Rs524m in ads, empty newsrooms: Balochistan’s media paradox

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 1 hour ago |  Murtaza Zeb Zehri

Assembly documents reveal more than Rs524 million in government advertisements paid to 110 Quetta-based newspapers in one year, prompting scrutiny over circulation, transparency, and support for working journalists.

Summary

QUETTA  —  I wish I also had a newspaper. A friend who owns a newspaper no one reads.

In Quetta, I have a very old friend who, by the grace of God, is a newspaper owner. In all these years, I have never seen his newspaper at any stall in the city, nor in the hands of a hawker, nor even lying on a tea shop counter. I have never seen an office, reporters, or any newsroom activity associated with it.

Yet whenever we meet, his complaint is always the same. The government does not give advertisements anymore. Journalism has become impossible. His pockets, he says, are empty. For years, I believed him. I genuinely felt that another journalist was being crushed under the weight of a dying industry.

When one question changed everything

That illusion collapsed the day a single question was raised in the Balochistan Assembly by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, a member of the provincial assembly. His question compelled the Directorate General of Public Relations to submit official advertisement records to the assembly.

The documents covered the period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. What they revealed was staggering. In just one year, Rs524,443,418 was distributed among 110 newspapers published from Quetta in the name of government advertisements.

At that moment, my friend’s tears began to make sense.

Where the lion’s share of the money went

According to the official list, the biggest beneficiaries were Daily Mashriq Quetta, which received Rs47,526,000, and Daily Jang Quetta, which followed closely with Rs47,067,000.

They were followed by Daily Balochistan Express with Rs17.7 million, Daily Century Express with Rs15.4 million, and Daily Ba Khabar with Rs15.4 million. Daily Qudrat received Rs14.6 million, Daily Balochistan News Rs14.3 million, Daily Mizan Rs14.2 million, and Daily Azadi Rs12.2 million.

Daily Balochistan Times and Daily Himmat each received Rs11 million in government advertisements during the year.

The well-fed middle tier

Below the top tier sits a large group of mid-level beneficiaries. Daily Independent received Rs8.2 million, Daily Intikhab Rs7.9 million, and Daily Aham Khabar Rs7.4 million. Daily Awam collected Rs7.3 million, while Daily Today Pakistan and Daily Sahafat each received Rs6 million.

Daily Hayan, Daily Etemad, and Daily Green Gwadar were each paid Rs5.5 million. Daily Quetta Voice, Daily Taza Khabar, Daily Asr-e-Nau Mastung, and Daily Asia Today each crossed the Rs5 million mark.

The army of small but profitable papers

Then comes the largest category, newspapers that barely exist in public view but consistently draw millions. Daily Khabardar, Daily Ta’meer-e-Watan, and Daily Fighter Times each received Rs4.9 million.

Daily Reformer, Daily Sada-e-Alas, Daily Pakistan Express, Daily Salar, and Daily Balochistan Today fell between Rs4.6 million and Rs4.8 million.

Daily Ta’meer-e-Balochistan, Daily Shujaat, Daily Affan, Daily Kozak News Chaman, Daily Foz-ul-Azeem, and Daily Shal received between Rs4 million and Rs4.5 million.

Daily Saba, Daily Gwadar Times, Daily Aajroz, Daily Koh-e-Suleman, Daily Jahan-e-Aajroz, Daily Awaz-e-Nasl-e-Nau, and Daily Maloom received between Rs3.8 million and Rs4 million.

Dozens more newspapers including Daily Waqt, Daily Al-Fajr, Daily Dunya, Daily 6-AM, Daily Saahil, Daily Al-Jazeera, Daily Haal, Daily Talib, Daily Quetta Express, Daily Taltam News, Daily Istehman, and Daily Aks-e-Mehran each received between Rs3 million and Rs3.8 million.

Surviving on declarations alone

Further down the list are Daily District News, Daily Nawa-e-Zwand, Daily Balochistan Lines, Daily Taqat, Daily Tal Noshki, Daily Bazyab, Daily Public, Daily Gul Zameen, Daily Askar, Daily Voice of Millions, Daily Rozan Turbat, Daily Ziarat Views, Daily Koh-e-Yar, and Daily Kozak News Qila Abdullah, each receiving between Rs2 million and Rs2.8 million.

Near the bottom are Daily Gwadar Business, Daily Sadaqat International, and Daily Aftab with Rs2 million each. Daily Eagle Hub, Daily Sabol, Daily Nara-e-Haq, Daily Grok Balochistan, Daily Balochistan Observer, Daily Mirror, and Daily Farzand-e-Balochistan received between Rs1.7 million and Rs1.8 million.

Daily Great Balochistan, Daily Guldasta Bahar, Daily Pearl, Daily Aaina, Daily Nawa-e-Watan, Daily Nazim News, Daily Pakistan, Daily Awaz Times, Daily Azad, Daily Zamana, Daily Azaan-e-Sahar, Daily Spin Zar, Daily Makran Times, Daily Al-Razi, and Daily Vakalat Nama received between Rs1.2 million and Rs1.4 million.

At the very bottom are Daily Barwaqt, Daily Mashriq Evening, Daily Harb-e-Baqa, Daily Qaumi Awaz, Daily Farzand-e-Kashmir, Daily Khitab, Daily Mehrdar, Daily Zaland, Daily World Meter, Daily Zebaye Pakistan, Daily Awaz-e-Pishin, and Daily Parliament Times, surviving on allocations ranging from a few thousand rupees to Rs1.1 million.

The real cost of this system

On paper, this makes Quetta look like the headquarters of global journalism, with a newspaper on every street. In reality, many of these publications are invisible to readers and irrelevant to public discourse.

When the issue was raised in the assembly, the provincial information department stated in its written reply that advertisements are issued according to government requirements. The documents do not explain what those requirements are, nor do they reference audited circulation, readership, or newsroom capacity.

Meanwhile, working journalists across Balochistan continue to face delayed salaries, unpaid months, and chronic job insecurity. Owners collect advertisement revenue, but reporters are left knocking on office doors for their wages.

A dead horse kept alive with public money

In an era where news spreads instantly through mobile phones, social media platforms, and digital outlets, spending more than Rs524 million on next-day print newspapers with questionable reach demands serious justification.

If even a fraction of this money had been invested in education, health, or digital media training for young people in Balochistan, the public benefit could have been immense. Instead, the system rewards paperwork, declarations, and silence.

These 110 newspapers are not evidence of a thriving media landscape. They are the receipt of journalism’s funeral.

Until circulation audits, transparency, and labor protections become non-negotiable conditions for public advertising, the public treasury will continue to be drained, journalists will continue to struggle, and paper newspaper owners will continue to shed tears while quietly becoming millionaires.

Looking at those documents, one thought rises unavoidably to the surface. If this is journalism, then perhaps the most profitable profession in Balochistan today is owning a newspaper that no one reads.

KEY POINTS:

• Assembly documents show Rs524.4 million paid to 110 Quetta-based newspapers in 2024–25
• Figures were presented after a question by MPA Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman
• Two newspapers received more than Rs47 million each in government ads
• Dozens of publications received between Rs2 million and Rs7 million
• Information department says ads are issued according to government requirements