The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has once again urged the government to release the outstanding bills of newspapers and publications. A meeting of the Punjab Committee of CPNE was held with Editor-in-Chief 92 Newspaper Muhammad Haider Amin at Daily Times’ office on Tuesday.
All the participants were unanimous in their demand that the government must ensure timely payment of the ads keeping in view the ongoing financial crisis of the media industry. “The government must be aware of its responsibilities and it should play its role during this hard time being faced by the media industry,” said the members of CPNE Punjab Committee. All the Editors were of the view that they will resist the dictatorial laws being imposed by the government with full force.
We have bravely fought the dictatorships of Ayub Khan and Zia ul Haq and we’ll also fight this time for the sake of press freedom, they added. There will be no compromise at all as far as the freedom of the press is concerned, CPNE members said.
The CPNE provincial committee also deliberated on the proposed ‘Punjab Press and Publication Bill 2020’. The CPNE members were of the view that they will not accept any legislation on press laws that will be done without taking into confidence all the stakeholders. Moreover, the provincial committee also awarded the membership of Punjab CPNE to 21 new publications across the province.
The meeting was attended by Group Editor Express Ayaz Khan, Group Editor 92 News Irshad Ahmad Arif, Editor-in-Chief 92 Muhammad Haider Amin, Managing Director Daily Times Kazim Khan, Managing Editor Pakistan Today Yousaf Nizami, Editor Daily Ghareeb Tanveer Shaukat, Executive Editor Jehan Pakistan Zia Tanoli, Editor Sang-e-Meel Multan Muhammad Arshad Roohani, Group Editor Daily Saadat Usman Ghani, and others. As many as 21 members of CPNE from Punjab were present on the occasion.
