NA informed about details of media code of conduct

ISLAMABAD, Dec 8 (APP): State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed Tuesday informed the National Assembly that code of conduct for media had been formulated with the consultation of all stakeholders.
Concluding debate on a motion moved by Khalida Mansoor that the House may discuss the situation arising out of non-existence of code of conduct for media, the minister said that the Prime Minister had set up a committee to formulate complete code of conduct for the
media.”The committee made code of conduct after series of meetings with all stakeholders and also presented it in the Supreme Court,”he said.He was of the views that no society or even a home could smoothly function without proper code of conduct. He said no doubt that the media had transformed the world into a global village, however, the media itself needs improvements.The minister said now it was responsibility of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to implement the code of conduct. He said the Chairman PEMRA was also headed by a senior journalist and expressed the hope that he would implement it.He said Press Council of Pakistan was also functioning and it also address the grievances of people regarding media.Earlier, speaking in the House, Khalida Mansoor said that media always played an important role to create awareness among the
masses. The media also pinpoint and highlight wrong-doings of the government.
However, there must be code of conduct for the media, she added. Amra Khan said the media mostly focus on negative aspect, and demanded that media must also focus on positive aspect of the society.Shahida Akhtar Ali, Abdul Qahar Khan and Sardar Shafqat Baloch also called for framing code of conduct for the media. They also called for bringing amendment in PEMRA rules and implementation of defamation laws.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab said resolution of long-standing Kashmir issue was top priority of the government and the foreign office.
He said the Prime Minister always raised the Kashmir issue on different international fora including the United Nation. He was of the view that Kashmir issue could be settled only
through composite dialogue.