Karachi -The All Pakistan Newspapers Society in its statement expressed great disappointment at these
remarks of the caretaker Prime Minister against print media while speaking to the media at
Islamabad. The Prime Minister while answering a question on the pending summary of the
Ministry of Information for an increase in the government advertisement rates, stated that the
print media should change its flawed business model and instead of depending on government
funding should generate revenue through its own resources. It appears that the Prime Minister
is ill-informed about the summary as the print media is not seeking any grant or subsidy from
the government but on the contrary, newspapers publish government ads at subsidized rates.
Government advertising rates are far lower, at about one fourth of commercial rates. The
outgoing prime minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had announced a long pending increase in the
government advertisement rates, the summary of which is still lying with the Finance Ministry.
It may also be noted that alarmingly the Federal Government owes almost Rs.2 billion to
newspapers towards payment of long outstanding bills. If the respected Prime Minister thinks
this business model is flawed, then the print media is prepared to correct the flawed model by
withdrawing these subsidized rates being offered to the Government by newspapers.
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