Pakistan Today office faces closure?

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 7 November 2012

Pakistan Today's Islamabad office faces potential closure due to financial difficulties and unpaid rent. The situation has led to delayed salaries and layoffs.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: The struggling Pakistan Today newspaper could be forced to shut down their Islamabad office due to non-payment of rent. JournalismPakistan.com has learnt the management has not paid rent to the owner of Al-Babar Centre in Sector F-8 where the paper’s office is housed.

The situation at the Islamabad centre where several employees were laid off earlier this year continues to be grim. Electricity has remained cut off for nearly three weeks now, again because of non-payment of monthly bills.

Staff salaries regularly get delayed and payments are made in parts, creating problems for the employees.

In June, Rana Qaisar, the resident editor in Islamabad quit after serving for less than two years. He helped launch the paper that initially seemed to do well but later ran into serious financial difficulties.

The Islamabad office currently has about seven staff members. Pakistan Today is edited by Arif Nizami.

KEY POINTS:

• Pakistan Today's office in Islamabad may shut down due to rent issues.
• Electricity has been cut off for three weeks because of unpaid bills.
• Staff salaries are delayed, affecting employee morale.
• Rana Qaisar resigned as resident editor after less than two years.
• The office currently employs about seven staff members.