A bribe?

Now that it is a fait accompli there is no way of holding the APNS accountable for the Rs 300 million from the govt.

By necessity and design, the relationship between the media and the government should be an antagonistic one. The role of the media is to act as a watchdog for those in power and any collusion between the two forces can taint the purity of journalism. The 300-million-rupee payout from the government to the All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), although cloaked in the rhetoric of good intentions, falls squarely in the latter category. The government and the leadership of the APNS claims that this money will help struggling newspapers pay salaries to its workers and bail out advertising agencies. While that may well be the case, it can also create the perception that the government is trying to buy media support. After all, if an industry is beholden to the government for its continued prosperity it is hardly likely to target its benefactor.

Then there is an added wrinkle as it appears that the government failed to follow its own process before handing out this cheque. Last year, When APNS members presented bills that were meant to be outstanding, the accountant general of revenue Pakistan was unable to verify the authenticity of the bills. For the government to now hand over the money anyway, reeks of impropriety. Once again, since it is the media that is always demanding accountability of the government, the media itself needs to be beyond reproach for all its own dealings.

Even further, there is no guarantee that the money will filter down to those who are in dire need of it: the struggling journalists who are unable to make ends meet as they toil in an industry that has been hit by declining revenues. It should have been incumbent on the APNS to provide details of how this money would be utilised before they agreed to accept it. Now that it is a fait accompli there is no way of holding the APNS accountable for the Rs 300 million. With even the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists calling the government’s gift illegal, it will be up to the journalists to hold their bosses accountable for this bailout.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2012.