The closure of ATV, a national broadcasting organization managed by Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company (SRBC), and the dismissal of over 280 journalists and media workers, has sparked intense concern and outrage across the country’s journalistic community.

Through a court-supervised liquidation process, employees and journalistic organizations have linked this mass dismissal to the alleged involvement of the Ministry of Information’s top bureaucracy and Minister Atata Tarar, describing it as a “well-orchestrated conspiracy.”

Employees argue that ATV was deliberately pushed toward operational failure by means such as deliberate funding shortages, delayed salaries, lack of technical equipment, and the suppression of maintenance files. This, they claim, was done to pave the way for the institution’s complete closure by court order. Despite repeated appeals to the Ministry of Information, no government official came forward to help. 

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According to the official liquidator’s order, by the end of the business day on November 30, 2025, all staff, including news, engineering, camera, admin, consultants, daily wagers, contract, and permanent employees, will be laid off. They have also been instructed to immediately return all official records, files, passwords, equipment, and media storage. 

The dismissed journalists and workers have expressed deep concern that their dues, gratuities, leave encashments, and unpaid salaries are now being tied to “fund availability,” leaving them in severe financial insecurity.

Journalistic organizations have condemned this decision as “media hostility,” “economic murder,” and a deliberate attempt to weaken a national institution. They have announced nationwide protests and legal action, arguing that ATV’s closure is not due to financial necessity but rather the behavior of a powerful bureaucracy that has pushed hundreds of families to the brink of economic ruin.

 Affected media workers are demanding that the dismissal be reversed immediately, that independent investigations be conducted into those responsible, and that an emergency plan for the institution’s revival be put in place, with all dues paid without delay

The press release states that the closure of the national broadcaster is not merely an administrative decision but a dangerous attempt to silence media voices, and it will not be tolerated under any circumstances.