"The government is sensitive to the needs of the journalist community. We are working on schemes to facilitate housing for journalists in the Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. Such schemes could also be extended to other cities," said the Federal Information Minister while talking to a group of journalists that called on the Minister in Islamabad.

Ms Rehman said that fierce competition in the media industry has resulted in imbalances and irregularities in salary structures and working conditions. "Financial and economic security is linked to independent journalism. There is a great divide between packages offered to journalists at different levels in a single organization and the resultant financial constraint leads to stress. These factors tend to compromise the quality of journalistic output."

Ms Rehman said that the government, on its part, is duty-bound to protect the interests of the journalist community. "Media is an important pillar of democracy. The government is committed to consider all legitimate demands of the media. We are also open to assisting media for improving their working conditions. We believe a stronger democracy is tied to a stronger media and we are willing to facilitate the media in all areas to strengthen the institution."