Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami exits Dunya News, but Pakistan’s media ignores hundreds of forgotten layoffs

Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami leaves Dunya News, Salman Ghani receives notice, and Fahad Shehbaz Khan is reportedly let go — but Pakistan’s media only weeps for those with big packages and powerful friends.

By Imran Malik | Media Industry Desk | MediaBites.com.pk

Pakistan’s media industry is going through another round of high-profile exits, quiet notices, and unannounced departures. And once again, the industry is revealing exactly who it considers worth mourning — and who it considers entirely disposable.

Let us say what needs to be said directly.

The Selective Grief of Pakistani Media

When hundreds of media workers were laid off from various channels and newspapers over the past year, Pakistan’s media landscape was completely silent. No breaking tickers. No special programs. No emotional tributes on prime time. No social media storms from senior anchors expressing solidarity.

Because the people being let go were cameramen, reporters, producers, graphic designers, and sub-editors. They did not have prime time slots. They did not have massive monthly packages. They did not have the institutional connections that make powerful people uncomfortable when treated badly.

So their exits went unnoticed. We at MediaBites raised our voices when nobody else would — stating clearly that until anchor packages are restructured to accommodate the media workers who keep newsrooms functional, channel owners will continue this cycle of exploitation with absolute impunity. Because media owners and senior anchors have a partnership that serves both parties. That alliance never breaks. Because both sides need each other equally.

Three Departures. Three Very Different Stories.

Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami — Dunya News

The most discussed departure of the week. Shami has parted ways with Dunya News after a significant run at the channel.

Let us be honest about Shami. He is not simply a journalist. He is a business tycoon with interests spanning multiple sectors. His financial security does not depend on a channel’s monthly salary transfer. He will be absolutely fine.

What is genuinely interesting is his recent ideological trajectory. For years, he was read as a voice broadly aligned with establishment thinking. In recent months, he moved noticeably toward a more critical posture, which earned him surprising new popularity among audiences who had not previously been part of his core following. Whether that shift contributed to his exit from Dunya is a question the industry is quietly asking, but nobody is answering publicly yet.

Pakistan’s media will hold elaborate discussions about his career. Colleagues will offer emotional tributes. That is appropriate for a senior journalist with decades of service. But remember — when hundreds of workers left, there were no tributes.

Salman Ghani — Notice Reportedly Issued

Senior journalist Salman Ghani has reportedly received a notice. His departure will generate significantly less public attention than Shami’s — and that tells its own story.

Ghani built his career as a reliable voice within establishment-friendly media circles. Consistently articulate but ultimately a representative of the Sharif family’s political interests dressed in the language of balanced journalism. When powerful institutional backers quietly withdraw, the commercial logic for carrying expensive talent evaporates rapidly.

Ghani never built an independent audience base large enough to make him commercially essential on his own terms. That is the fundamental vulnerability of any media career built on institutional patronage rather than genuine public following.

Fahad Shehbaz Khan — Reportedly Let Go

This one genuinely hurts.

Fahad Shehbaz Khan is a media worker. A reporter who did his job with commitment, accuracy, and no safety net of a massive package or powerful patron. Reports suggest he has been let go. We hope a channel picks him up quickly. Pakistan’s media can least afford to discard people who actually do the work of journalism.

The Alliance That Cannot Break

Channel owners and senior anchors have an essentially unbreakable partnership. Owners need the face recognition and political access that top anchors provide. Anchors need the platform, distribution, and institutional protection that ownership provides. Their interests are permanently fused.

The cost of maintaining that fusion falls entirely on everyone below them. When a channel needs to cut costs, the anchor package is politically untouchable. The field reporter’s salary is not.

So the field reporter goes. The industry moves on. Until a senior anchor leaves. Then Pakistan’s media suddenly discovers its conscience.

Hundreds of media workers left without a single tribute. That they received none is not an accident of news values. It is a reflection of exactly who Pakistan’s media considers a person — and who it considers a number.