Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has falsely claimed that media revenues had increased by 600 per cent between 2018 and 2021, a figure top media organisations have refuted as a ‘classic example of fake news.’
The country’s leading media organisations, including All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), and Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), issued a joint statement denying the minister’s claims as ‘baseless and incorrect.’
“He has only exposed his own ignorance about the matter and also how ill-informed his ministry is,” the statement said.
Media organisations further claimed that Chaudhry’s statement was made in an attempt to sow unrest between media houses and their workers, alleging that the minister had intentionally spread misinformation. Chaudhry’s post also bolsters the current administration, which took office in 2018.
In response, Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter following the statement, claiming that media owners, “may be right and Aurora’s figures are wrong but to prove it wrong it is necessary for media groups to open their accounts.”
As of Tuesday morning, the original tweet still remained posted online, without a retraction. Media associations have requested the minister remove his post from Twitter.
پاکستان میڈیا کے ریونیو میں 2018 سے 2021 میں 600 فیصد اضافہ ہوا ہے ، یہ خوش آئند بات ہے لیکن سوال یہ ہے اگر معیشت مستحکم نہ ہو تو اشتہارات میں اتنا اضافہ کیسے ممکن ہے؟ ذرا سوچئے اور خدا کیلئے میڈیا ورکرز کی تنخواہوں میں اضافہ کریں تا کہ انھیں بھی مہنگائ کا اثر کم لگنا شروع ہو pic.twitter.com/cRzeyMD672
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) January 17, 2022
In September, Fawad Chaudhry had launched his own allegations of ‘fake news,’ claiming that the newspaper, Dawn, “actively participates in an international conspiracy hatched to malign Pakistan.”
