QUETTA: A representative committee of the Action Committee of the Newspaper Industry Balochistan has expressed serious reservations over the proposed Digital Media Policy 2026, calling on the provincial government to suspend its implementation and restore the consensus-based Media Policy 2023.
The meeting, chaired by Haji Abdul Ghaffar, was attended by Mir Ahmed Baloch, Shah Jahan Baloch, Murtaza Tareen, Dr Nashnas Lehri, Farooq Langove, Habib Khan, Syed Rizwan Ali Hashmi, Riaz Ahmed and Mudassar Nadeem.
Participants said the newspaper industry was not opposed to technological advancement or digital transformation but had concerns over the drafting process and implementation mechanism of the proposed policy, which they said contained several shortcomings.
They warned that the proposed policy could further weaken Balochistan’s already struggling newspaper industry, threaten the survival of print media organisations, and encourage favouritism and monopolisation in the media sector.
The committee resolved to continue efforts for the protection of the newspaper industry and urged the Balochistan government to withdraw the proposed policy and reinstate the 2023 media policy, which it said had been finalised after consultations with all stakeholders.
The participants also called for increasing the allocation for digital media under the 2023 policy from Rs50 million to Rs500 million, arguing that enhanced funding would help promote digital journalism in the province while providing financial support to the newspaper industry.
