PPP to ‘befriend’ media in Punjab
By Raja Riaz
LAHORE: The PPP leadership has decided to act as a friendly political party to the media and focus on Punjab to “tell the people the truth” about their achievements regarding services provided for the nation at the federal level.
For this purpose, an informal meeting of the PPP’s media managers and its political leadership was held in Islamabad that evolved a strategy to improve the image of the party among the masses through the media. The meeting dilated upon the prevalent situation in the country and the role of the media, as well as dissecting the relation between various media organisations and political parties.
It was observed that the party was not being recognised for its achievements by the people due to a ‘non-friendly media’, for the last few months. It was also noticed that the party lacked interaction with the media, especially in Punjab.
It was decided in the meeting that all forums would be mobilised, not only to build a better relationship with the media, but also to get due space in both the electronic and print media.
The meeting evolved a strategy that at least three appearances of the party’s central leaders a week would be ensured in the media in Punjab, especially in Lahore. For this purpose, Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira would visit Punjab every week and interact with the media in different cities.
Last week, Kaira spent three days in Lahore, met TV anchorpersons and reporters covering the PPP’s activities, besides addressing a public seminar.
The party’s information secretary, Fauzia Wahab, also spent three days in the city, and the Governor’s House was the centre of her activities. She held a ‘meet the press’ at a local hotel. All reporters, newspapers’ columnists, desk editors and electronic media personnel had been invited to the big event.
In the meeting, it was noticed by the party leadership that an active member was needed in Lahore, and to meet this requirement, Deputy Information Secretary Haider Zaman Qureshi, a resident of Multan, was deputed in the city to interact with the media permanently. The ‘meet the press’ programme was his debut as the party’s media manager in Lahore.
The meeting in Islamabad also asked Punjab Information Secretary Dr Fakhruddin Chaudhary to step up his efforts and visit media organisations, representatives of journalists’ organisations and journalists themselves.
To ensure the party’s presence in the media, the acting PPP Punjab president, Sameeullah Khan, has been directed to hold at least one press conference every week.
The meeting noticed that the PPP was not getting the required benefits from the representative of the federation in Punjab and directed its media managers to use the available resources in the province for the party’s promotion and get maximum advantage out of them.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan would also focus on Punjab and visit the province weekly. The meeting decided that at least one central leader should visit Punjab every day and if that leader is not available, the provincial leadership should fill the gap.
A former bureaucrat and a friend of President Asif Ali Zardari was requested to strengthen his liaison with senior journalists, especially columnists. The personality is already popular in the media world for his ‘generosity’.
The PPP leadership is satisfied with the media for the last few days, especially after the ‘resolution row’ between the Punjab government and the media.
The resolution was moved by a PML-N MPA, Sanaullah Mastikhel, and was supported by all political parties in the Punjab Assembly. The PPP’s MPAs also spoke on the issue.
The party leadership took strong notice of this act and conveyed its displeasure to the local leadership and the parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly. This was the reason that the PPP got detached after the passage of the resolution. The PML-N leadership requested the PPP’s parliamentary party to help them in the situation, but it refused on the central leadership’s direction.
The meeting of the PPP’s media managers and its political leadership in Islamabad affirmed their commitment to the vision of their leader — President Zardari — that they were working for the problems that Pakistan could face in the future.
Source: Daily Times
Date:7/16/2010
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