"Consumers, by definition, include us all," so said US President John F Kennedy in a Congressional statement in 1962. "They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Yet, they are the only important group whose views are often not heard." He might as well have been talking about the only group not involved in making new guidelines on ethics -- the new Code of Conduct (CoC) -- for Pakistan’s electronic media even though the code is supposed to help make the media a better guardian of public interest.

A good CoC is supposed to be voluntary and meant to embrace a set of higher ideals and values governing a profession rather than be an alternative to the existing legal frameworks governing that profession. The former, therefore, supplements the latter rather countermanding it. Such a code also makes an attempt to incorporate, protect, and strengthen the interests of their primary audiences. For media, this primary audience is the consumer -- the viewers, listeners and readers.

Pemra governs the country’s private sector tv channels and radio stations. Last week, it instituted a CoC that it is mandated with enforcing. This CoC, whose goal is to promote ethics and greater professionalism, incorporates the interests of the media industry, including media owners and managers and even the State’s, and to an extent, that of its practitioners. However, a glaring shortcoming is an overt representation of perhaps the most important stakeholder -- the media consumers.

The CoC is principally aimed at the tv media in the country albeit only channels that are independent and not-government owned. That this in itself distorts the media landscape is another debate. In August 2015, there were over 100 tv channels in Pakistan -- four government-owned; the rest independent and licensed by Pemra. Of these, about 35 independent tv channels offer round-the-clock news and current affairs, including 15 channels in ethnic languages, such as Pashto, Punjabi, Seraiki, Balochi, and Sindhi.

How many people watch these channels? According to Pemra, over 9 million Pakistani households now have access to cable tv. Recent survey data shows 72 percent of urban Pakistanis possess home access to tv, and about 14 percent of rural residents. Accumulatively, this is over 140 million tv media consumers in the country, including those who watch the state-managed Ptv. None of these tv consumers, or any of their representative platforms, including either consumer groups or civil society, were consulted or involved in producing the new CoC.

For a code that seeks to usher in a new, supposedly advanced and inclusive, approach to making media more ethical and professional, missing out on involving the largest of all media sector stakeholders is a major lapse and quite unforgivable. It is hard to see how the media can become more ethical or professional when it can both deprive the principal stakeholder of its inputs in framing its flagship framework of higher ideals as well as not allowing the public a mechanism to hold it accountable. If media is the guardian of public interest, then without involving the public it cannot perform its principal function.

Having said this, the CoC does contain a few provisions that seek to assert responsibilities of the media on behalf of the media consumers but without making explicit references to them. Consider: Clause 3(f) obligates tv channels against running any "abusive comment that incites hatred and contempt against any individual or group of persons, on the basis of race, caste, nationality, ethnic or linguistic origin, colour, religion, sect, gender, age, mental or physical disability." Sub-clause (k) wags a forbidding finger against anything that "amounts to intimidation, blackmail or false incrimination of any person."

Clause (4) says, "Private behaviour, information, correspondence and conversation should not be brought into public domain unless there is a public interest that outweighs the protection of privacy." Clause 4(8)(c) says it should be ensured that a "programme does not debase or demean a person or group of persons;" and sub-clause (d) says it should also "intrude into private life, grief or distress of individuals unless such individual is a public figure and such intrusion is justified in the public interest."

Read also: Legitimacy and ownership of the new Code of Conduct

Additionally, Clause 8(2) requires that "Appropriate warning shall be given upfront for content which may be potentially disturbing or upsetting so as to enable viewers to make an informed choice." Sub-clause (6) says, "Identity of any victim of rape, sexual abuse, terrorism or kidnapping or such victim’s family shall not be revealed without prior permission of the victim or victim’s guardian where victim is a minor."

Clause 9(1) asserts that "dramatic re-enactment shall ensure same rigors as required for a factual programme reporting crime." Sub-clause (2) says, "Re-enactment of any sex crime shall not be allowed." Clause 12(3) says "Due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of persons under 18 years of age who take part or are otherwise involved in programmes. This is irrespective of any consent given by the participant or by a parent, guardian or other person over the age of eighteen years in loco parentis."

Clause 14(2) warns channels that "Advertisements intended for children shall not directly ask the children to buy the product." Sub-clause (7) warns that "A licensee shall not advertise or promote black magic, quackery or superstition."

So, how do the consumers assert not just their general rights but also the limited number of protections against manipulation and misinformation described above?

The principal shortcoming in the CoC is the absence of a complaint registration and redressal system. Even a good code is meaningless if it does not offer an effective means of enforcing it. The CoC makes an attempt but falls short by offering only a basic solution. Clause 17 (1) provides for a code implementation monitoring committee, "The licensee shall…..appoint an in-house monitoring committee under intimation to the Pemra to ensure compliance of the Code." The ‘bad’ of this is the absence of agreed minimum mechanics of consumer inputs to hold the media accountable. This will leave a key element missing that can make all the difference to its successful implementation.

Considering that there is already a crisis of credibility of sorts facing the electronic media landscape in Pakistan, the fact the media consumers have been effectively ignored in both development and suggested implementation of the CoC will hardly contribute to help it deliver on its stated promises.