Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Wednesday said that this was on record that first time the government had given advertisements to the newspapers, through transparent mechanism. He expressed these views while talking to the office bearers of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS). Speaking on the occasion, President APNS Hameed Haroon briefed the minister in detail about the problems of print media, especially, the problems which were being confronted by the Sindhi newspapers. Secretary General APNS Sarmad Ali and other office bearers also spoke on the occasion. Talking to the APNS office-bearers and members, Shibli Faraz said that the journalists’ fraternity would have to remove the non-journalists from their ranks. “The bona fide journalists are being affected due to such elements, therefore, we have to pursue an organized approach so as to protect the rights of genuine people,” he added. The minister pointed out that there were over 1500 newspapers including dummy newspapers due to which questions were raised on the entire community. Referring his meetings with people belonging to media community, Shibli Faraz said that all the problems which were pointed out by them could be resolved. He said “We intend to establish a system which provides level playing field to all. We have to restore the standard and position of this community and the cooperation of the community in this regard is imperative”. The minister said that all regional languages newspapers including Sindhi newspapers were very important to us. He said that the whole world including Pakistan was passing through a difficult situation due to COVID-19, and the pandemic had affected all sectors. Besides, the office bearers of APNS, the APNS members in large number, were also present.
