Tarar suspends ads to Suno News over layoffs

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 11 May 2026 |  JP Staff Report

Information Minister Tarar suspended federal advertising to Suno News after the channel laid off more than 160 employees, saying the ban will remain until management engages with staff over unpaid salaries and dues. He urged provinces to withhold official ads and offered government mediation.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Monday announced the suspension of federal government advertising to Suno News Television after the channel laid off more than 160 employees last week, escalating pressure on the broadcaster to resolve outstanding dues and engage with affected workers.

Speaking in Islamabad, Tarar said the decision would remain in place until the management of Suno News held discussions with employees regarding unpaid salaries and other financial obligations. He also urged the provincial governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan to adopt similar measures and withhold official advertising from the channel until the dispute is settled.

Government pressures channel over worker dues

The minister said he had instructed the Principal Information Officer (PIO) to ensure that no federal advertisements were issued to the broadcaster unless the matter was “amicably resolved.” He added that the government was prepared to mediate between management and employees if both sides agreed.

Tarar framed the move as part of the government’s broader responsibility toward media workers and the timely disbursement of official advertising payments. He said the federal government had fulfilled its obligations to media organizations by clearing advertising dues on time and that another tranche of payments was still pending release.

The minister also referred to his earlier visit to the offices of the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR), saying he had personally intervened before Eid to expedite payments to employees. According to Tarar, those dues had subsequently been released.

Media layoffs deepen financial concerns

The layoffs at Suno News come amid continuing financial pressures across Pakistan’s media sector, where shrinking advertising revenue, delayed payments, and operational cutbacks have triggered repeated waves of downsizing in recent years. Media workers and journalist unions have increasingly raised concerns about salary delays, abrupt dismissals, and weak enforcement of labor protections in news organizations.

While Suno News management had not publicly responded at the time of publication, the minister’s announcement marks a rare instance of the federal government directly linking the allocation of official advertising to labor-related disputes inside a private media organization.

The development is likely to intensify debate over the role of state advertising in Pakistan’s media economy, where government ad allocations remain a critical revenue source for many television channels and newspapers.

ATTRIBUTION: Reporting by JournalismPakistan, based on publicly available statements by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar in Islamabad on May 11, 2026.

PHOTO: Associated Press of Pakistan