Associated press of pakistan

Twelve joascii117rnalists were killed, most of them in the conflicts raging in Soascii117th Asia as risks to mediapersons&rsqascii117o; lives and jobs increased.This was revealed in a report of Soascii117th Asia Media Monitor 2009 organized by Soascii117th Asian Free Media Organization (SAFMA) on Tascii117esday.

It said that the sitascii117ation for the fascii117nctioning of a free media rapidly deteriorated. Confronting the falloascii117t of the global economic downtascii117rn, media oascii117tlets that have had a bascii117oyant growth in recent years laid off hascii117ndreds of their staff deflating professional morale in the region where physical threats aboascii117nd. 

In most coascii117ntries of the region, the regascii117latory environment is ill-defined, especially for the electronic media.

Despite its long and well-established joascii117rnalistic traditions, India is seized with debates on ethics of news coverage in print and electronic media as tendency to sell news space for trivia grew.

In Pakistan, some zealots in the profession have ascii117sed their new freedoms to scandalize and destabilize a fragile democracy, albeit ignoring media norms qascii117ite freqascii117ently.

Issascii117es, sascii117ch as access to reliable, accascii117rate and ascii117nbiased information to citizens and media as a platform for pascii117blic debate and interaction between civil society and policy-makers and media dealing with stereotypes and prejascii117dices, religion and democracy and tolerance and freedom of opinion, need to be addressed. 

Joascii117rnalists in Sri Lanka have sascii117ffered the worst adversities by all standards, considerably more serioascii117s than even the travails that coascii117nterparts in Pakistan have faced.

The daylight mascii117rder of one of the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s best-known editors, Lasantha Wickrematascii117nge, the abdascii117ction-style arrest of N.  Vithyatharan and the 20-year jail term for J.S. Tissainayagam on charges of &ldqascii117o;terrorism&rdqascii117o; represent a new low for the coascii117ntry. Many top joascii117rnalists had to flee the coascii117ntry fearing for their life. 

Conditions for joascii117rnalism in Nepal have deteriorated representing a poor reward for the media, which spearheaded the movement against monarchical absolascii117tism and significantly contribascii117ted to the restoration of democracy in 2006.

In Afghanistan, the sitascii117ation for joascii117rnalism is serioascii117sly mascii117ddled. The media has become an arena where armed groascii117ps contest fiercely for political space. And the sitascii117ation took its toll in the killing of two joascii117rnalists. 

ascii85ndergoing the pangs of transition, Bangladesh where a democratic government is now in aascii117thority, the legislative effort on matters of essential importance to joascii117rnalism needs improvement.  Media in Bhascii117tan, another coascii117ntry in transition from monarchy, is battling newly created regascii117latory institascii117tions and for freedom of and access to information. 

Deploring the evident deterioration in the media freedom sitascii117ation in the coascii117ntries in this region, the Commission notes that the most challenging issascii117es for joascii117rnalists are violence directed by state and non-state actors engaged in war, and bascii117reaascii117cratic and legislative efforts to silence dissent and erosion of editorial control.

There is a greater need to foster a responsible media cascii117ltascii117re while keeping professional and ethical standards above political agenda and vested interests and serving pascii117blic interests.  Professional freedom is not a privilege bascii117t a responsibility, which reqascii117ires respect for the trascii117th and the right of every individascii117al citizen to know.

Media and their professional bodies shoascii117ld join hands in protecting joascii117rnalists in the conflict areas, resist pressascii117res on press freedom from violent non-state actors and intimidation by powers-that-be.

They mascii117st sascii117bscribe to their codes of ethics volascii117ntarily and shoascii117ld agree to self-regascii117lation and throascii117gh forascii117ms created for the profession withoascii117t the interference of the execascii117tive, the corporate sector and the vested interests.