Govt to facilitate growth of free, responsible media: Fawad

ISLAMABAD, Sep 07 (APP):Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain while meeting
with delegation of APNS which called on him here, Friday said that present democratic government believed in freedom of expression and would continue to facilitate the growth of free and responsible media.
He said that independent media was sine qua non for strengthening democracy and nurturing democratic values and norms in the society.
While dilating on the Government’s proposal regarding formation of media regulatory authority, the Minister assured the delegation that no law would be introduced without consulting the media and their representative bodies.
He said that proposed legislation primarily was aimed at facilitating the media by merging
various regulatory authorities to ensure one window operation particularly for those who knocked
at separate doors for redress of their complaints.
In regards to the release of advertisement, Information Minister reiterated the resolve of the Government to bring transparency and fairness as far as the process of releasing advertisements
was concerned.
He said that during the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government, advertisements were not released fairly and they were used as a means for self-projection and promotion of personal interests.
Information Minister also asked APNS to present their proposals for bringing transparency
in the release of government advertisement.
The delegation also discussed other issues including payment of outstanding dues. Information Minister assured his full support and cooperation for the resolution of the issues raised by the APNS delegation.
Shafqat Jalil, Principal Information Officer and Tahir Khushnood, Director General, Internal Publicity Wing were also present on the occasion.