This hasn’t happened over night, it is a well thought plan to monopolize the digital arena of Pakistan by creating a digital cartel in the form of Digital Publishers Association of Pakistan (DPAP). Although, this digital association doesn’t have its presence online but mere its creation has worried over 98% of bloggers in Pakistan who are still struggling to be recognized by the advertisers.
The founding members of this association are Dawn, Jang Media Group, Express Media Group, Business Recorder, ROZEE.PK and SAMAA TV.
Pakistan is a market of nearly 30 million internet users and with 3G to be launched in near future for 120 million mobile phone users and soon as this technology gets introduced here, this internet user base will multiply dramatically in no time.
There is a big role of young people in increasing this internet/broadband usage in Pakistan in the last 10 years. Many of them came forward and started their own blogs while spreading more awareness among Pakistanis through their words and images. These free minded people started highlighting the errors of conventional media and even talked about those things which our print and electronic media have never dared to discuss in past.
Not only it created a bigger challenge for media tycoons in terms of quality of content but also paved way for more advertising avenues.
Not many but few of the successful bloggers have been able to impress the national advertisers and they are regularly publishing ads. I personally know many journalists of print and electronic media who have started their own blogs because of inadequate pays and highly politicized environment and the number is growing.
Apart from usual advertising on print and TV, this blogging community has established an entire new domain of digital advertising, also, it has lowered the future prospects of print advertising. One can easily witness the ad-less pages of reputed newspapers. Even though, they are running their own news websites and FM Radio Stations but still this mushroom like growth of blogs is pain in their neck.
The inception of DPAP is a warning to all those carefree bloggers who have been a hard nut to crack in the past. This is a message that the cartel will get bigger and stronger.
According to an official of a media house, the association is a reflection of newspaper and electronic media societies that exists to safeguard the vested interests of big guns. Soon they may start lobbying to pressurize the government for implementing strict laws governing the internet community.
I don’t think that the already frightened government will take much time to draft and implement any such thing for controlling this wild horse.
For sure, this will have its merits and de-merits but we will need to see how blogger community in Pakistan react to this before it is too late.
The founding members of this association are Dawn, Jang Media Group, Express Media Group, Business Recorder, ROZEE.PK and SAMAA TV.
Pakistan is a market of nearly 30 million internet users and with 3G to be launched in near future for 120 million mobile phone users and soon as this technology gets introduced here, this internet user base will multiply dramatically in no time.
There is a big role of young people in increasing this internet/broadband usage in Pakistan in the last 10 years. Many of them came forward and started their own blogs while spreading more awareness among Pakistanis through their words and images. These free minded people started highlighting the errors of conventional media and even talked about those things which our print and electronic media have never dared to discuss in past.
Not only it created a bigger challenge for media tycoons in terms of quality of content but also paved way for more advertising avenues.
Not many but few of the successful bloggers have been able to impress the national advertisers and they are regularly publishing ads. I personally know many journalists of print and electronic media who have started their own blogs because of inadequate pays and highly politicized environment and the number is growing.
Apart from usual advertising on print and TV, this blogging community has established an entire new domain of digital advertising, also, it has lowered the future prospects of print advertising. One can easily witness the ad-less pages of reputed newspapers. Even though, they are running their own news websites and FM Radio Stations but still this mushroom like growth of blogs is pain in their neck.
The inception of DPAP is a warning to all those carefree bloggers who have been a hard nut to crack in the past. This is a message that the cartel will get bigger and stronger.
According to an official of a media house, the association is a reflection of newspaper and electronic media societies that exists to safeguard the vested interests of big guns. Soon they may start lobbying to pressurize the government for implementing strict laws governing the internet community.
I don’t think that the already frightened government will take much time to draft and implement any such thing for controlling this wild horse.
For sure, this will have its merits and de-merits but we will need to see how blogger community in Pakistan react to this before it is too late.
