Media has always been a strong tool in reaching out to the policy makers as well as grass roots communities for the purpose of policy making and changing, building a society that contributes in making this world a place for every body. Pakistan is one of those countries where media grew slowly and until the year 2000, electronic and print media both were controlled by the government. In the 2000, the electronic media started growing. Different TV and radio channels were started. Majority of the TV channels are news channels.
The government introduced the new laws to keep its control on the media however the situation is much better regarding the open policy of the TV channels to broadcast their programs.

Though the media has developed in Pakistan in the last one decade but this development is not all peoples’ friendly. Media being commercial takes up the issues of commercial interest. For example the issues of energy crisis, flour crisis, sugar crisis etc are though highlighted by media but are not given enough coverage as the media gives to non-issues which are not directly related the lives of the people.

Above all these media problems, the correspondents employed by both the print and electronic media in the peripheries, small cities and cities other than the federal and provincial capitals, are not properly paid the newspapers as well as the TV channels. This result in corruption and the mal practice in covering the issues of the public interest.  

Harmony Foundation as a human rights advocacy organization believes that media plays a very important role in making this planet a place where all people have equal opportunities and thus they contribute in making this world livable for all. Harmony Foundation has been active in training the local journalists and correspondents on the human rights mechanism, issues of the public, gender and other issues in the areas of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Gora, Kamalia, Jhang and other areas. We have conducted seminars, training workshops and consultations with the media persons to chalk out a plan that could help the media persons in focusing on the issues of the peoples. Harmony Foundation has also started dialogue with the media persons in big cities on the issues of the women, workers, children and people from religious minorities.

With our experience in this field, there are some other important points that have come up as during the course of interaction with the media persons:

1. The media persons lack an alternative view point on most of the public issues
2. Being commercial the media does not develop the values that are based on humanism, human rights, making world a place for all. Rather it develops an environment that is based on commercial approach and most of the time highlights the issues that promote status quo, dictatorship in the idea and feudal attitude.
3. The media unfortunately has not become a source for the independent information but it has played as a tool for maintaining the status quo in the society

Harmony Foundation plans to establish a Media Resource Centre with the following objectives:

1. Establish a platform for collecting data and information that helps us establish an independent information line
2. Prepare and broadcast programs on peoples’ issues on TV channels with alternative approach and creating an environment that gives space to weaker groups of the society to grow and develop themselves
3. Train the journalists on the human rights mechanism, gender perspectives and other equality based teachings
4. Conduct studies and surveys to facilitate the feature writers, correspondents and anchor persons to conduct their programs in the line of independent thinking and information.