Modernising Journalists’ Trade Unions in Pakistan for the Digital Age A Mapping of Challenges, Needs, and Solutions Background Pakistan’s media landscape has seen massive transformation during the first quarter of the 21st century. By the end of the last century, the country had an estimated 2,000 daily, weekly, fortnightly, and monthly news publications. This was essentially a print-dominated media landscape with about 2,000 working journalists including reporters and editors, and around 25,000 media workers and allied functionaries running this sector. This number did not include those who were part of the state-managed media establishments Pakistan Television(PTV), Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and Associated Press of Pakistan(APP). Expanded worker universe : In the new millennium, a new legal regime was introduced to allow the private sector to operate television channels and radio stations in the country. As a result, the sector by the time of writing this report expanded from state-run television channels and radio stations only to around 35 news and current affairs private current affairs TV channels and 245 FM radio stations. This expanded broadcast space opened new avenues and opportunities for human resource and workers in the media sector. Consequently, the estimated number of journalists increased to about 18,000 and media workers and allied functionaries from to around 250,000 by 2025. Between 2015 and 2025, the advent of digital/ online media has brought another shift in the sector with many of its practitioners without conventional media experience but versed in a new current affairs dynamic. These developments have had a significant impact on how journalists and media workers are perceived and how they practice solidarity. More journalists, less solidarity : Ironically, despite a larger footprint of workers in the expanded media sector, journalists and media workers’ trade unions in Pakistan face numerous challenges that limit their ability to advocate for employees’ rights effectively and deter greater solidarity amongst themselves. Journalists are divided into many factions of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists(PFUJ), including one affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists(IFJ), the global umbrella alliance of national unions. Each faction claims to have its regional unions of journalists (UJs) as members. Significantly, none of these PFUJ factions are registered bodies under the national labour laws. Therefore, they do not have legal vii