ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the federal government to review 64 existing media laws in Pakistan.

“New laws are equally required, specifically for advertising regulation, convergence, cross media ownership, negative impact, and self regulation,” says the resolution.

“The standing committee will be having special meetings with legal experts on this critical subject soon and will be appointing a media laws review task-force with a six-month mandate to examine 64 laws and to propose amendments as well as new laws where required.”

The resolution was adopted in the presence of top officials of the ministry if information. Senior journalists called upon the ministry to immediately carry out its restructuring, which they say is critical.

The ministry and bodies under its purview assured the committee that their restructuring plans will be presented to the committee within one month.

The resolution called for the merger of the ministries of information and information technology due to new areas of convergence.

The resolution suggests the Ministry to be renamed to the Ministry for Public Information, Media and National Heritage, and stresses upon making Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) completely autonomous and accountable to parliament and not to the executive.

It also recommends a change in the mode of appointment of Pemra’s chairperson and its members along the lines of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The resolution also suggests creating a single new integrated regulatory body by merging Pemra and PTA, and including cinemas on the lines of media watchdog Ofcom in the UK.

The resolution underlines the need to ensure inter-provincial harmony in the implementation of censorship rules in all provinces and all foreign films to be censored by a body working under the federal government. Provincial censor boards should include federal representation, it adds.

The body suggests that a policy be devised to increase the minimum time for Pakistani content on local television and radio.

The judiciary should conduct expeditious and conclusive disposal of the large number of stay orders obtained by television and radio organizations against Pemra as at present even non-licensed TV channels are operating freely, it adds.

On the conduct of the media, the body suggests that actual compliance should be ensured by media of their own codes and transparency by appointing internal ombudsmen and compliance coordinators to respond to complaints and concerns of citizens.

It says strict effective action is needed by Pemra and the Press Council to prevent excesses by media against public figures to prevent unfair defamation or ridicule of public figures.

Strict action needs to be taken by the councils of complaints appointed by Pemra which could include parliamentarians to prevent unfair defamation.

The meeting of the committee was chaired by its chairperson Marvi Memon and attended by officials of the ministry of information and a large number of working journalists.