Muhammad Aftab Alam

Broadcast Regulation in Pakistan: The Need for an Enabling Regulatory Regime

Abstract

Since the liberalization of the broadcast sector in Pakistan in 2002, the media landscape in the country has entirely changed. From one state-run television channel to more than 71 satellite television channels and from one Radio Pakistan to more than 100 FM radio stations, the broadcast sector has increased exponentially over the past few years. The regulations were introduced with the aim of providing an enabling environment for the promotion of an independent and free media. The regulatory framework has managed to improve the choices of people with regards to news and current affairs. Nevertheless, the very objective of promoting independent and free media to foster a democratic society is not very visible. A variety of issues have been hampering the capacity of the regulatory body PEMRA to promote an enabling environment for the development of such media. This article is an attempt to highlight and explain the issues and problems faced by PEMRA. The article also aims at exploring various options to address the issues and problems in a just manner.

 

 

Muhammad Aftab Alam is a law and policy expert with more than eight years of experience in the fields of media law, policy, trainings and advocacy. Having graduated in law -from International Islamic University (IIU) Islamabad- and public policy -from the Central European University (CEU)-, Mr. Alam is enrolled as Advocate of High Court with the Punjab Bar Council. He is also a member of the International Media Lawyers Association (IMLA). Mr. Alam has worked with a number of local and international organizations including Internews Network, the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), and Intermedia Pakistan in different capacities. While working with these organizations, he has co-authored various publications including the State of Consumer Rights 2001, a series of four Media Manager's Guides to Pakistani Broadcast Law covering a wide range of themes including electronic media regulations, defamation and contempt of court, copyrights and management of radio stations. At present, Mr. Alam is teaching at the IQRA University Islamabad as visiting faculty and working as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS), Islamabad. He can be reached at aftabadvocate-AT-gmail.com.


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