Sharif announces formation of media commission in Pakistan

With Pakistan being considered as one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today announced the formation of a commission to ensure safety and security of the media persons.
Sharif said journalists are a vibrant part of the society and it is the government's responsibility to provide them safe and secure environment.
He said Pakistan was establishing a commission of media persons, public figures and government officials which will propose measures to be adopted by the government to protect journalists in the field and ensure their well being.
"I want to make Pakistan a journalist friendly country where not only local but international media feels safe and secure during their professional assignments," Sharif said.

He said the government is trying its best to ensure that the criminals and terrorists accused of killing journalists will be arrested and brought to justice.
Sharif made the remarks after Kati Marton, the widow of late US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Executive Member of Council for Protection of Journalists (CPJ), along with a four member delegation of CPJ called on him at the Prime Minister's House here.

The Prime Minister praised Holbrook for his role as peace maker in Bosnia and called him a friend of Pakistan.
Recently, three persons were killed in a deadly attack on Express news channel. In January 2011, Geo TV journalist Wali Khan Babar was shot dead in Karachi.

According to CPJ research, at least 46 journalists have been killed in Pakistan over the course of the last decade. The country is ranked eighth on CPJ's 2013 Impunity Index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population.