Abstract
A great majority of the Pakistani Journalists are living in a
miserable condition receiving low salaries and no
facilities. The Seventh Wage Board Award was a ray of
hope for them, when it was announced. This is a hot
issue of today’s Pakistani Journalism. It was announced
in 2001 by a Wage Board constituted by the Government
of Pakistan under Newspapers’ Employees’ Act 1973.
Even after a period of ten years, it has not been
implemented by the media organization till the end of
2011. The journalists welcomed this award because a
reasonable increase in their salaries was recommended
in this award. On the other side, the newspaper owners
totally rejected this award labeling it as an unaffordable
burden on the economy of media organizations. They
filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Pakistan against
this award in June 2002 which was rejected by the
Supreme Court in April 2004. The government is favoring
the journalist community regarding implementation of this
award. In reaction to this, the newspaper owners
launched a huge advertising campaign against Seventh
Wage Board Award and strongly criticized the
government including President, Prime Minister and
Information Minister. Now the government has become a
sandwich between Media owners and working
journalists. This paper attempts to investigate the
viewpoints and arguments of journalists, media owners
and the role of government in this regard and also
suggests some solution to resolve the issue.
Dr. Saqib Riaz. (2011) Seventh Wage Board Award: A Triangular Conflict between Government, Media Owners and Journalists in Pakistan , Journal of Political Studies, Volume 18, Issue 2.
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