Islamabad
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government firmly believed in the fundamental right of freedom of expression and was committed to resolve the issues faced by the journalists and media workers.
Speaking during a meeting with office-bearers of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) through video link on Monday, he said the payment of outstanding dues to the media houses was being started today, which would provide relief to the media industry and workers.
The payment of dues would be linked to the payment of salaries to the journalists and media workers by the media houses. Shibli Faraz said that the government was planning to evolve a mechanism so that the media workers should not face such problems in future with timely payment of their dues.
The quota of government advertisements for regional newspapers was imperative as many eminent journalists had emerged from small newspapers, he added.
The information minister said that transparency would be ensured in the affairs of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). He also assured that the problems of news agencies would be resolved. He said another meeting with the CPNE would be held after Eidul Fitr to decide the matters with consensus. During the meeting, the CPNE delegation briefed the Information Minister on the issues related to the media industry.
Secretary Information and Broadcasting Akbar Durrani and Principal Information Officer Shaheera Shahid also attended the meeting. The video conference was attended among others by CPNE President Arif Nizami, Secretary General Dr Jabbar Khattak, and vice presidents Ikram Sehgal and SK Niazi.—INP
