Media crisis: Tarar blames PTI policies

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday said media policies introduced in 2019 were the primary cause of the financial difficulties facing Pakistan's media industry, saying those measures significantly shrank the sector's financial space and their effects continued to be felt years later.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the National Press Club's website, the minister said it was the government's responsibility to formulate policies that strengthened the media industry and ensured journalists could earn a dignified livelihood.

Referring to the financial challenges confronting media organisations, Tarar said a policy introduced in 2019 had capped federal grants for press clubs at Rs1 million for the National Press Club and Rs500,000 for smaller press clubs.

Questioning the rationale behind the decision, he said there was no justification for imposing such a restriction on the National Press Club. He added that the government had already moved an amendment to remove the cap, stressing that the country's premier press club, located in the federal capital, should not be subject to such limitations. He said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had directed the secretary information to resolve the matter.