I agree with you Ayesha that when this kind of situation arises you need to be careful with your words and I would also supports DAWN NEWS as it is the not only English news channel in the country but also it provide more facts then to create hype in the market. I hope ppl wil automatically understand who creates hype?

In case you missed the point, the first legislature of this country REFUSED to hold elections for a period of 12 years. Thus your statement “there is a mechanism (elections — surprise surprise) which allows for a correction” is not valid. In simplistic terms, if a legislature does not hold elections then how will the self-correcting mechanism come into place?

Do I over estimate the role of marketing and management in editorial decisions? I wish I were doing so. I presented my argument as a theory and i am not going to claim that it is a factual assessment until there is a study done on factors such as the delineation of responsibilities in the news organizations, the impact of advertising revenue and incremental cash flows et al. However even in the absence of such a study, I am not going to “under estimate” the role of marketing and management in editorial decisions. A the end of the road all newscasters and news gatherers understand that their pay check will be forthcoming only as long as the company, they are a part of, is a valid money gathering entity.

The “wall” that i had referred to is very much fallible and if you were to read my comment again you will see that I had myself quoted an example of its fallibility by asking people to watch “The insider”. For your benefit I will go into more detail. The movie covers the expose of the tobacco industry by which it came into light the fact that these companies knew that cigarettes were harmful to humans. This led to the subsequent heavy fines imposed on the industry as well as the bans on cigarette advertising. The most pertinent part however was the FACT that the producers of “60 Minutes” sat on the expose and refused to air the show completely due to their fear of loss of advertising revenue from the tobacco companies.

Finally the Lal Masjid saga. You say that “’students’ taking the law into their own hands and kidnapping foreign nationals, abducting women and conducting their trials and asking them to ‘repent’ for their sins would be news enough and does really need any sensationalising as you say it”. I perfectly concur until the part about the sensationalizing comes in. To give you an example of the “sensationalizing” is an oft repeated statement aired that went some thing like “Why did the government set up the check posts and if the students rioted in the first day they were perfectly correct”. Firstly given that these “’students’ taking the law into their own hands and kidnapping foreign nationals, abducting women and conducting their trials and asking them to ‘repent’ for their sins” were a legitimate law and order menace for ANY government (dictatorial or democratic), the government had full rights to take any preventive or reactive measure to ensure that no further incidents took place. This is one of the duties delegated to the government by people. To make people believe that the government committed wrong by setting up the check posts is definitely sensationalizing and creating controversy where none was actually present. That is the the sort of irresponsible journalism that I am against. I am however a fan of objective analysis and factual questioning like that conducted on shows like “Talk Back”

Also I am a private individual who has full rights to my opinions. The “freedom of speech” that we all talk about and want… right? Just because I hold different views from yours does not make me less intelligent or less patriotic or less committed to making this country a better place for us and our future generations. I think you would do well to learn that lesson before using sarcasm or trying to do character assassinations

Cheers
Niazi

ayesha — your stand is exactly that of a pro military person’s — that probably is factually correct — doesnt mean you are a soldier yourself — however in your comments you appear to be selective in whom is overstepping its boundaries — in any case the media actually is a mirror — if 30 odd suicide bombings are taking place in the country in like 3-4 months then to paint it as a safe and secure place to move around in would be irresponsibile journalism —

niazi — im afraid the media model that you speak of is something that works more in the US but not so much in pakistan — of course the media isa business just like any other but a channel or newspaper that is credible will have more chances of being a good business proposition as well — because more people will watch/read it — all i am afraid you overestimate the role of marketing and management in editorial decisions in the media in pakistan

your example of lal masjid is a terrible one — ’students’ taking the law into their own hands and kidnapping foreign nationals, abducting women and conducting their trials and asking them to ‘repent’ for their sins would be news enough and does really need any sensationalising as you say it — no offence but your arguments are quite simplistic — you sound like an expat — also your claim that in the west this ‘wall’ is there is quite laughable — check out http://www.fair.org by the way or media matters or news hounds and then talk

Now this is a theory and cannot be proven until one does some hard research i.e. looking at incremental cash flows and figuring out jumps in audience strengths. Yet I believe that it is a far more valid perspective vis-a-vis the “immaturity” argument.

Cheers,
Niazi

The market did not ‘panic’, so to speak, as a result of Geo sensationalizing the news. The stock market slid 5% the day after emergency was declared which is sufficient proof that it’s not the media you can blame for this. Also I think you’re not really looking at this in historical perspective which is extremely important. Whenever a state of emergency is imposed in a country investment always slides. For the next decade or so after such an act by the government there is a great deal of investor skepticism. This isn’t due to media hype it’s just the simple fact that that country is characterized by political instability.

As for reporting ‘Facts’ from my academic knowledge of political journalism there is no such thing. There is always an opinion or a perspective that accompanies those facts and I think that is totally justified. And it’s not like our media is JUST representing one view. There are channels like PTV which give the government’s perspective on the situation. The fact that they aren’t as effective as dissenting news channels goes to show something fundamentally important. This concept that the media completely shapes public opinion is not completely correct. The media, and this is a proven “Fact’ so to speak, responds to what the majority wants to see and the fact that the majority wants to see this shows you just how much support there is for the current regime at this point in time.

As for your response to Omar Quraishi’s comment that not all army men are ‘BAD’ so to speak and you cannot generalize across people according to their physical appearance, the way they dress etc I think you missed a very important point he was making. He used the phrase ‘men in khaki’ symbolically to refer to the army as an institution. While every single soldier might not be a ‘bad’ person, that is not necessarily the bigger question at hand. The army as an institution has done a lot of harm to the country in terms of not only the wealth it has hoarded but how it has constantly made the road to democracy unachievable by stepping in everytime and ensuring no democratic government gets too strong so that it’s own power as an institution is not limited.

There is a reason why half the world’s educated population, scholars, human rights activists, lawyers, political journalists propound some form of democracy. Freedom of speech is a basic human right. We are all entitled to it. Just because someone has a difference in opinion and is opposed to your view or actions does not mean you abuse your power and silence them.

We all need to recognise that.

- Mariam Sabri

Its a free world. If one does not like what is shown on a particular channel then one should use a remote control and switch channels.

Dictatorships try to control free flow of information especially in their dying days. So any excuses for these actions, are just lame excuses.

If people really think that GEO and ARY are spreading lies, then they would not trust these and switch to other channels. Banning these is a sign of desperation of this regime which is on its death bed.

Now i happened to be around when an acquaintance was in touch with his broker at the stock market. The rumour spread rapidly from the time the market opened. No one quoted Geo as the source of the news. People were constantly trying to contact acquaintances in Islamabad and many people at the stock exchange were bemoaning the fact that there was no independent news channel on air so that the rumour could be confirmed or denied. It took a while for the good General to deny it and longer for people to get the information from a source they trusted – i.e. NOT PTV. The common feeling amongst many in the stock market was that if independent news sources were still on air the rumour would not have lasted for as long and caused as much damage as it did. Its no coincidence that Business Plus and CNBC were on air the very next day.

The plurality of views that an independent media presents is what ensures its balance. Do you believe every single speculation you hear in the media? No. Neither does anyone else as long as they can see a variety of viewpoints and hear a variety of opinions. Was the Pakistani media immature? Sure. We as a nation specialize in immaturity. Does this mean it should be muzzled/censored/banned? No. Like everything else in this nation, it needs time and patient institution-building to mature.