JournalismPakistan.com
July 03, 2013

ISLAMABAD: Six journalists were heading to China Wednesday to cover Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s trip but for the first time perhaps were not being sponsored by the government.

The News reported Wednesday the media persons were to travel by commercial airlines and would not be on the PM’s plane.

All six represent the private media. The paper did not name the journalists, although it is being said Muhammad Malick (Dunya TV), Absar Alam (Aaj TV), Rana Jawad (Geo TV), Rao Khalid (Express News), Khushnud Ali Khan (Jinnah) and Mehtab (Ausaf) are making the trip.

The estimated budget, as calculated by the Information Ministry, is $3500 for each individual, the paper said.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced last month the government would not pay for journalists wanting to cover the premier’s foreign trips.

Successive governments have spent billions on official entourages of prime ministers and presidents. The recent declassification of information ministry’s secret fund revealed the government even used ‘secret funds’ to sponsor journalists’ foreign visits.