KARACHI, APR 28  (DNA) – The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has welcomed the new changes at the Federal Information Ministry with Senator Shibli Faraz taking charge as Information Minster and former DG ISPR Lt Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa being given an honorary position as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information.

In a joint statement issued here on Tuesday, CPNE President Arif Nizami and Secretary General Dr. Jabbar Khattak said that Pakistan’s media industry is currently facing an existential crisis owing to issues related to freedom of press and unprecedented financial hardship that has been exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, which is currently wreaking havoc across the country.

The CPNE President and Secretary General hope that the new team at the Information Ministry, who are quite aware of the problems being faced by the media, will play a decisive role in resolving them by engaging and consulting all stakeholders in a frank dialogue.

Arif Nizami and Dr. Khattak expressed their concern over the longstanding issue of pending payment of advertising dues to various media outlets and an endemic issue of nonpayment of salaries to media workers that also remains unresolved.

They urged the new Information Minister and SAPM on information to ensure that all legitimate dues owed to media houses are cleared expeditiously and that pending salaries owed to media workers are paid by their respective employers immediately as well.