Enforcing ethics during coverage of terrorism incidents is global norm: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Marriyum Aurangzeb, minister of information and broadcasting, stated on Wednesday that upholding ethics is both a requirement of international law and national law, particularly when reporting on terrorist acts.

According to her, some people had expressed concerns about a recent directive from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) regarding the proper reporting of violent scenes involving terrorist acts and their aftermath. She argued that the order forbids broadcasting graphic images of dead bodies, wreckage, and live footage from the scene only in order to prevent frightening the public, which is always the terrorists’ true intention.

The minister said that this boundary was set all over the world and every responsible media body and organization adheres to them across the board, without exception. “Live coverage of terrorism incidents, and spots amplifies terrorism impact and divulges sensitive post-operation information to the miscreants”, she remarked.

“We have always upheld the right to free speech as a sacred cause and fought against attempts to curtail this right.

We are committed to this principle,” she said.

However, she stressed that responsible journalism seeks to follow ethics during the coverage of terrorism. This she said “we owe(as a responsibility) to the victims of terrorism.