Islamabad: The Standing Committee for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage of the Pakistan National Assembly has asked media not to publicize statements issued by those classified as "terrorists".
The committee has asked the government to define who should be considered terrorists, and create two categories - banned organisations and potential terrorists.
The standing committee has given 46 recommendations for the media relating to terrorist activities.
"The press shall not lend itself to the projection of crime (or) terrorism as heroic and criminals, terrorists, as heroes", the committee said.
The report, which comes in the wake of nationwide outrage over the Peshawar school massacre, says existing guidelines that call on media houses not to name terrorists or run images of their faces, should be followed.
"Do not show anti-state elements, (or) take sides in sectarian issues...Always show good news first and if possible at bedtime also", prescribes the standing committee.
"In case of an editorial lapse, the media should be compelled to take punitive action against professional and journalistic negligence", the committee said.
The committee has asked telecom and electronic media to have special broadcast tribunals, but stopped short of recommending what powers these tribunals should have.
The committee had suggested that identification of victims of terrorism, and those abducted for ransom, should be prohibited; footage of bereaved families and people mourning the death of their loved ones should also be restricted.
News channels and media houses in Pakistan are facing a two-pronged attack, from the state authorities and also from terrorist outfits.
When a news channel refused to telecast the claims of a banned organisation, the spokesperson of the outfit called the channel's office, issued threats and a low-intensity bomb was exploded outside the channel's head office.
Similarly, TV professionals working in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are getting threats regularly from terrorist outfits, either to telecast their press releases and claims, or become targets.
