PESHAWAR - A roundtable conference titled 'Can political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) succeed without media reforms will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) in Peshawar. The conference will be attended, among others, by a large group of Fata stakeholders, including parliamentarians, political parties, legal eagles, civil society, government functionaries, media organisations and academics. Steps have been taken to introduce political reforms in Fata in order to bring the region into the mainstream, ensuring extension of the same rights to the regions citizens as granted to the people of other parts of the country. However, media reforms are not part of these important political reforms, which is a significant mistake in terms of the rights of Fata residents, according to a press release issued by Intermedia Pakistan, a national media development organisation that is conducting the roundtable dialogue. The roundtable on mainstreaming of Fata into Pakistani media legal framework will present a comparative analysis on the state of media freedom and information access in the mainstream and the tribal areas. Apart from exploring legal perspectives of Fata citizens situation in terms of indicators of freedom of expression and access to information, the roundtable will also explore how can media reforms be a part of political reforms in Fata to strengthen the voice of the residents of the region and to guarantee their rights. Freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Article 19 of the Constitution and access to information, as guaranteed under Article 19A and inserted in the Constitutional in 2010 through the 18th Amendment, should be the cornerstone of the political rights extended to Fata, the press release said.