Where Is Our Media???

Media is dubbed as ‘fourth pillar of the State’ all over the world; Media plays an important role as an informative bridge between governing bodies and general public. It plays a crucial character in shaping the healthy democracy. It is like a mirror which shows us the naked facts and harsh realities of life. Democracy and media power mutually cooperate with each other. The media has made the voice of public noteworthy. It is the media only who reminds politicians about their unfulfilled commitments which they have proclaimed at the time of election. Media during the election helps the masses in electing their representatives in power corridor.

The new liberal media ruined the State’s monopoly on electronic media. Now more than hundred TV Channels are broadcasting their transmission in the country. This progress paved the way of media activism in the country.

In Pakistan media is performing as a watch dog. News spreads like a fire in forest. Even a small piece of news is portrayed as breaking news. Every News Channel strives to give the news first, even before the event has happened. It was the media only which made the Lawyer’s Movement a triumph and restoration of judges. It is the media which presented the ‘Capitan’ a strong political figure.

But despite all of these activisms, there are some areas on which media remains unvoiced. The condition of Pakistani courts is very miserable. If you go to court and want to get copies of verdict, you have to pay bribe to the personnel of courts. If you attend the ‘Dates’ in courts, you have to pay to your advocate as their Kharcha Pani (Bread n Butter), besides their fixed fee. Why media does not exhibit this flip side of picture? If you go to any government office and want to forward your file to the superior executive, first you have to pay bribe to his subordinate. If you want to file an FIR in police station, you have to pay bribe. If you want to install Gas, Water or power connection in your office or home, you have to pay bribe. If you want to repair your Gas and water pipe line or electricity wire from concerned authorities, you have to pay to the bribe to the repairer as their ‘Kharcha Pani’. Why media remains soundless on all these kind of issues? These are the small amounts in apparent but it irritates to middle class.

The part of the society which is most victimized due to this malpractice, is youth. They get discouragement when they hear that their names do not exist in selecting list for next phase of recruitment. They induce to inferiority complex when they see that the less educated and less experienced candidates’ names are there in recruitment list. The irony of the situation is that the selection has already been made even before advertisement of vacancies. Even if candidates have passed the written test and interview too, their candidature is cancelled in the pretext of medical disqualification and they have to pay bribe to clear their medical test. Pakistani Police have been named as the most frequent recipient of bribes in 2010 Global Corruption Barometer of Transparency International.

Pakistan’s media is very active and working as watch dog. But why these malpractices are not displayed on news bulletin or on newspaper? Why media does not tell the story that FIA post is sold at the rate of 800K? Why media does remain unspoken that if you want to be selected as Lecturer through Service Commission, you have to pay 600K? Why media personnel use their job cards to avoid traffic challans? These are some stories which remain behind the Screen or paper.