Information and broadcasting ministry used to advise the media:Nizami

Lahore: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arif Nizami said on Thursday that in the past ministry used to advise the media but now it has become a facilitator.

Addressing as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of 30th Special Training Programme of Information Officers here the minister said that the government believes in freedom of expression as it was prerequisite for democracy.

He said that role of the Information Officers has also changed and the Information Ministry needs influx of good officers so that the image of the country and the government can be presented in proper perspective.

The minister while quoting founder of a leading newspaper group Hameed Nizami said that a good journalist should be educated, hard working and have the habit of reading extensively and these qualities also apply to information officers.

Earlier in his welcome address Director General Information Service Academy (ISA) Muhammad Khalid Sarwar said that the academy established in 1980 has been imparting training to newly inducted information officers. So far the ISA has trained 29 badges of 400 information officers, he said.

The DG ISA also informed that the academy has also trained 400 journalists from Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan