The four governments of the federal, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have stopped the official advertisements of Dawn, and private advertising agencies have also been stopped from advertising the Dawn Group.
Only the KP government is giving advertisements on par with other media groups.
Dawn investigation Cell
London/Islamabad: Dawn (Nawa-i-Waqt, OK TV, Dawn TV, Daily Dawn), a major media group of Pakistan and the UK, has alleged in its recent newspaper editorial that the federal and Punjab governments of Pakistan have stopped their advertisements for the past five months.
An official of the Dawn Media Group (Nawa-i-Waqt, OKTV, Dawn TV, Daily Dawn) said that ‘the federal, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan governments have stopped Dawn’s official advertisements due to factual news about government policies.’
However, advertisements published by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government can be seen in the March 6 issue of the newspaper.
The official said that the institution is facing severe financial difficulties due to the long-term ban on advertising.
Director General Public Relations Punjab (DGPR) Ghulam Sagheer said that ‘it is the legal authority of the government to not allow any media group to advertise. However, we all give the advertisements as much as we get. But there is no restriction that Dawn must advertise.’
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern over this move. The commission has said that by stopping advertisements of organizations like Dawn, the government is endangering the survival of freedom of the press and critical editorial policies.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has also condemned the stopping of official advertisements of Dawn Group and has demanded that they also issue advertisements in line with other national media groups.
Why are they not getting official advertisements?
According to Director General PR Ghulam Sagheer, ‘Dawn administration knows very well why their advertisements are closed. The second thing is that the government issues official advertisements according to its budget. The government can advertise to any newspaper or channel it wants, and it cannot advertise to any channel it doesn’t want. It is not up to anyone to get advertisements by blackmail or force. We advertise according to our policy, and Dawn is given as much as it has to give.’
Dr. Akhtar Gulfam, CEO, Editor-in-Chief and Director of News of Dawn Media (Nawa-e-Waqt, OKTV, Dawn TV, Daily Dawn), said, ‘Just as previous governments have had disagreements with Dawn Media Group’s independent editorial policy, the current government is also angry with Dawn Group for its independent journalism. It wants to force Dawn to refrain from giving independent critical news on government policies, like other media groups.
‘This is the reason why the federal and Punjab governments have completely stopped advertisements since October 2024. The Sindh government is pressuring to condition advertisements on advertising its leadership. Only the KP government is giving advertisements at par with other media groups.
He alleged that ‘when we talk to government officials, they give the same answer that we have not stopped these advertisements. But instead of government advertisements, private advertising agencies have also been stopped from giving advertisements to the Dawn Group. In this situation, the Dawn Group is facing financial difficulties, which are also affecting media workers.’
Potential effects of discrimination
The Dawn newspaper editorial took the position that ‘silencing criticism is not a solution, whether the problem is social, political or any other nature. Surprisingly, weak rulers have always had difficulty understanding this simple truth.’
The newspaper further said that at different times, ‘authorities have been seen trying to control the press. In every such era, many chose to put the public interest above other considerations because responsible newspapers and journalists always knew that they could not abdicate their duty.’
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