KARACHI: tragic death of Sadaf Naeem, who covered the long campaign of Imran Khan for a private TV channel, once again exposed the pressure on journalists in field must face also lack of professional training available to media practitioners.
An incident that took a life of a mother of two is not first of also kind of. During the wave of terrorism that gripped the country between 2008 and 2015, a number of of journalists, mostly from broadcast media has died in various acts of terrorism in the performance of their professional duties.
These losses and Ms. Naim death could have been prevented, say industry insiders, if there had been training, job security, “rat race” of violation news avoid and policy of care for employees established media at home.
Media stakeholders Don acknowledged that their colleagues “least concerned” about the introduction of any safety training program for their workers.
Media stakeholders talk about lack of of training, job security are among the reasons why journalists, camera faces put themselves on risk
“Lacks of interest in I recognize this area,” said Asif Zuberi, Managing Director of Aaj News, whose organization lost its operator in bomb of 2016 attack targeting the emergency unit of Quetta Civil Hospital.
He agreed that the trend of violation news puts pressure on working journalists, but claimed that his organization imposed very clear policy give preference to workers safety over their professional contribution.
But the editors who closely monitor the working conditions of their journalists and interact with media owners discover “serious technical flaws” in Pakistan broadcast media industry. They consider way Ms. Naim was recorded running after the container a few minutes before her. fatal Randomness explains many things that left unspoken.
“It highlights the rat race going on among our news channels,” said Owais Tohid, who led several news channels and there currently connected with voice of Service to Urdu America.
“Then there is a serious gap between reporters working in fields and those who serve on news and desktops, which sometimes lead to chaotic situations. Insensitivity to serious situations in times Can cause irreparable damage.”
To substantiate his argument, he told an anecdote from his own experience when a reporter on embankment covering the impending threat of asked the cyclone, rather caused by those in newsroom move further out to sea to make a storm more visible. When the reporter stated that it was unsafe and that he might fall into the sea, he was told not to worry as the operator might pull him out. out through the rope.
Mr Tohid was also critical of in role of electronic media watchdog timer, which has always been used to “tighten the screws of [political] opponentsbut never bothered to defend the rights of working journalists.
The bodies of journalists also see Sadafa death how latest in line of incidents of problems Existence faced by their community, ranging from “unnecessary pressure” to lack of of training and lack of job security.
Another promising journalist has lost her life in Search for scoop reportedly demanded by her news department, without regard to real realities, especially for female reporter,” said Amir Latif, office-carrier of Pakistani federal union of Journalists (PFUJ).
“Pakistani journalists are currently working in the worst possible conditions. They run for exclusives, sometimes risking their lives, without proper safety training, health insurance, life insurance and job security,” he said.
Majority of media at home, in his opinion, they simply did not train their reporters how to react in hostile situation that often led to in casualties and injuries to field personnel.
BUT rising culture of “violation news” coupled with unreliable performance often encourages young reporters compete in in race to be a number one”, he said.
“How ironic that in several TV channels, cameras are insured, but journalists have to look away government or press clubs in case of injury or other health problems,” he said. At the same time, he acknowledged that journalists’ unions also did little in terms of conducting trainings for specialists help they better manage with hostile environments.
“We demand federal and provincial information ministries to tie media the shops for compulsory education of their employees. declarations of in media houses that fail organize safety preparation for their employees should be withdrawn,” he said.
Published in Dawn, November 1, 2022
