Anything against media in PMDA to be changed: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Tuesday said that anything against the media in the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) would be changed if pointed out by any of the stakeholders.

He was briefing the media after a cabinet meeting, held here on Tuesday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair. The minister said if there was anything against the media in the PMDA, the concerned should inform about it and it would be changed. So far, not a single institution had commented on such a proposal, saying that such a clause was against the freedom of the media. Simply saying that it is against the freedom of the media is not appropriate, the minister added. Fawad Chaudhry said the Senate committee had suggested that the advertisements of the media outlets, which were not paying their salaries, should be stopped.

APP adds: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib Tuesday described the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) criticism of the PMDA as unfounded. He said consultative process on the PMDA framework was under way.

In a news release, he said there would be no restriction on the media freedom, with the establishment of the PMDA]. He said all the media forums including All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), press clubs and other stakeholders had been made part of the consultative process.

All stakeholders promised full support on the steps that would ensure journalists and media workers’ job security and on-time salaries and regulation of digital media, he added. The PMDA was meant for bringing all the agencies concerned under one umbrella to facilitate journalists and workers of all forms of the media in an efficient manner, Farrukh added. The PTI government firmly believed in freedom of the media and expression as enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution, he said.