KARACHI: The executive committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) has urged federal government to take notice of problems being faced by the newspaper industry and requested it to clear the outstanding dues of member publications as soon as possible.

A press release issued by the APNS on Wednesday said the outstanding dues for the 2008-12 period, pertaining to the ministry of information, devolved ministries and other federal government departments, had already been verified and audited by the Press Information Department.

At a meeting held in Islamabad on Monday, the committee pointed out that the commitment made by the authorities regarding increase in rates of federal government advertisements had not been notified yet, despite various assurances, said the press release.

The representatives of member publications said the advertisers should have the choice of selecting the media which best met their needs. Therefore, the implementation of the Centralised Media Policy should be stopped.

The members noted that the federal government’s advertising budget had not been increased for several years. It should not only be doubled but separate allocations for electronic and print media should be made so that the newspaper industry was not deprived of its due share in the budget.

At a separate meeting the members appri­sed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui, Information Secretary Muhammad Azam and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehsin Ali Khan of the problems being faced by them, said the handout.

Mr Siddiqui and Mr Azam said the issues would be resolved in consultation with the APNS members at the earliest.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2015

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