Consultative Session Held To Include Conflict Coverage,crisis Communication In Universities Curriculum

A national consultation on course development titled "Conflict Coverage and Crisis Communications" for mass media departments of universities was jointly organized by Pakistan Peace Collective (PPC), a research and communications project of Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage and Higher Education Commission here Thursday

Islamabad,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 09th Nov, 2017 ) :A national consultation on course development titled "Conflict Coverage and Crisis Communications" for mass media departments of universities was jointly organized by Pakistan Peace Collective (PPC), a research and communications project of Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage and Higher education Commission here Thursday.

Chairman Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Absar Alam speaking on the occasion called upon the electronic media to implement the code of conduct prepared by itself. "It is our duty as journalists to report as accurately and responsibly as possible on this issue.

We cannot use our platform to glorify, sensationalize or traumatize, as the words we use and the images we show have an enormous impact on our viewers/readers. We do not want to further the aims of the terrorists by terrorizing the people through the images we show," said Absar Alam.

The institution of editor has become extinct and now the owners rule the roost, he added. He said that the curriculum should teach the students to report facts and correct events and race for breaking news should not force the media to compromise professionally.

He said that a section of the media was involved in sensationalization of event which creates panic among the common people. In this connection he referred to the audio tape played by one satellite news channel claiming it was soundbite of the ill-fated PIA plane which crashed last year.

He also cited the incident of Charsadda blast in which a professor was killed and whose pictures were being flashed by the media causing mental agony to the relatives. He also quoted the cylinder blast in Gulberg last year which was reported as a suicidal blast and news of another blast in Lahore created panic and mothers rushed to the schools which caused traffic jams.

In all these incidents PEMRA imposed fine and asked the management of the respective channel to apologize, but they went to court. While appreciating the initiative Chairman HEC Mukhtar Ahmed expressed confidence that the proposed course would ensure the required support to fulfill the needs of knowledge development on critical thinking, emotional intelligence, peace building and sensitization on conflict reporting.

He said that electronic media in Pakistan was still very young and it will take time to mature.

He said that the recommendations of the consultation would be incorporated in the curriculum to be finalized for mass communication departments of the national universities.

He said too much negativity on the media was causing tensions, there was need to also highlight positive aspects of the society. More than 30 experts representing the academic, government and media circles attended it.

The experts delivered their professional, technical and subject related input in accordance with their knowledge and experience. Marium Khan, Director General (Counter Violence & Extremism) National Counter Terrorism Authority said this national consultation brought people on board from broad spectrum from the industries, This is also one of the mandated tasks of the nascent National Counter Terrorism Authority of Pakistan (NACTA) to develop course on Conflict Coverage and Crisis Communication that will eventually benefit the National Narrative to be presented to Federal Government sooner forming the policy on Counter Terrorism & Extremism", she said.

The representatives from universities of Punjab, Baluchistan, Sindh, Peshawar, International Islamic University, University of Central Punjab, Karachi University, Federal urdu University Karachi, University of Sargodha, and Lahore College of Women University have incorporated their recommendation for curriculum, also representation from mainstream tv Channels and senior journalists were there for their technical input as media practitioners.

This consultation will resultantly help in developing a holistic view of conflicts and violence in the society and educate the students on means and methods to reflect the same through various mediums of communication including formal media.

The three credit hours' course will help to sensitize the Pakistani students on issues concerning violence and crises including those resulting out of extremist tendencies. It would expectantly provide the students with the national and international perspective on the subject.

The consultative process is also aiming to foster the integration of the entitled course in the revised curriculum of discipline namely `Mass Communication' and `Media Studies' for all the universities in Pakistan.