KARACHI: Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani and Sarmad Ali were elected unanimously as president and secretary general, respectively, of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) on Monday, according to a press release.

The annual meeting of the body’s general council elected Imtinan Shahid as senior vice president, Muhammad Aslam Kazi as vice president, S.M. Munir Jilani as joint secretary and Shahab Zuberi as finance secretary.

The general council, held under the chairmanship of Sarmad Ali, the outgoing president, was attended by 128 members from across the country.

The APNS expressed its profound concern on the state of print media as the present economic situation had plunged the industry into a severe financial crisis. A number of newspapers were on the verge of closure, it added.

“In this situation, the media expects support from the government to brave the financial crunch,” the APNS said.

It called upon the federal government to clear outstanding dues of the industry exceeding Rs2 billion, raise the quantum of advertisements and allocate a separate share for the print media in its advertising budget.

Such initiatives are necessary for enabling newspapers to survive the economic headwinds buffeting the industry, the APNS said.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2023