It was very disappointing to see how Pakistani media chose
to fall out on the assassination attempt on a renowned Pakistani journalist.
The scuffle gives out a lot about vested interests of different media houses
and their alignment. The saddest part is that only a few of them stood for the
cause of ethical journalism and ‘freedom of expression.’
What I found particularly hard to understand was why right
after assassination attempt, a large number of media houses took it against
Geo, labeling it with a crime, they themselves had committed several times in
past? It wasn’t the first time Pakistan
Army, ISI or their chiefs were criticised or libeled on the basis of mere
hypotheses.
Once again, vested interests won over all the noble causes –
the cause of freedom – to speak, and to express. Profits and business
competition won over the slogans each of these media houses give to public. It
was equivalent to selling the power of journalism for money.
Don’t think I’m some die hard supporter of Geo. Personally I
think they needed that check for an occasional misuse of their monopoly - as
being the most popular media house comes with greater responsibility. I could never understand their ridiculously
domineering role in supporting Former Chief Justice of Pakistan in taking
suo-moto notice of every irrelevant issue that falls out of the Supreme Court
Jurisdiction. This time around, though, their stance on freedom of expression may
be right, they did cross the thin line of ethical journalism by firmly and
blatantly accusing ISI Chief for an assassination attempt on one of their
famous journalists – and that too without investigation. They then kept on
weaving the conspiracy theories. The worst part came afterwards, with a
ludicrously over-defensive reporting and commentary on Geo News, Jang and The
News.
Whoever was right or wrong, but in this scuffle of vested
interests and blame game, Pakistani media in general has lost its credibility among
masses. This antagonism has also made it clearer that our media desperately
need a functional code of conduct, that’s regulated by authorities or figures
equally recognized by all media houses.
Bushra
2130 hours
Wednesday 30 April 2014
