ISLAMABAD: More than 250,000 digital media employees are working without adequate legal protection like fair pay and appropriate working conditions, a new report has claimed.

This observation was made by the Insti­tu­­te for Research, Advocacy and Development (Irada) in a legal brief to be submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The assessment stated that the government has failed to reform labour laws amid the transformation towards digital journalism. “This lack of legal recognition has created confusion and damaged journalists’ rights, especially for those operating outside of established newspapers…”

While talking about the legal brief on Tuesday, Irada Executive Director Muhammad Aftab Alam said there was an urgent need for comprehensive laws to protect all media workers.

Irada legal brief highlights lack of legal protection for journalists

He mentioned that the existing special law, The Newspapers Employees (Conditions of Service) Act (Necosa) 1973, recognised newspaper workers.

“Unfortunately, due to technological advancements, print media is shrinking … and a vast majority of workers, associated with broadcast or digital media, do not have such special protections as available to print media workers,” Mr Alam said.

The Irada brief stated that Necosa provides rights to media workers in addition to those granted under labour laws, like protection from “at-will” termination. How­ever, many media workers outside of newspapers do not get benefits like social security, pensions, or severance compensation.

According to Mr Alam, legal uncertainties faced by journalists compromise their ability to perform their duties effectively and safely.

In the absence of laws, most broadcast and digital media workers do not have any enforceable contractual arrangements with their employees, he added.

The legal brief also highlighted the loopholes in existing laws and their lack of implementation.

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It said the ‘The Wage Board’ established under Necosa to determine salaries for newspaper workers was “insufficient”.

“So far, eight Wage Board Awards have been granted. The 8th award was determined in December 2019, published in March 2020, and went into effect in February 2020, however it has yet to be executed over four years later.”

The Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE), founded in 1976 to enforce Wage Board rulings, has “similar flaws”.

“Over the last decade, ITNE has settled 2,783 cases. Despite this, many media workers have yet to see pay awards enforced.”

It said that the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act 2021 recognises persons working in television and internet media as journalists and media pro­­fessionals, yet broadcast and digital media journalists lack substantial job rights.

“They experience power imbalances and are not protected from arbitrary dismissals like their newspaper colleagues under Necosa.”

The brief recommended legal safeguards for internet and television journalists to save them from at-will termination; obligatory employers’ contribution to workers’ welfare schemes; compulsory gratuity, provident fund, and insurance; and penalties for delayed or non-payment of wages.

The legal brief will be submitted before the IHC in a case over the rights of media workers in Pakistan. As per the cause list available on the court’s website, the case is set to be taken up by the IHC chief justice on Thursday.

The case was initiated in 2021 after the International Federation of Journalists wrote a letter about the “non-enforcement of the rights of the journalists and media workers of Pakistan”. Mr Alam hoped that the court would recognise the urgency of the situation and direct the government to take immediate steps for legal reforms.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024