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Journalism of Courage
The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) has sought to wash its hands of a controversial ad featuring an ex-Pakistan Airforce chief by saying the ad was given to it by the ministry concerned a day before its publication and not five days in advance as was required.
The DAVP,in an RTI reply,said that ministries have to send designs for advertisements five days before the publication date so that any improper or objectionable material can be noticed.
However,the controversial advertisement was sent to DAVP by the Women and Child Development Ministry only a day before it was published on January 24,the National Girl Child Day. The design was submitted on a Saturday (a holiday) afternoon and it was to be published on January 24,2010 (Sunday). There was no time to examine the design in detail, the Directorate said in the reply.
It said if advertisments are designed by outside agencies,as was the case,the responsibility of appropriateness and correctness of the visual information used in the ad lies with the ministry concerned.
The Ministry,in its RTI reply,said no clearance was sought from the PMO for the inclusion of PMs photograph in the advertisement.
