The media Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), and the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) today walked out of the meeting with the Information Ministry, calling the engagement a farce.
The JAC has announced that all discussions are being suspended until the “draconian amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) are reversed.”
In a statement, the JAC said that the “information minister is toying with the media fraternity in the guise of engagement and keeps passing ordinances against freedom of speech while giving the impression that media fraternity is being engaged.”
It added that there is “a grave trail of examples where the ministry of information is tampering with freedom of speech, muzzling the journalists’ right to report, and financially crippling the media to influence journalism.”
The fraternity had warned of this before and appealed to the prime minister previously as well that a dangerous trend had been emerging which is creating a distance between the government and the public as well as the media workers.
All media bodies stand united to defend freedom of expression and people’s right to information, it added.
