Issues faced by media houses, workers: Government decides to constitute PM-led body: Firdous

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information & Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday announced that the government has decided to constitute a committee to overcome challenges that are being faced by media workers.

Talking to media persons in front of the Parliament House on Friday, she said the high-powered committee would comprise the representatives of media bodies, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and other stakeholders to resolve issues pertaining to journalists.

She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would himself head the committee, while she would act as its coordinator. She said the committee would also comprise the presidents of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and All Pakistan Newspapers Society, chairman of Pakistan Broadcasting Association, an office-bearer of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (whomever the body nominates), chairman of the parliamentary association of media and other stakeholders.

Awan said the Prime Minister had taken notice of downsizing in the media industry and he strove to ensure, through "personal communication with owners" of media houses, that people's jobs remain secure.

She said the government is playing its due role in bridging the gap between media workers and the media houses' owners. She said the committee will settle issues pertaining to money that advertisers owed to media houses - which includes pending dues by the government - and unpaid salaries of media workers as well as any other issues related to their jobs.

She said the committee will also summon people who "talk about restrictions on journalists' freedom" to listen to their concerns individually.

"We succeeded in some cases but in others, we could not effectively communicate with the owners of [some] media houses," she said.

She expressed hope that by the year 2020, issues faced by the media industry will be resolved and said: "You know that a Twenty20 match is always thrilling. We hope that this 20-20 match between the journalist community and government will turn into a friendly match."

"The Prime Minister has decided that we settle this issue once and for all, and sit together to combat disinformation. People of a certain mindset are harming the national interest [by working] on an international agenda and they want to protect their own interests in the garb of media freedom," she said.

She said the prime minister, in order to reach a permanent solution to this problem and to address problems faced by media workers, legitimate issues of media houses and future challenges of this industry, has formed the committee.

The special assistant said that international institutions like Moody's and the World Bank have highlighted improvement in the country's economy. She said the government had faced multiple challenges on the economic front when it took power last year. Now, the country has been turned into a safe place for foreign investors due to government's prudent policies, she added.

She said that foreign investors are being provided a conducive environment to encourage the inflows of their valuable investments into diverse fields.

She said that about 85 per cent of media houses' business depends upon advertisements from private sector. "When the private sector faced difficulties, it affected media houses as well," she said.

Awan said the government is not creating any hurdles in the freedom of expression as it fully believes in independence of media. She said the opposition parties are making "false propaganda" that the government is imposing curbs on freedom of expression which is totally incorrect and misleading.

Answering a question, she lauded journalists for covering human rights abuses in Indian-occupied Kashmir and said that the government "owns and appreciates the media's role" in this regard.

Asked about an interview of former president Asif Ali Zardari was put off the air, she said: "You should ask the channel about this. The government has nothing to do with it."