Journalist unions urge government to restore license of Metro One TV

JournalismPakistan.com | Published 10 years ago

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Journalist unions urge government to restore license of Metro One TV

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, National Press Club and Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists have condemned cancellation of license of Metro One TV and urged the government to restore it.

In a joint statement, the journalist unions said that cancellation of the license would lead to unemployment of journalists working with the channel. “The cancellation of the license means economic muirder of journalists,” they said.

“The government should review its decision and restore license of Metro One TV,” the statement said.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Friday approved cancellation of 425 cable television licenses for being dormant including cancellation of Metro One TV’s license.

PEMRA said in its statement that the TV license was void ab-initio according to Rule 13 of PEMRA Rules 2009.

“Under the said Rule, a person engaged in distribution service (cable TV etc) cannot hold a broadcast license and vice versa. Whereas, the company was issued the satellite TV license in 2010 at a time when the company and its director were already operating cable TV system,” PEMRA said.

The journalist unions have, however, threatened countrywide protests if the government fails to restore license of the channel.

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