Lahore/Islamabad (Staff Report): Protest rallies were held across the country against the Punjab government’s move to stop advertisements to leading newspaper ‘Daily Nai Baat’.
The protesters strongly condemned the use of government advertising as a lever to force the media to act as per their dictation, which is tantamount to a significant and undesirable curb on the freedom of press.
They noted that such actions aimed to strangulate the dissenting voices, and were unconstitutional as well as a gross violation of democratic norms.
The major media organisations also demanded to immediately lift the ban on government advertising to ‘Daily Nai Baat’.
They termed the Punjab government’s step as a move against freedom of expression and economic exploitation of the workers associated with the 'Nai Baat media group'.
This is not austerity, this is BLACKMAIL.
— Neo News Urdu (@NeoNewsUR) July 26, 2019
Government cuts down adverts selectively for media outlets who believe in staying impartial. In the new wave of censorship, the government has cut down all advertisements for Daily Nai Baat.#Censorship #FreeSpeech #MediaFreedom #NaiBaat pic.twitter.com/GQt4NwzPPu
It is pertinent to mention here that this is for the fourth time that the provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has imposed the ban on advertisement for 'Daily Nai Baat'. However, the newspaper is pursuing the policy of impartial journalism.
