Official ads
Editorial…
Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that the issue of government advertisements to the Nawa-i-Waqt group of newspapers will soon be resolved. He made the statement in National Assembly on March 11.
He had promised something similar a few days ago, but the deadlock remains. No one from government side has clearly explained why it has blocked advertisements for Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation. The management of the newspapers has said advertisements have been stopped to force the papers to change their editorial policy.
All accredited organizations representing newspaper industry have protested against the government’s tactics. It was thought that, learning from the history of government-press relations, the present administration would play fair with the newspapers and resist the temptation to use official advertising as a pressure tool. This belief has now been shaken, and in other devious ways also authorities at various levels have tried to bully or harass newspersons.
While instances of the latter can be blamed on officials acting alone or exceeding the limits in their zeal for surveillance, the information minister has taken personal responsibility for the action with regard to the Nawa-i-Waqt group. It is, therefore, also his responsibility now to sort out the affair to avoid any further deterioration in the government’s equation with press.
It should also be pointed out that there is no need for government to ride moral high horse on this issue. It doesn’t advertise in newspapers as a favour it needs to do so to convey information to the public and to publicize its activities.
It is also an established fact that official advertisements have sometimes been employed to extend political patronage to individuals bringing out ‘dummy’ newspapers. This is as undesirable as using advertisements to force a change in editorial policy or express disapproval. A healthier attitude needs to be adopted.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/13/2004
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