ISLAMABAD: A media and press freedom watchdog has called for the formation of an independent Steering Committee, which would be responsible for doling out government advertisements to media organisations.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Freedom Network said that successive governments have used the release of advertisements as “leverage” against critical media groups trying to follow an independent editorial policy, adding that the tactic remains in use even today.

It noted that the Dawn Media Group, one of the country’s oldest and most respected, had been facing an “unannounced ban” on advertisements as punishment for pursuing an independent editorial policy.

The ban has been in place since October 2024, the statement quoted a spokesperson for the group as saying.

“This ban marks an unannounced policy to censor media groups which want to pursue an independent editorial policy,” the statement said.

Freedom Network calls on federal, Punjab govts to end ‘unannounced ban’ on Dawn

“The federal and provincial governments need to devise a transparent policy to ensure every deserving media group is provided its share from the annual quota of advertisements.

“Dawn… was founded by [Quaid-i-Azam] Muhammad Ali Jinnah and is widely respected for following high standards of journalistic ethics… [being] the only newspaper which appointed an external ombudsman to address its readers complaints,” Freedom Network said.

According to the watchdog, Dawn’s editorials and op-ed pieces are highly critical of the government’s internal and external policies. The group had also suffered under the previous PTI government for its independent editorial policy, it said.

In addition to the federal and Punjab governments, the Sindh government had also imposed a similar ban on the publication for unknown reasons, but it has since resumed issuance of its ads for the group, it noted.

However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Bal­o­chistan governments are issuing advertisements to the group, the Dawn spokesperson said.

In recent months, Dawn has not been made part of major federal and Punjab government campaigns, worth millions of rupees.

The statement pointed out key dates — such as Pakistan Day on March 23 and Kashmir Day on Feb 5 — when government ads to mark the occasion were carried by nearly all other major newspapers, but not in Dawn.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025