KARACHI, May 10: The standing committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors has deplored attempts to revive draconian media advertising policies evolved during military dictatorships of the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, and warned that any reversion to these media policies would be counterproductive.
Meeting under the chairmanship of CPNE president Mujibur Rehman Shami, it reviewed government-press relations and said in a resolution that all such attempts were resisted by CPNE and APNS in the past.
Any attempt to centralize or control advertising would amount to an effort by the government to dictate to the newspapers by using advertising as a lever.
The committee considered letters of resignation from CPNE membership of Zia Shahid, editor of Khabrain; Sharif Farooq, editor of Jihad, Peshawar; and Mukhtar Aquil, editor of Jurrat, Karachi. It also reviewed reports about the formation of Pakistan Editors Council in which Zahid Malik along with Zia Shahid, Sharif Farooq and Mukhtar Aquil were involved. The meeting considered these actions as detrimental to the cause of unity and press freedom. The meeting accepted resignations of Zia Shahid, Sharif Farooq and Mukhtar Aquil as received, and expelled Zahid Malik from CPNE.
The meeting declared that CPNE had successfully countered such divisive moves in the past, and would emerge even more strong.
It elected Khushnood Ali Khan, editor of Shafaat, to standing committee in place of Zahid Malik and also elected him vice president of CPNE. It also elected dailies Millat and Din to the standing committee in place of Khabrain and Jihad. It approved full membership for daily Express, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, and renewed membership of the monthly Trade Chronicle.
It constituted a committee of former presidents of CPNE with M.A. Zuberi as its convener to suggest comprehensive measures for improving the working of CPNE.
It reviewed arrangements for holding the annual function of CPNE and for choosing persons to be given awards for professional work.
It deliberated on press laws as promulgated by the federal government, including regulatory law relating to publications and printing presses. It was given a picture of the existing situation regarding the issuance of declarations and their authentication and it suggested that necessary corrective steps be taken by the government, in consultation with CPNE and APNS, to overcome difficulties.
The meeting condoled the death of a former editor of the eveninger ‘Leader’, Manzarul Hassan. It reviewed arrangements for visit of a CPNE editors delegation to Iraq and decided to finalize the delegation soon.—PPI
