Building an online Media Resource Center Oct 2005 - Mar 2007
Internews is working to strengthen freedom of expression in Pakistan by building a substantial online Media Resource Center that monitors violations against the media and also provides journalists with knowledge and expertise on legal coverage.
The Media Legal Resource Center (MLRC) will serve journalists with a range of law-related expertise. The Center will monitor violations against the media and provide legal resources to journalists under threat, while also providing advice and expertise to journalists covering legal issues. The Center will provide a base for journalists and researchers. The Center will have several specific elements and functions:
Base of knowledge
Located in Islamabad, the Center has physical resources for journalists, researchers, and students interested in media and the rule of law, including computers and Internet access, reading materials, and case studies
Web Resource
The online resource center will the archive and disseminator of the Center’s materials and perform the following functions:
The site provides an active link for interested mass media across Pakistan and abroad, allowing them to obtain advice and expertise on legal stories, find articles and reference materials, and study the analysis of relevant journalism by their peers.
The site also provides information on media defense issues such as regular monitoring of the state of the media to record the chronology of media violations; tracking progress on media-related court cases and legislation; and compiling an interactive directory of Pakistani journalists and media organizations. These tasks aim to improve research on Pakistani media and inter-media communication and support efforts to defend freedom of expression.
The Center will provide small 50 stipends (ranging between $50-$100) to print and electronic media journalists to produce investigative reports/features on rule of law issues, to provide expertise to journalists working on specific stories and in need of assistance, and to help mass media outlets design better legal coverage. Stipends may also be used as travel grants to enable reporters to research specific topics that require travel to outlying areas. Internews has a transparent mechanism for individuals wishing to apply for these resources. To ensure quality and quantity of investigative reports after the stipends run out, Internews aims to train journalists employed with media organizations, as opposed to freelancers, so that the capacity for investigative journalism is institutionalized.
The Center reaches out to other Pakistani institutions in the field, including media outlets, educational institutions, research centers, government agencies and regulators, and legislators. The Center focuses on specific areas of concern, such as defamation, media law and policy, and the relationship between mass media and the courts. The Center is also a point of contact for other rule of law projects that have no mass media component. One such project would be model courts that emphasize transparency of court procedure, which could benefit from public exposure.
A legal resource center and website for media and researchers
Anticipated Outcomes
Practicing reporters and journalism students have greater access to information about case law and legal issues of public importance
Stipends support increased publication and dissemination of articles and programs on legal issues, media law, the court system, important cases, and the rule of law in Pakistan
Journalists and media managers routinely turn to the website for background on legal issues
Journalists, institutions and the public have greater access to information, opinions and discussions of legal issues
Violations of media freedoms chronicled
Case studies to improve understanding of threats to freedom of expression
Directory of practicing journalists and media organizations to determine realistic size of Pakistani media
Baseline data on journalists to improve union memberships
