PFUJ for impartial ad policy of federal, provincial govts

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has demanded impartial and balanced advertisement policy of the federal and all the provincial governments to ensure freedom of the press and media, says a press release.

In a joint statement on Monday, President PFUJ Shehzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi said that policy adopted by the federal government and two provincial governments (Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) is partial and based on forced censorship and arm twisting of the media houses and needs to be changed.

They urged the federal and the provincial governments to adopt balanced and impartial advertisement policy which shouldn’t be indicative of media gagging and symbol of censorship. The PFUJ demanded to issue advertisement on the bases of readership and balanced content which are considered best practices across the map.

The PFUJ leadership also condemned the owners of the media houses who are resorting to worst kind of retrenchment and forcing media workers and journalists to resign or are forced to pay cuts. The PFUJ leadership urged the owners to plan a rational strategy for saving the media industry from further destruction.