FPCCI, PEMRA organise seminar on digital media future

Business Recorder reported that Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) held a national discussion on the outlook for digital media in Pakistan in Lahore on Thursday. The seminar at the FPCCI regional office covered six areas, from the economic role of digital media and technological change to information credibility, regulation, digital literacy and investment pathways.

Speakers included Zaki Aijaz, regional chairman and vice president of FPCCI, and Ayesha Manzoor Wattoo, director general of PEMRA, along with senior journalists, vice chancellors and digital media experts. Wattoo argued that digital media is now a distinct sector rather than an offshoot of electronic media, and that it belongs within the light economy, which offers considerable potential for employment. She added that mobile phones have made content creation near universal, and that PEMRA's remit covers far more than blocking content or issuing notices.

Aijaz said experts had urged training for young people, sensible regulation of social media platforms and the development of homegrown platforms. Participants called for a media ecosystem that is accountable, creative, digitally skilled and economically productive. The event, attended by many students, offered a useful forum for policymakers, media professionals and academics.