KARACHI: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has expressed great concerns over the denial of government advertisements to Sindh-based newspapers and called upon the federal government to stop the information department from crushing the media institutions of the province.
The concern was raised at a meeting of Sindh-based newspaper editors in its Sindh Committee meeting which was convened to deliberate upon the non-release of federal government’s advertisements pertaining to announcements, employment opportunities, auctions, procurements, tender notices, public welfare schemes, development projects and other public awareness campaigns to the province’s newspapers.
A resolution adopted at the meeting says that the incumbent federal government which chooses to ignore Sindh-based newspapers in respect of advertisements should also stop benefitting from the income generated by the coal, gas, oil, port and other resources of Sindh.
The meeting strongly urged Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry to ensure immediate, judicious and impartial distribution of advertisements among Sindh-based newspapers on the pattern of the National Finance Commission (NFC) award.
The resolution further says that the act of pushing newspapers of Sindh into an economic crisis will not only render thousands of journalists and media workers jobless, but also deprive the people of their right of access to information. It also warned that such measures are harmful for federal solidarity.
Those who spoke at the meeting included CPNE Secretary General Dr Jabbar Khattak, Sindh Committee Deputy Chairman Ghulam Nabi Chandio and senior members Aijazul Haq, Aamer Mahmood, Kazi Asad Abid, Hamid Hussain Abidi, Adnan Malik, Anwar Sajidi, Tahir Farooq, Sher Muhammad Khuhawar, Abdul Khalique Ali, Abdul Rehman Mangrio, Muhammad Tahir, Muzaffar Ejaz, Ahmed Iqbal Baloch, Muhammad Younus Mahar, Rafiq Ahmed Pirzada, Mian Tariq Jawed, Usman Arib Sati, Faisal Shahjahan, Suhbat Buriro, Muhammad Jafar Jatoi, Bashir Ahmed Memon, Raza Shah, Dr Waqar Yousuf Azimi, Qazi Shahmeer, Salman Qureshi, Amir Khatak, Tariq Aziz, Rafaqat Tanoli, Ali Bin Younus, Mehmood Alam Khalid, Zahida Abbasi, Hasina Jatoi and Sidra Kanwal.
