Letter to the Editor,
Sir,
It is good to note that the new media team of the Federal Information Minister
and SAPM on Information and Broadcasting recently inducted in his team by
Prime Minister Imran Khan has got down to work in the right earnest.
The Press Information Department (PID) working is being streamlined by shuffling
the staff all over the country and for the first time perhaps a lady Principal
Information Officer (PIO) has been brought in at PID head office at Zero Point in
Islamabad.
The new Federal Information Minister has also started working to improve the
PM and print media and the government-print media relations. He has assured
the media workers in general and the journalists in particular that they would
hear some good news before Corona Virus hit Eidul Fitr.
This is obviously quite welcome assurance and if it materializes , as announced,
this will certainly help the journalists a lot and improve the federal government-
journalists relations which is direly needed.
The new media team should also look into another important pending business—
long pending payment due to the freelance journalists and columnists, including
this poor scribe, who during the last three years had made contributions
highlighting the federal government’s achievements in the print media after being
so commissioned by the PIOs and they have not been paid for their hard work and
determined efforts so far.
Another important thing which requires attention of the new media team is the
revision of list of newspapers, in all languages, which are on the advertisement
lists of the federal and provincial governments and they are getting
advertisements on ABC certification. Many newspapers have drastically cut their
journalists and employees strength and resultantly their circulation has also
reportedly come down. But they continue to get the government advertisements
and being paid out of public tax money at the federal and provincial levels. Why
so, please ? Thanks.
M.Z.RIFAT, LAHORE
