KARACHI: The APNS expressed its grave concern on the complete stoppage of govt advertisements to Dawn Media Group, stated a press release of the APNS.
The Executive Committee of the APNS at its meeting held on February 03, 2026 at Karachi adopted a special resolution wherein it showed its dismay over the complete ban on the federal, provincial govt ads for last 15 months. The Executive Committee noted that the newspaper founded by Quaid-e-Azam is facing existential survival issue.
The APNS was of the considered opinion that the denial of Govt ads to Daily Dawn is not only unjust but also an attack on freedom of expression. The APNS observed that this action has been taken to force the media group to change its editorial policy.
The APNS reiterated that the govt advertisements are paid through public exchequer hence should not be used as tool to impact editorial policy of newspapers. The Executive Committee unanimously expressed its solidarity with Dawn Media Group in the hour of financial strangulation.
The APNS Executive Committee expressed its concern on consistent indifference of the federal govt to implement the decision of the Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, announced three years ago to increase the govt advertisement rates of newspapers. The delay has not only caused severe financial crunch to newspaper industry but also shows that the instructions of the Prime Minister are not being honoured.
The members of the Executive Committee observed that PID Islamabad has not paid major portion of dues of member publications released after the new advertising policy of 2020. They requested the PID to expedite the payment of outstanding dues and allocate a fair share in the quantum of advertisements for the print media. They also demanded that the regional PID offices be empowered to suggest media of their regions and authorized the clients to select the media of their choice.
The Sindh based members appraised the Executive Committee that the share in quantum of advertisements released by Sindh Govt. has been considerably reduced. Further, the payments of non-budgeted advertisements and outstanding liabilities have not being made. The members unanimously decided that the office bearers should meet the Provincial Minister for Information and apprise him the problems faced by Sindh based publications.
The Executive Committee approve the applications for provisional accreditations of M/s. Balance Publicity (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore and M/s. Red Ocean Communications and PR (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore.
The Executive Committee also approved the restructuring of M/s. Solution 1, Karachi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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