Veteran journalist and anchorperson Talat Hussain on Friday turned down the offer to become federal information minister in the caretaker cabinet. While speaking to Express News, Talat said that he received a phone call around 4:00pm on Friday from a person associated with the interim government, who told him that he is being considered for the post, but he declined the offer with thanks.
Talat said the job of a journalist is to criticize critique and analyze, not to rule, adding the information minister has to defend and protect the government at any cost.
Without naming Najam Sethi, a senior journalist who has became the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Talat said becoming the part of government is against the dignity of journalist and if he/she want to become its part, than he/she should leave journalism.
Several journalists including Ansar Abbasi and Hamayun Gohar and Salim Bukhari have hailed Talat’s decision.
