Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has announced that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has ended political censorship of state television in accordance with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for a free and independent media.
The government has also issued directives for complete editorial independence of state media, Chaudhry tweeted on Tuesday, adding that drastic changes will be visible in Information Department in the next three months.
“As per vision of @ImranKhanPTI Ended political censorship on PTV, clear instructions issued for a complete editorial independence on PTV and Radio Pakistan, drastic changes [will] be visible in Information Dept in coming 3 months Inshallah,” he posted.
In a meeting in Islamabad earlier in the day, the information minister also proposed introducing an English-language channel of state-run radio on Internet, particularly for international audience.
He asked the Information Ministry to play a proactive role in promoting a positive image of Pakistan globally, and directed organisations concerned to make efforts to generate revenue by improving their programming and content.
Published in Daily Times, August 22nd 2018.