Workshop on “Journalism in security environment”

The workshop organised by the Individualland, a non-partisan consultancy, under the umbrella of Free, Independent and Responsible Media (FIRM) in collaboration with Fur Die Freiheit on Wednesday with the morning session focused on various journalism tools and techniques that could equip the journalists in reporting in new and dangerous environment. The participants included a range of journalists hailing from several cities of all the four provinces.

The journalists and mass communication students observed that though freedom of speech and independence of the media were provided by the Constitution of Pakistan, there were numerous factors out there which hampered the pursuit of truth and threaten the integrity. The pressures, the journalists observed, were manifold and multi-dimensional. A journalist braved numerous pressures from all sides including from own organisation, advertisers and the security institutions that the independent nature of the profession was threatened. Moreover, there was no security and insurance for the journalists who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

However, the group agreed that in the face of tremendous challenges faced by the media, there were journalists out there who did not compromise on facts and truths and those were the real unsung heroes and flag-bearers of the profession.