Resignations at Samaa

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 30 May 2012 |  JP Staff Reporter

At least seven Samaa TV staffers, including chief reporter Sanaullah, have reportedly resigned and are serving a one-month notice period. Sources say Bureau Chief Iftikhar Shirazi and Assignment Editor Husnain Raza may also resign, with several staffers headed to DawnNews.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: At least seven staffers of Samaa TV including their chief reporter are reported to have tendered their resignations and will now be serving out the mandatory one-month notice period. Those who submitted their resignations are said to be Chief Reporter Sanaullah, Ali Akbar, Shakeel Qarar, Sohail Bhatti, Fahad Chaudhry, Zakia Manzoor and Arshad Hussain. The channel’s Bureau Chief Iftikhar Shirazi and Assignment Editor Husnain Raza are also likely to resign shortly, a JournalismPakistan.com source says. The entire party is headed for DawnNews where at least four journalists including Editor North Mubashir Zaidi and reporters Matiullah Jan, Azaz Syed and Abdul Shakoor Khan are on their way out. Our source says that all those who have resigned are not members of the team that Shirazi had brought to Samaa from Geo. The staffers leaving had joined in from organizations like APP, Online and Dunya TV. It is being said that Shirazi was not offered a fresh contract by Samaa and had taken up the DawnNews offer which is much less than what he was drawing from his current organization.

KEY POINTS:

• At least seven Samaa TV staffers, including Chief Reporter Sanaullah, have reportedly resigned.
• The resigning employees include Ali Akbar, Shakeel Qarar, Sohail Bhatti, Fahad Chaudhry, Zakia Manzoor and Arshad Hussain.
• A source says Bureau Chief Iftikhar Shirazi and Assignment Editor Husnain Raza are also likely to resign.
• The group is reportedly moving to DawnNews as multiple journalists there are said to be leaving.
• Sources claim Shirazi was not offered a fresh Samaa contract and is considering a lower-paid DawnNews offer.