APNS, PBA, PFUJ concerned about advertising riot

APNS, PBA, PFUJ concerned about advertising riot

ISLAMABAD: Media organizations such as APNS, PFUJ and PBA have expressed concern over statements made by the Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and the Federal Minister of Information regarding advertisements published to the media during the past administration.

The All Pakistan NewspapersSociety (APNS) expressed deep concern over the statement by PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz admitting that she refused to advertise by some media outlets and the subsequent statement by Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in which he published figures Advertisements were shared by the media during the last government's tenure.

In a press release, the APNS stated that the published figures are not only incomplete and selective but deliberately do not include the current government's advertising spending. She calls on the government to publish the advertising figures for the past 20 years to the media.

The APNS firmly believes that government advertising should never be used as a tool to influence editorial content and restrict press freedom. The APNS believes that through the above statement, the government intends to create divisions within the ranks of the media.

The APNS has consistently condemned and resisted all actions and policies of past and present governments aimed at restricting freedom of the press and expression by using government advertising to influence editorial content. The APNS believes that the current government should ensure that taxpayers' money is used to publish advertising in the public interest and not to penalize or reward publication. It expects the current administration to promote transparency and merit in the distribution of advertisements to the media.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Journalists' Union (PFUJ) laments the revelations that PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif has ordered to stop advertising media that the N government did not like.

In a statement released on Wednesday, union president Shahzada Zulfiqar and general secretary Nasir Zaidi said the union was firmly opposed to any move to cease advertising in newspapers or media in an attempt to undermine freedom of the press. Such attempts are intended to stifle media companies financially and should not be practiced by political parties and governments.

Meanwhile, the PakistanBroadcasters Association (PBA) issued a statement in Karachi on Wednesday in response to Maryam Nawaz's statement that it refused to advertise by some media outlets and the Minister of Information's statement that he recently released part of the media spending to reporters in Karachi in which she said that government advertising should never be used to influence editorial content and control freedom of expression.

Governments should not try to create divisions within the media and use advertising as a tool to control the media. We ask the government to make public all media spending for the past 20 years, including current government spending, it said.

The PBA strongly condemns all forms of coercion by any government, past or present, that has used government advertising to influence editorial policy. The current administration is also being charged with doing the same while, according to its manifesto, it should ensure that taxpayers' money for advertising in the public interest is made up of merit rather than politics, PBA added.

It is said that the current government has also centralized advertising decisions by relieving it of the individual government organizations, departments and ministries in order to exercise control over the media. The government's track record of media relations to date has also been heavily criticized by media watchdogs and journalists' panels. When governments try to control freedom of expression, democracy and the people of Pakistan suffer the most.