About PPI

Pakistan Press International (PPI), the countrys independent news agency, was established in 1956 with a view to providing the media in Pakistan with an objective news service. Since then, it has carried out its mission under most trying circumstances. For long periods, PPI has been the only credible source of political news available to the Pakistani media. The agency enjoys the respect of national and international news media and has distinguished itself as an instrument of objective, responsible and ethical journalism. PPI has an extensive news file prepared by over 300 staffers and stringers in all parts of the country. All major newspapers, radio and television stations in Pakistan subscribe to PPI news service. Besides political news, PPI also lays special emphasis on the coverage of economic, social, cultural and sports news, particularly projection of activities in the rural areas. PPI has one of the most extensive coverage of rural Pakistan of any media organisation. For the benefit of the rural population, the agency encourages news of social programmes, such as human rights, womens empowerment, literacy, childrens rights, family planning and environmental issues. PPIs policy is to help make people aware of social problems such as dangers of drugs, smoking and other health hazards. Although PPI is a private limited company, it is run on not-for-profit basis. It has been the policy of the agency since its inception that non-working directors are not paid emoluments in any form and shareholders are not paid dividends. The policy of recycling the revenues back into the agency has enabled PPI to develop rapidly into a viable news agency. PPI has bureaus in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Azad Kashmir, Multan and Hyderabad linked by a computer network One of the outstanding achievements of PPI is that it has provided on-the job training to a large number of journalists. The agency has followed a policy of training newcomers in the field of journalism. PPI develops their spirit of initiative and impresses upon them the need for objective, investigative and analytical reporting. At least one-third of the journalists working in the national press and public relations media, many of them distinguished in their field, have had their training in PPI. PPI is a member of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Organisation of AsiaPacific News Agencies (OANA), and the AsiaNet consortium. PPI has been in the forefront of development of independent radio journalism in Pakistan, producing ten news bulletins daily which are broadcast by 25 radio stations, from all parts of the country.