Media And Politics

Does our media play a positive and healthy role? This question is asked very frequently during our discussions. It is also observed that our media has hijacked the real issues of our society and reported on fabricated issues. Another aspect of our electronic media is to criticize too much against the country. In the Mumbai attack our media played a negative role. The media highlighted human rights violations in the country but failed in playing its due role in opinion building and educating the masses.

It is a proven universal opinion that communities always have won all their battles through the weapons of their social and cultural values. But Pakistani electronic media is trying to live under the death of social and cultural values as the majority of Pakistani TV Channels have a focused policy to copy the Indian TV theories in order to grab more viewer ship for their financial interests.

What are we doing? Where do we stand? And where are we going? Our electronic media has not determined its role. Every channel starts their Programme with a talk segment and most of the time the discussion are boring and uninformative. It is the primary responsibility of our media to impose a self-censorship which is basically to say nothing against Pakistan and its national security institutions. It seems that owners of electronic media channels are greedy and they are not resisting on unethical advertisements. It is true that a free media is essential for the development of a country. But it is also essential to safe guard the cultural and established norms and values of our society. It is also true that the government wants to use the media for its ulterior motives but it is the responsibility of the media persons to safeguard its rights for a free and objective reporting. It is time to decide whether Pakistan is supposed to be an Islamic, social welfare state for the people of Pakistan or a National Security State for the opportunist.

The role of the media in highlighting local issues, especially those facing people of stressed and rural areas, it should now focus on the wrongdoings and abuse of resources by the elite class in urban areas. The media has exposed military generals, bureaucrats, corrupt politicians and their feudal approach, but it has failed to focus on the turban elite who have been abusing the country's resources.

It is high time to see our society with a critical eye time. The media should show the real face of the urban elite as it did in the case of the feudal lords in order to introduce a new culture and change in society.

Pakistan is the sixth largest country in the world with respect to population and the 7th nuclear power with a strong army, but the UNDP indicators about human development show that Pakistan is 140th in human development.

We always portray the discouraging scenario of the society instead of thinking about the ground realities and what role is being played by civil society, government and the media. A few people are struggling to change the present situation in the media and they must be appreciated.

Pakistan has been experiencing forced geo-political situations particularly since the 9/11 tragedy. The media is playing an instrumental role in both the development and diffusion of the issues besides keeping people informed on the current events and their back ground. Just a few years ago, the electronic media was a monopoly of the state but global market forces led the fast growth of independent media in Pakistan. Not only hundreds of foreign TV channels are available to the Pakistani audience but also around 70 local independent TV channels have also successfully started reaching the around 8 million cable TV subscribers. The population of Pakistan is 160 million. More than 100 independent FM radio stations are also functioning in different cities. The state media is still enjoying various edges over the independent media particularly the vast terrestrial reach and preferred status at the government level. Pakistanis are generally politically conscious and that's why news & current affairs TV and radio channels are popular.

The Pakistani media has been working under several restrictions and hurdles because of lesser tolerance from influential quarters. Despite strict media laws and impositions of bans, it is still playing a vital and courageous role in the critical situations and important issues affecting the nation and influencing regional and world affairs. Pakistan's contribution in fighting war against terrorism is fully supported by the media. The delicate situation at the borders with India and Afghanistan has always been portrayed by the media sensibly.

At the moment Pakistan is passing through a critical phase of its history and tied to difficult situations. Relations with India are at ‘zero tolerance' level after the tragic incident of terrorism in Mumbai recently. The border with Afghanistan is not safe due to on-going fighting with the Taliban. Normal life in the country is also badly affected and is unsafe due to suicide attacks. Pakistan needs immediate and permanent peace for stabilization of its shattering economy and for upholding the national repute. More or less, the media is playing its due role in peace building, but this role can be made faster and more effective through joint efforts and constant dialogue on specified objectives.

In the modern age of today, the media has an important role to play in the process of character building of the younger generation in Pakistan. The institutions should play a positive role to acquaint the new generation about Islamic values. The media should try to educate people for social change. There is always room for improvement. We have to move forward. Both Quaid eAzam and Allama Iqbal had envisioned Pakistan to be a democratic and Islamic welfare state where there is tolerance.