KARACHI, May 29: A Sindh government spokesman has defended the ban on five Karachi newspapers, saying that they were not only tarnishing the image of the press, but also promoting vulgarity and immorality in society.

Reacting to a statement by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), the spokesman said on Saturday that the editors and publishers of the newspapers had been issued warnings from time to time to refrain from printing objectionable material. Copies of the notices were also sent to the media committee - constituted by the Sindh government of which representatives of the CPNE and APNS are also members. Unfortunately, the newspapers gave no heed to the warnings and continued publishing vulgar and indecent photographs and stories, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the CPNE was kept fully informed by the information department, and whenever a notice was issued to the newspapers, a copy was endorsed to the committee members as well.