Journalists and other media employees: Senate body seeks stronger financial, social protection

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday recommended withholding government advertisements and revising advertising rates for media organisations that fail to pay employees on time, while also calling for mandatory life insurance and Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) registration for media workers.

The committee, chaired by Senator Sarmad Ali, expressed serious concern over growing downsizing in the media industry and sought stronger financial and social protection for journalists and other media employees.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar told the committee that employee welfare was the government’s “top priority” and efforts were being made to link the release of government advertisements with timely payment of salaries and outstanding dues.

He said the government had stopped advertisements to Suno News after the channel laid off some employees. Following the government’s engagement with the management, he added, several employees were reinstated.

Tarar said the government also had an SOP with the Pakistan Broadcasters Association under which media houses were expected to clear employees’ outstanding dues when the government released advertising payments.

The committee supported the introduction of a compensation package for families of media employees who die while on duty. Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi proposed fixing a specific compensation amount, while Sarmad Ali said media organisations had a responsibility to financially support the families of their workers in such cases.

The information minister sought proposals from the relevant department for a life insurance scheme for media workers and said the government could also consider contributing to the proposed fund.

The committee also focused on the future of print and regional media, observing that newspapers needed institutional support to remain sustainable.

Sarmad Ali said mainstream media must be strengthened to counter fake news and disinformation on social media, while Senator Jan Muhammad highlighted problems faced by regional newspapers, particularly those operating in Balochistan, and stressed their role in projecting the national narrative.

Tarar said digital media was largely a self-sustaining platform and should not be promoted at the cost of print and electronic media.

“Social media is fed by newspapers and television,” the minister said, adding that strengthening a rapidly expanding medium at the expense of traditional media could further weaken newspapers and television.

He said the government’s Advertisement Policy 2024 provided for verification of digital platforms through Google Analytics, web traffic data and other reports, along with a third-party verification mechanism.

The minister said newspaper digital platforms should receive priority, and the government would work to increase the digital inclusion of newspapers under the advertising policy.

He also directed the formation of a Press Information Department subcommittee to examine the circulation of regional newspapers and submit its findings.

Tarar informed the committee that reforms were underway in the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and that the ABC and Registrar’s Office would be merged into a single institution to modernise and make the circulation verification system more transparent.

He further said issues concerning the appointment of the chairman of the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE) had been resolved and a notification would be issued soon.

Meanwhile, the committee questioned the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) over discrepancies in figures previously presented regarding social media accounts.

Members noted that the NCCIA had subsequently disowned data shared by its officials during an earlier subcommittee meeting. The committee directed the agency to clarify whether the figures were authentic and submit verified and updated data.

The committee also took notice of reports that NCCIA had issued notices to certain newspapers and columnists, observing that such action could fall outside the agency’s legal mandate and amount to harassment of newspapers and journalists.

Sarmad Ali directed the NCCIA to ensure that no action was taken against newspapers or their websites, maintaining that they did not fall within the agency’s ambit.

Senator Waqar Mehdi recalled an earlier assurance by NCCIA officials that FIRs under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) would not be registered by provincial police and that such cases would be transferred to the cybercrime agency.

The committee directed the NCCIA to submit a comprehensive report on whether any PECA cases had been transferred to it by the provinces.

Briefing the committee on Pakistan Television, Tarar said PTV had, for the first time, become financially self-sufficient and had paid salaries on time throughout the previous year.

He said around 216 employees were currently serving at PTV on a contractual basis and that contractual hiring was carried out according to operational requirements to avoid adding to the corporation’s long-term pension burden. The minister said PTV Sports was the only Pakistani television broadcaster carrying the FIFA World Cup 2026, adding that no other television channel in the country was broadcasting the tournament.

He said prominent anchors from private television channels had also been brought to PTV and maintained that recent anchor recruitment was carried out on merit and was contributing positively to ratings and viewership.

Responding to questions about anchor salaries, Tarar said private television channels did not disclose the salaries of their anchors because of privacy considerations, and the same principle should apply to PTV. He, however, offered to share compensation details with the committee in an in-camera meeting.

The information secretary said no PTV employee had faced a delay in salary or pension payments during the previous financial year. Cost-cutting measures, he added, had also enabled payments to around 300 retired employees, particularly widows.

The committee sought a report on measures taken to resolve pension-related issues of Associated Press of Pakistan and Radio Pakistan employees.

It was also informed that PTV would resume its own productions during the current year.

The committee discussed plans to commercially utilise vacant portions of PTV and Radio Pakistan buildings to generate additional revenue.

Senator Waqar Mehdi called for revising rental rates for Radio Pakistan’s Karachi office building, where eight of its 17 floors were vacant. The committee directed the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation to submit a viable utilisation plan for the vacant space.

Separately, the committee discussed the recently released film “Buleha” and questioned the use of the name of revered Sufi poet Bulleh Shah for a film containing violent content.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid questioned how the Central Board of Film Censors had approved the film, while Tarar said the reasons for using Bulleh Shah’s name should be examined.

The committee decided to summon all members of the censor board and the film’s producer at its next meeting and directed the Ministry of Information to provide the minutes of the board meeting in which the film was approved.

The meeting was attended by Senators Syed Waqar Mehdi, Jan Muhammad and Abdul Shakoor Khan, while Senator Pervaiz Rashid participated via video link.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026