Islamabad: A Media Surveillance Regal and Press Freedom has requested the formation of an independent Steering Committee, which would be responsible for distributing government ads to media organizations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Freedom Network said that successive governments have used the publication of advertisements such as “leverage” against critical media groups trying to follow an independent editorial policy, and added that the tactic is still in use even today.
He pointed out that Dawn Media GroupOne of the oldest and most respected in the country, had faced an “unnoticed prohibition” in announcements as punishment for following an independent editorial policy.
The prohibition has been in force since October 2024, the statement cited a group spokesman as he said.
“This prohibition marks an unnoticed policy to censor media groups that wish to follow an independent editorial policy,” said the statement.
Freedom Network asks the federal Punjab governments to end the ‘unbeated prohibition’ in dawn
“Federal and provincial governments need to devise a transparent policy to ensure that each deserving media group is provided to their part of the annual fee of ads.
“Sunrise… was founded by [Quaid-i-Azam] Muhammad Ali Jinnah and is widely respected for following the high standards of journalistic ethics … [being] The only newspaper that appointed an external people defender to address their complaints from readers, ”said Freedom Network.
According to the guardian dog, Of dawn Editorials and opinion pieces are very critical of internal and external government policies. The group had also suffered under the previous Government of PTI for its independent editorial policy, he said.
In addition to federal and Punjab governments, the Sindh government had also imposed a prohibition similar to publication for unknown reasons, but since then it has resumed the issuance of its ads for the group, he said.
However, the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan are broadcasting ads to the group, the Sunrise The spokesman said.
In recent months, Sunrise It has not become part of the main campaigns of the federal government and Punjab, which are worth millions of rupees.
The statement indicated key dates, such as Pakistan’s day on March 23 and Kashmir Sunrise.
Posted in Dawn, April 11, 2025
