Media bodies on Friday condemned the curtailing of government advertisements to Dawn Media Group’s television and radio outlets, and called on the government to immediately rescind the ban.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Council of Newspaper Editors (CPNE) said that Dawn was among Pakistan’s most respected media outlets, and stopping the release of government ads to the group amounted to financially crippling the organisation.

The statement, attributed to the council’s president and secretary general, recalled that the Dawn Media Group had been providing unbiased information since the creation of Pakistan.

Initially, the release of advertisements to the group’s flagship newspaper was stopped, and now its electronic platforms had also been deprived of ads.

Govt ads should not be used to strangle dissenting voices: APNS

The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) also condemned the stoppage of government ads to Dawn Media Group outlets, saying it was “dismayed”.

“The APNS stated that for the last 13 months, Daily Dawn was suffering from [the] curtailment of government advertising, but now the news channel and radio [channel] owned by Dawn Media has also been subjected to denial of government advertising, which is not only unjust but also [an] attack on freedom of expression,” a press release from the body read.

As per the press release, the APNS observed that the step had been taken to “force the media group to change its editorial policy” and opined that since these advertisements are paid for through the treasury, they “should not be used as [a] tool to strangle the dissenting voices”.

“The APNS expresses its solidarity with [the] Dawn Media Group in this hour of financial stifling and urges … the federal and provincial governments to review their unconstitutional decision and restore government advertising to Dawn Media Group,” the press release concluded.

Broadcasters’ body urges govt to withdraw ad ban

The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), according to a press release, condemned the ban on advertisements in a statement and said it had always resisted “using advertising as tools to control media and free expression”.

“In an age when fake news on social media is widespread, the role of traditional media becomes even more critical,” the press release read.

“The statement urged the government to immediately withdraw the advertising ban on Dawn Media Group in the interest of free and responsible journalism”.

Earlier this year, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) noted in its ‘Islamabad Declaration’ that Dawn has been denied advertisements by the federal and Punjab governments since October 2024 “because of its professional and critical approach in reporting and editorials”.

The Sindh government, too, has periodically withheld its ads for arbitrary reasons.

This was not the only way in which authorities have tried to obstruct Dawn’s reporting – after the so-called ‘Dawn Leaks’ saga, the paper’s circulation was blocked in large parts of the country, especially the cantonment areas, on the orders of certain individuals.