RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Information is working on central media list reforms, streamlining the processes and updating the list to accommodate regional newspapers which are integral part of the media campaigns. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb said this while speaking at the “APNS Summit 2018 – Future of Advertising” here on Monday.

She said that her ministry has also been working over exclusion of dummy papers from the central media list while process of registration of daily newspapers and periodicals is being expedited. The minister said that certification period of daily newspapers and magazines would be increased to five years, adding that ABC audit of circulation also needs to be reformed, so that “our newspapers circulation as per global norms is available on record transparently.”

She said that advertising is considered a lucrative business and everyone thinks there is a lot of money. “All information about government advertisements should be available digitally to increase transparency and avoid delay in payments and undue harassments,” she added. The minister also asked the APNS to forward recommendations made at the summit to Press Information Office so that Ministry of Information can adopt the same.

Principal Information Officer (PIO) Mohammad Saleem Baig said that the Press Information Department (PID) stresses the importance of print media but generally its share is declining while the regional and national media are competing with each other.

He admitted that delayed payment to media organizations for the advertisements is an issue which the Press Information Department is trying to resolve at the earliest, adding that the PID is trying to clear the dues within 90 days.

Punjab’s Director Advertisement, Nabeela Ghazanfar, said that all the stakeholders including print media, electronic media and the government should make an interactive forum which can resolve issues pertaining to payment and other issues. She claimed that Punjab government has cleared pending payments of Rs1.83 billion during the last six months for APNS members only while remaining Rs400 million will be released within the next two to three weeks. Secretary Information Sindh, Imran Ata Soomro said that over the period of time the share of print media in different government advertisements is decreasing while electronic media share in the advertisement campaign is increasing to 80 percent.

Secretary Information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Qaiser Alam said that the summit has given the provincial government a chance to find out solutions to the problems faced by the advertisement and media industry in terms of payments, regulation and just distribution of the funds.

Earlier, while welcoming the guests Secretary General APNS Sarmad Ali stressed the need for innovation in the print media and urged the newspapers to embrace technology and measurability to remain relevant in the ever-changing media ecosystem.