentioned above,to keep it on the right track.But it was disliked by the media men. Media failed the acid test: A time came when the country was hit by a series of crises.Lal masjid was followed by the aftermath of judicial activism of the chief justice.Both upheavals were fully supported by the opposition and the lawyers.This activity stunted the functioning of the government. The private tc channels entered into a competition with each other to project as much antigovernment visual footage as possible because they wanted to keep the viewers glued to their screens.The channels were supposed to show professional honesty and discipline.On the contrary they willfully committed all those violations for which punishment has been laid down and they were well aware of them.They asked for the axe to fall and it fell.consequently the wayward channels has to be shut down.They raise as much hue and cry as they could but their case was weak in morality and nationality.There protestations can be summed up as under: a) Government had gagged the freedom of expression which had been granted to them by the constituiton. b) Shutting down the channels had rendered thousands of workers jobless. The ground reality was that they had been thrown out of employment by the faulty behaviour of their masters and not the corrective action of the government.Moreover, channels only talked of their rights but not the responsibilities without which rights were meaningless.The media projected violaters of law and order,presented anti_state element as national heroes and the government as the culprit responsible for the rampant chaos and turbulence.There are many more instances of media irresponsibility. When tv licenses were being generously issued no one could foresee that a caged man-eater was being unchained who would devour its own master on release.It should have put politics aside which is a cruel game of the unscrupulous.As politics winds its way into the media channels under the cover of talk shows it turns into a medium of entertainment, education and information into a stronghold of the politicians who use it as a bridgehead to operate against the government.From time to time, whenever the channels exceed the limits set by PEMRA,it tightens its screws on the channels to bring then into line of desirable conduct.