ISLAMABAD: South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) General Secretary Imtiaz Alam has said provincial governments under the scrutiny of the federal information ministry should support press clubs and media organizations across the country and ensure the security of journalists and media outlets.

Speaking at a conference titled ‘Attacks on Journalists and Media Freedom’ held here at National Press Club Wednesday, he further demanded government to allocate special funds in next fiscal year for all press clubs so that journalists would be given special professional training for enhancing their capacity building. A number of representatives of various press clubs and senior journalists, attending the function, unanimously endorsed his demand.

Senior journalists like Tariq Chaudhry, Agha Nasir, Raja Riaz, Asim Rana and others also spoke on the occasion and extensively threw light on the various problems, which journalist community faced during performing its duties. They also offered solutions to the problems discussed in the conference. Alam urged the government to work on the bill of information law that is pending in the assembly for the last several years. The unnecessary delay is injustice with the journalist community and people because they have right to know what is happening around them. He urged the authorities to work seriously on the bill in the larger interest of the masses.
Source: Daily Times
Date:11/24/2011