The Dawn Media Group has decided to shut down its Dawn News Urdu website, citing financial constraints and structural changes within the organization. As a result, all 12 employees working for the website will lose their jobs once the platform ceases operations in December 2025.

The decision was confirmed to Independent Urdu by Farhan Muhammad Khan, Editor of Dawn Urdu Digital and Head of the Urdu website. Khan stated that the website will be closed in December 2025, and 12 employees affected by this decision have been given a one-month notice.

He added that the management had informed employees of the decision three days earlier and that they were given the option to either resign or serve their notice period. Explaining the reason behind the move, he added that the management has informed us that this step has been taken due to a decline in the media group’s revenue.

Dawn Media Group has reportedly been facing continuous financial strain due to declining income and limited advertisement availability. In March 2025, the group mentioned in an editorial that both the federal and Punjab governments had withheld official advertisements for the past five months, further affecting its finances.

This is the second major development in Pakistan’s media industry in recent days. Earlier, 37 employees were laid off from the private digital platform Nukta Pakistan, followed by 50 from GTV. After the Nukta layoffs, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced that all 37 affected employees would be offered government jobs.