Karachi: Sindh Governor M Azim Daudpota has said freedom of the press should only be there when the masses are mature enough to digest that freedom, otherwise it would be counter-productive.

Addressing a national seminar on “The current situation and the role of the national press” on Wednesday held under the aegis of Mir Khalilur Rehman Memorial Society, he said at present the press of the country was enjoying unprecedented freedom. However, he said the press had not used this freedom the way it should have used it.

Emphasizing the need of a system of checks and balances, the governor pointed out that there was no such thing as absolute freedom and if checks and balances were not there the unlimited freedom would prove counter-productive.

Paying tributes to the founding editor of the Jang Group of Newspapers, late Mir Khalilur Rehman, he said Mir Sahib was a true journalist and was very well aware of the state of affairs of the country not only at the highest level but also at the grass-roots level.

Justice (reted) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim said there had to be an open government in the country so that the people would be able to know what decisions were being taken on their behalf and why those decisions were taken. Stressing the need of freedom of information, he said people must have an access to information and must be allowed to exercise their right to know.

He said had there been freedom of information in the country the complaints about misreporting and misinterpretation of issues in the newspapers would automatically reduce.

He said under an open government the avenues of corruption would also reduce massively as everything would be on the surface rather than beneath the surface.
Source: The News
Date:5/8/2010