Journalism in Pakistan: a dangerous mix of facts and opinions

Journalism in Pakistan: a dangerous mix of facts and opinions

The media is a powerful tool in any country. If one can control the media, then one indirectly controls the masses that are exposed to it. Be it unintentional or not, the way the media influences the millions of Pakistanis on a daily basis is something that
is perhaps more dangerous than any terrorist attack can hope to be.

Journalism is all about bringing facts and untold stories to the masses, shedding light where there is none and giving voices and faces to the issues of the country. While that may be a generic statement, it sums up the ethos of the field, yet that is not
the journalism we see today.

Facts and untold stories are not enough in Pakistan it seems as the majority of news channels seem to go out of their way to broadcast images of people taking their final breaths, bloodied and gored. The same five minutes of the victim and their loved ones
in agony are played on a seemingly endlessly loop.

As shocking, graphic and distasteful as that may be, it still brings people the raw nature of the events that are taking place and while I do not personally condone it, it does serve a purpose. While that may be a cheap tactic to rake in the ratings, what
is worse is what the media in Pakistan tend to do once the event has passed.

The panel and talk shows that are aired in this country are perhaps the worst of the crimes committed by the media. Compared to the west, where one or two experts are brought in to discuss and analyse the situation, Pakistan’s television channels bring in
every Tom, Dick and Harry and slap the label of expert on them.

The result is often a lot of shouting, finger pointing and opinions being thrown around that by the end of the day make no one any wiser.

Journalism should be about presenting facts and letting people form their own conclusions rather than spoon feeding everyone what we want them to hear. Point in case, this heavily opinionated article you have just read.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of newspakistan.pk

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Posted by Musa Afridi on Nov 10 2011. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry