ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that despite growth and popularity of electronic and social media, print media had its own importance and place in society. He said fake news affected the world in different ways and should be a matter of concern for any society.

President Dr Alvi said this while addressing the 24th award distribution ceremony of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS).

The president expressed the hope that the government would fulfil its commitment and transform Pakistan into a great country and nation, adding that Pakistani nation had exhibited their courage in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

APNS president Hameed Haroon invited the president's attention to the existential crisis being faced by the media industry.

He pointed out that the media industry was facing acute financial crunch because of a decline in the quantum of government advertising and huge backlog of government advertising dues.

He urged the president to use his good offices for redressal of the issues being faced by the media industry. He pointed out that the Press Information Department was implementing a centralised advertising policy without consulting the stakeholders.

"This policy is a replica of the policy formulated by Ayub Khan in 1964 and is therefore outdated and archaic," Mr Haroon said, adding that this policy not only negated the independence of the departments in their choice of communication through their selected media but in fact, would result in taking over the functioning of all state institutions by a few individuals.

He said the federal and provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owed a sum of around Rs4.5 billion to print media for long which has not been paid despite various assurances.

Meanwhile, 14 journalists received awards at the ceremony. These included: Khurram Hussain for Best Column (English), Riaz Ahmed Syed for Best Column (Urdu), Ali Muhammad Memon for Best Column (Provincial Languages), Ali Bhutto for Best Feature (English), Shagufta Baloch and Mohammad Akram for Best Feature (Urdu), Ziad Zafar for Best Investigation Report, Razia Fareed for Best Environmental/Business/Gender report, Mahnoor Masood Farooqui and Zofeen T. Ebrahim for Best Business/Economic Report, Syed Murtaza Ali for Best Photograph, Muhammad Zahoor and Khaliq Khan for Best Cartoon, and Ali Bhutto for Best Cover Story for Periodicals.

The following people were awarded lifetime achievement awards: Arshad A. Zubari, Muhammad Aslam Kazi, Javed Jabbar, Saleem Asmi, I A Rehman, Jamshed Qureshi, Masudah M. Ahmad, and Pir Sufaid Shah Hamdard.

Meanwhile the Best Business Performance Award was given out to the following advertising companies: Midas Pvt Ltd (Gold), Creative Junction (Silver), Synergy Advertising (Bronze).

Other winners included: Oktopus 360 Media for Business Performance Award Periodicals, Midas Pvt Ltd for Business Performance Award Regional, Midas Pvt Ltd for Business Performance Award Metro B, Bahria Town for Client Performance Award in Private Sector, National Bank of Pakistan for Client Performance Award in Public Sector, Prestige Communications for Best in Copy, Synergy Advertising for Best in Design, Prestige Communications for Best in Campaign, and Manhattan International for Best Public Service Campaign.

Dawn