Deteriorating press – government relations
KARACHI – The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), while commenting on the statement issued at the end of the co-ordination meeting of provincial information ministers chaired by the Federal Information Minister, according to which the provinces demanded that government advertising be linked to implementation of the 7th Wage Board Award, has expressed concern at the deteriorating state of government-press relations reflected therein, and the Federal Information Ministry’s anxiety to use government advertising as a tool to intimidate the free press.
The APNS was surprised that instead of deliberating on the pending issues of government-press relations, namely formation of Press Council, amendments in the Freedom of Information Act and equitable distribution of government ads to genuine publications, the important meeting chose to discuss the matter irrelevant to the provincial information ministers.
The APNS further said that as the federal and provincial information ministers were well aware, the APNS had challenged the 7th Wage Board Award in the courts on the basis of its being unconstitutional, discriminatory, excessive and militated against the freedom of press by financially crippling the print media.
The APNS said it was interesting that the Federal Information Ministry, spearheaded by the Federal Information Secretary Anwar Mahmood, in its dialogue in the past with the APNS on the issue had expressed agreement with the APNS stands, had been discussing ways and means to do away with the Wage Board mechanism.
The APNS expressed the view that journalists should be given fair wages according to market forces, rather than have them set by a constitutional, discriminatory and obsolete mechanism devised by successive governments to intimidate the press.
So far, as the proposal of linking government advertising with the Wage Board Award implementation, the APNS noted that government advertising was already being distributed in discriminatory manner so as to intimidate coerce and browbeat dissenting newspapers.
However, the APNS said it welcomed any dialogue with the government on the Wage Board issue as long as it was intended to find ways and means of doing away with the Wage Board and the Newspapers Employees Act 1973.
The APNS being of the view that government advertising in this information age should be deregulated and free from the shackles imposed whimsically by the Federal information Ministry, it said, it would also welcome any dialogue on the best way of deregulating government advertising and ensuring its transparent distribution.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:5/23/2004
” 
” 
” 
” 
