Shazia Tahir,
ISLAMABAD, (Parliament Times) : Federal Minister for information Ch Fawad Hussain said that The Media Development Authority is ready to amend the proposed bill in any way other than the rights of fake news and media workers. Government Believes in freedom of Media. PTI is the only government that has taken steps to protect the rights of media workers. Concerns about the PMDA will be removed, the government will have to stand with the media workers. He expressed these views while talking to a delegation of Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists. The Federal Minister for Information said that all the laws dealing with the media at that time were drafted before the digital media revolution. The PEMRA Act was enacted in 2002 when digital media did not exist. He said that seven regulatory bodies are
running media outlets, These include PEMRA, Press Council of Pakistan, Pakistan Telecom Authority, Central Board of Films Censors, Press Registrar’s Office, Audit Bureau of Circulation and Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees.
He said we lost about ? 150 billion in economic losses in the war on terror,and lost 80,000 lives, still we are on the FATF’s gray list. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that media workers are being made to work like forced labor while they are not even given contracts. We paid Rs. 75 crore to the media houses but they are still not paying their workers. He said that the government has to stand with the media workers. On the occasion, the RIUJ delegation assured the Federal Minister of Information of its full support for measures to protect the rights of media workers. The Federal Minister listened carefully to the problems of the delegation and assured them of a solution. The RIUJ delegation includes President Shakeel Ahmed, General Secretary Siddique Anzar, Vice Presidents Muneeb Iftikhar, President Women Journalists Protection Forum Farhat Fatima, Rana Rizwan, Usman Khan, Joint Secretaries Azhar Sharif, Umar Jutt, Shazia Tahir, Finance Secretary Ayaz Akbar. , Executive Members Usman Mughal, Zubair Khan, Nasir Abbas, Usman Malik, Syed Yasin Hashmi.