Jang Group

Jang Group is one of the few Pakistani media houses which have the collection, collation and dissemination of news as their core activity. Though it branched out in some other fields – such as book publishing in the 1980s-90s and cable television network in the early 2000s, these initiatives have never become its main business. Most of them, in fact, have been folded. It is also one of the only three ‘legacy’ news organizations in Pakistan that predate the country’s creation in 1947.

Though the group publishes Pakistan’s oldest -- and also largest circulating -- Urdu daily Jang that first came out as a weekly in 1939, it is also known for its pioneering and modernizing spirit. Its newspapers were the first in Pakistan to use colour printing on news pages. It also pioneered the deployment of computers in newsrooms for composing, editing and laying out newspapers and magazines and it has been ahead of its competitors in collaborating with foreign media organizations as well. For years, it has distributed an Urdu-version of The Economist magazine’s yearly publication that carries forecasts and analyses about an upcoming year. The finance section of the group’s English language daily The News International similarly carries a page full of stories taken from the British daily Financial Times. The weekend edition of The News International also contains a two-page magazine in Chinese language which is produced and published by a Chinese company from Islamabad.

Over the last four decades, the group’s business has expanded enormously and now includes a number of newspapers, both in Urdu and English, several magazines in the two languages as well as television channels and news websites.

During this time, Jang Group has also undergone a massive change as far as its ownership structure and management are concerned. Originally owned by a single individual, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, it now consists of many private limited companies which have elaborate ownership structures. Each of them also has its specific mandate as well as its own board of directors and administrative staff.

As part of this complex corporate architecture, Independent Media Corporation (Private) Limited is focused on running Geo News television channel and its associated website, Geo.tv, besides some other television channels and their related websites. Similarly, another affiliate company of the group, Independent Newspaper Corporation (Private) Limited, runs daily Jang, its associated website, www.jang.com.pk and several other newspapers and magazines. Then there is News Publications Private Limited which runs www.thenews.com besides operating some other news businesses.