Islamabad: A meeting of the Pakistan News Agencies Council, the representative organization of the country's news agencies, was held in Islamabad, in which the organization of the council was implemented.

While electing the officers for the next two years by consensus, Sabah News Chief Editor Shakil Ahmed Turabi was elected President of the council, while News Network International Chief Editor Ammar Yasir was elected Secretary General, Online News Agency Editor Siddiq Sajid Senior Vice President, Independent News Agency Editor Aftab Chaudhry Vice President, Diplomatic News Agency Chief Editor Ansar Mahmood Bhatti will be Finance Secretary, while Pakistan Press International's Adnan Iftikhar will be Deputy Secretary. The meeting reviewed the issues faced by news agencies in detail and decided to resolve these issues by consensus. It was resolved that the government, especially the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, would further intensify its contacts and that a representative delegation of the organization would soon meet the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and other officials to resolve the issues of news agencies. It was said in the meeting that journalism is the fourth pillar of the state, news agencies are the backbone of the media and provide timely access to information to the public, and the role of news agencies in the media is of utmost importance. The stability of news agencies is also indispensable for ordinary journalists because hundreds of journalists are associated with news agencies. Therefore, the government should take steps for their welfare, keeping in mind the importance of news agencies like newspapers and TV channels.