The government has re-appointed the prominent media, show biz and marketing expert Yusuf Beg Mirza as Managing Director of the State owned Pakistan Television Corporation. Mirza headed PTV for almost 5 years from 1998 to March 2003 and earned laurels for turning this debt ridden organisation into a profit earning entity.
Since 2003, Mirza has been working with private TV channel Geo on important positions. This is the third major change in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the government media team after filing of the Presidential Reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and subsequent countrywide uproar against this move. Syed Anwar Mahmood, an old Information/PR and media hand was brought back as Federal Secretary for Information and Broadcasting last month.
A Shakoor Tahir, who retired as Director News exactly a year ago, has been re-employed to head both the News and Current Affairs Divisions of PTV. Instead of MD, he is made directly responsible to the Secretary who is also Chairman PTV.
PTV insiders say that these changes were imminent because of rising budget deficit despite assured income of Rs 2.2 billion license fee yearly, brain drain and intellect deficit, lack of creativity and imagination and fresh ideas for proper projection of the government agenda.
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