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Wishful Journalism (part 2): Rehman Malik Fired!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

President Zardari is not the only government official in the sights of our Wishful Journalists. If one were to believe these pseudo-reporters, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has been preparing to leave his position for several months. Only problem is, he won’t leave no matter how hard these journalists wish for him to do so.

In November, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online, wrote that Rehman Malik was at the top of a list of names that the military asked Zardari to remove from office following the publication of American journalist Seymour Hersh’s article about Pakistan’s nuclear aresenal.

The military establishment has seized the moment to hand over a list of names to Zardari of people it believes should be immediately replaced. At the top of the list is the ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, whom the army has always regarded as a foe for being too close to the American administration. Minister of the Interior Rahman Malik is second in line.

Neither Haqqani nor Malik were replaced. But that didn’t stop the Wishful Journalists. In January of this y ear, Ansar Abbasi wrote in The News that “Rehman Malik may be the first to face the axe” as a result of the NRO decision.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik is faced with an immediate threat of disqualification as member of the Parliament and the federal cabinet and is also liable to be put behind the bars if the Supreme Court judgment on NRO is implemented by the government.

As it turns out, of course, Rehman Malik may have been the first – but not to face the axe. Actually, Mr. Malik was acquitted of charges and remains Interior Minister.

According to the judgment, through the scrutiny of record it transpired that no cogent or convincing evidence had been brought on record by the prosecution against the applicant/ accused in support of the allegations levelled against him in the subject reference.

Once again, the pattern plays out the same way: a Wishful Journalist writes his wish; if it doesn’t come true, the Wishful Journalists wait a few months and wish again. It seems that too many of our prominent journalists spent their time writing out their wishes rather than simply reporting facts.

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Wishful Journalism (part 1): The End of the Zardari Government

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

This is the first post in a series on ‘Wishful Journalism’ – an unfortunate practice that seems to be taking place more than actual reporting in some parts of the media.

There is a difference between wishing for something and reporting something. Unfortunately, this is too often lost on our journalists who prefer to actual reporting to only say something that they wish would come true even if it is not based in any facts. This is not journalism. It is only wishing.

From the day of his election as President, Shaheen Sehbai has been predicting the failure of President Zardari. A few months later, Sehbai continued his wishful thinking:

My considered opinion is that the present Zardari-led set-up will not last long as it has been structured on a wrong and distorted political premise as result of which the key players who have emerged as main power wielders were never in the picture, neither of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, which actually got the votes and won the seats in the February 18 elections, nor anyone else. And these new players have failed to establish their political legitimacy and moral authority through their actions after coming to power.

Seven months later, Zardari was still in office. It seems the key players had more political legitimacy than perhaps Mr. Sehbai had hoped. Rather than admit his mistake, however, Mr. Sehbai simply wished harder.

The PPP and its Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have now started talking in exceptionally confident and aggressive terms, the latest statement made to Geo TV’s Hamid Mir stating categorically that he was ready to create history – which in other words suggests that he was about to stage a political and moral coup against his own party co-chairperson, Mr Zardari, because his government had turned into a joke and Mr Zardari, exercising all the powers, had failed to come up with any successful initiative or policy.

Again, several months pass and, despite all of Mr. Sehbai’s wishes, Zardari remained in office. Again, rather than admit his mistake, Mr. Sehbai published more Wishful Journalism.

The State Department, specifically Hillary Clinton, has almost categorically declared that they are no longer interested in saving President Asif Ali Zardari if he falls in his current battle for survival, waging in the superior courts of Pakistan. But the message Pakistanis have been sent is to get over with the in-house turmoil and transition as quickly as possible to stabilise the democratic system and focus on the war on terror.

Once again, Mr. Sehbai’s wishes were denied.

Of course, Shaheen Sehbai is obviously not the only Wishful Journalist who has written about Zardari’s imminent removal as President. Dr. Shahid Masood wrote his wishes last October, saying that the Americans were going to remove Zardari from power.

After meeting top political and defence decision-makers here in the US capital, where I was invited by the National Defence University (NDU) for a two-day seminar on the anniversary of 9/11, I was told in unambiguous terms that a change in Pakistan was inevitable for US policy interests, although Washington does not intend to disrupt the system.

Several important Pakistani political players have also been conveyed the same message by the US political and defence establishment, including the MQM and recently the ANP, whose chief is travelling with President Asif Zardari in New York.

The Americans were only a new twist on an old wish, though. Several months before, it was the “minus one formula” that was secretly worked out between the Chief of Army Staff, PM Gilani, and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif that was going to remove Zardari from power. Then there was the mid-term elections that were going to take place and re-shuffle the entire government. Or was it the NRO verdict that was going to remove Zardari from power?

Can you see the pattern?

‘Wishful Journalism’ is practiced by writing something that you wish is true. When it turns out not to be true, you do not admit your mistake and offer a correction. Rather, you wait a few months and then say your wish again. Maybe this time with a new twist. Instead of Army overthrowing Zardari, it is the Americans! Or the judiciary! Either way, it is still a wish based on no supporting facts. It is still not actual reporting, and not real analysis.

Making wishes is not the same as proper journalism. It is fine for me to wish to be rich and good looking, but no matter how many times I write an article saying I am rich and good looking, it does not make it come true. Actually, it is just a waste of everyone’s time.

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TV talk shows: good, bad or just inane

Monday, March 8th, 2010

TV Talk Show Glibberati

The following column by Dr. Syed Mansoor Hussain offers an important opportunity to discuss the TV talk shows and what role these play in our democracy. Are these shows even news? Often, they are uninformed and based more on speculation and rumour than actual facts or legitimate analysis. So, they are more a matter of entertainment. There is certainly a place for this sort of ‘info-tainment’ on television, but let us consider whether or not there should be some balance with actual reporting and intellectually honest discussion about pressing issues. No change can come without the participation of the people, though, so let us begin this discussion here.

Every so often I decide to watch some of the Pakistani TV talk shows. After my most recent foray into the world of incessant shouting and entirely illogical arguments I was forced to coin two neologisms for the talking heads on TV. For the smoother ones, it is ‘the Gliberati’ and for most of the rest it is ‘the Gibberati’.

Media in Pakistan, especially the electronic media, is going through its ‘growing pains’. In an interconnected world it seems that Pakistani TV anchors and talk show hosts are copying the loudest and at times the most incendiary styles of American TV. Chris Mathews of ‘Hardball with Chris Mathews’ is evidently the favourite talk show host to copy.

However, our own pundits quite forget that Mathews has a solid political background having worked with many powerful elected politicians, including a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has written a few books and has even contested an election himself. So, when he talks of politics he often just might know more about it than some of his guests. Yes, he is pugnacious and loud but he is also extremely well informed and experienced in the ways of politics and politicians.

I do not know of a single Pakistani TV talk show host that copies Mathew’s style but has even a fraction of his political experience. This does not mean that there are no serious hosts on Pakistani television; indeed some come to their programmes with considerable research and thought having gone into their questions and observations. But these are definitely an exception.

As far as the guests on these programmes are concerned, it is the same bunch of retired bureaucrats and generals that keep turning up in different shows. What is so amusing about them is that almost each one of them supported and worked for autocrats and dictators when in service but now seem to have become democrats with a vengeance.

As far as the politicians that turn up on these programmes, it seems that they are there for the sole purpose of exposing their ignorance about the issues. Now I have nothing against politicians that toe the party line — that is what they are supposed to do — but it seems that all of them are devoid of any political finesse.

TV news, whether we like it or not, is essentially entertainment now. The purpose it seems is not to inform or educate the viewing public but rather to amuse them. Even in the US, it is not the news shows that most young people get their information about politics from but rather from shows like Jon Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ on Comedy Central, or else from the internet and different blogs.

Being a strong supporter of freedom of the media I believe that every television channel and all the hosts have the right to say whatever they wish as long as it is within accepted societal norms of decency. When TV hosts and guests accuse politicians of corruption they are unfortunately often correct. Since very few politicians in Pakistan are known for financial probity, therefore almost every politician can be called corrupt. But the same is true of most politicians in the world.

Eventually, Pakistani media will evolve. At present there are no people in the electronic media that have established expertise in the political, judicial, economic or social spheres. For instance there is nobody on TV that can talk of environmental or health issues with any level of expertise. There is nobody that covers the superior courts regularly or for that matter has any demonstrated expertise in economic matters.

The media serves many important functions. It acts as a watchdog that keeps government honest, it informs the public about what is going on and it educates viewers about issues. As far as politics and politicians are concerned, they are often interesting and easy to talk about but without any meaningful polling data it is virtually impossible to discuss public perception of any government or political party.

What is badly needed is some serious discussion about the problems that confront Pakistan today. Healthcare, environmental issues, unemployment, the bad state of education, the ever present financial crisis, the energy crisis and so many other things. But even when some of these issues are discussed, the discussion predictably deteriorates into a shouting match between people with competing points of views with accusations of corruption flying around.

And it seems that a significant section of the media is obsessed with President Zardari. Indeed the US media is also obsessed with President Obama but the TV discussions are not about the man but rather about his policies concerning the war in Afghanistan, the economic stimulus package, the healthcare initiative, job creation and other policy initiatives that he is pushing forward.

On Pakistani TV, most discussions about President Zardari revolve around his past, his personal weaknesses and the expected date of his departure. Rarely, if ever, have I heard anybody discuss policy matters that he might have been involved in and what effect have they had on our present state of affairs.

Democracy is a messy business and politicians, like the rest of us, are neither angels nor superior human beings capable of getting things done that are impossible to accomplish even in the best of times. Things that have gone wrong over the last 60 years cannot be put right in a couple of years.

Pakistan is surviving and perhaps things will get better, but it will take time and effort on the part of all of us. All of us means not just the politicians, the judiciary, the army, the bureaucracy or the media but also we the people.

For the first time in our history a democratic system is in place that does not seem to be under perpetual threat from the army. So, let us give it a chance and see where it takes us.

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Zaid Hamid’s Fantasy: Reality Check

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The following column by Ishtiaq Ahmed, a most distinguished professor of Political Science at Stockholm University and a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and the South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore, presents a much-needed reality check to those who follow the wild conspiracy theories of Zaid Hamid.

These are very troubled times. Such times are a bonanza for conspiracy theorists because they know how best to simplify extremely complex situations while simultaneously grossly exaggerating the evil ingenuity of the plotters, and thus create thorough confusion. If such confusion can generate panic, then the conspiracy theorist has earned his living through real hard work. The art then is to top it off with an ending that results in the defeat of the evildoers. Such stuff is the bread and butter of writers of mystery stories and thrillers. Their works help shed everyday boredom, even if only for the moment.

Conspiracy theories and their authors become a cause for concern when they begin to hallucinate and can no longer distinguish between their own flights of imagination and the world around them. If such delirious moments only carry them into a world of make-believe, then the harm is limited. However, when they hijack a whole nation or community into another world, then they ought to be held accountable. When such characters appear in popular talk shows or, much worse, begin exploiting TV channels to present programmes full of war games and prophecies against a demonised group of plotters threatening the existence of a nation — nay, a universal community such as that of the Muslims — then I believe such persons should be held accountable for taking people on a ride with their yarns.

By now the readers must have guessed that I have no other person in mind other than Mr Zaid Hamid. Initially I was reluctant to comment on the farce he pedals in his talks and his TV programmes. The reason is that one can end up giving more importance to individuals than is due. On the other hand, the danger is that the angst and fears that run deep in Pakistani society will push our society even deeper into a pathological state of mind or national outlook. The daily bomb blasts by remote control or by suicide bombers, the galloping rate of unemployment and politicians who specialise in making a mockery of democracy and responsible governments have taken a huge toll on the spirits of the Pakistani people. Last year when I visited Lahore I took a long walk beginning from Anarkali up to Lohari Gate and then eastwards till I came to Mochi Gate. Then I walked down to Gawalmandi, from there I went down Nisbet Road till I came to Lakshmi Chowk. I can tell you that for the first time in my life I felt that Lahore was in mourning. People could not take any longer all the betrayal of hopes for a Pakistan without want and hunger.

Mr Zaid Hamid’s grand conspiracy has a happy ending, however. The Muslim world and the Islamic Ummah in general and Pakistan in particular are the victims of a Zionist-Brahminical-CIA-Mossad-RAW-MI5-MI6, and all the rest, plot, according to this celebrated defence and security analyst. Our only true friend is China. The latter of course is still wedded to Marxism-Leninism and thus to atheism, but that does not matter. Just as there are good and bad Taliban, there can be good and bad atheists. Is that not logical? Once upon a time, I remember, the Chinese with their special eye shape and high cheekbones, we were told, were the people that Islam would fight, also accordingly to some prophecies. That was of course when Pakistan and China had not become friends, whose friendship was later described as higher than the Himalayas. So, there is a season for prophecies — some come in while others go out.

Mr Zaid Hamid tells us not to worry. Pakistan is a nuclear power and the defeat of Hind (India) has been prophesied 1,400 years ago. It will not only be the end of India but Israel and the US and all other evil powers, including Russia. Pakistan and China and some true Muslims will triumph in the final father of all battles — the mother of all battles is dead since a long time, I believe. Hopefully then we will convert all the Chinese, otherwise what is the point?

What will happen to all the nuclear weapons that the enemies of Islam possess? Their total is in the thousands! Well, they will become un-useable or explode in their own countries so the Islamic forces will not be responsible for the genocide of billions of members of the human race. In any case, such details, which disturb the elegance of a simple but sensational conspiracy theory, have to be ignored. The green flag will fly atop the Delhi Fort as it should have had we not created Pakistan and denied ourselves that opportunity 63 years earlier.

Is there any chance that such prophecy may not hold or rather that no such prophecy has existed in the past and it has been manufactured by Mr Zaid Hamid to support his grand theory, which has already declared a Muslim victory? I think such questions should suffice to explain to interested readers to distinguish between conspiracies and conspiracy theories.

Attributing so much power to the Zionists or Mossad also makes no sense. The way Mossad has messed up its crime in Dubai when a hit squad was sent to assassinate a Hamas leader only shows that such an agency cannot sometimes manage even simple operations. RAW is even less likely to pull off an attack on Pakistan with impunity. Recently the Taliban killed a number of CIA operatives in Afghanistan. If Mossad-Raw-CIA were to join ranks, would they perform better or is it likely that in the absence of a common chain of command they can mess up things even more? I do not know. But I do know that neither Mr Zaid Hamid nor his theory allow for an error, and in any case whatever initial advantage these evil agencies and powers may have, our victory is a foregone conclusion. That is exactly a conspiracy theory.

Another thing to keep in mind is the following: conspiracies by their very nature are secretive and oftentimes catch their targets off-guard. ‘Et tu, Bruté?’ (Even you, Brutus?), exclaimed Julius Caesar, as his best friend joined other plotters and stabbed him to death. Of course his (Julius Caesar’s) wife, Calpurnia, had been seeing such a nightmare many times, Shakespeare informed his readers. So, maybe one can see visions about such happenings. In any case, conspiracy theories that have already exposed the culprits and punished them and defeated them are just flights of the imagination, or, could be deep dives into a bottomless void inside the belly of the earth.

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Attacks on Journalists Continue

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Pakistan has seen an alarming rise in attacks on journalists. These attacks range from the active – people shooting at reporters for what they write – to the more passive – making accusations that put reporters’ lives at risk. Whatever the methods, the culprits are the same: People who are unable to defend their positions with words take up the tools of violence to silence those who try to bring the truth to the people.

Today’s The News recognizes this growing threat in its editorial, “Endangered.”

The attacks on journalists in various parts of the country continue unabated. Most recently one has been shot dead in Quetta, another in Khairpur. The motives are mysterious. In Quetta a sectarian dimension is possible. In Khairpur we can assume enmity of some kind. Such incidents have taken place before. The life of professional media persons is becoming increasingly unsafe. Professional bodies of journalists have recently suggested insurance policies for journalists as a bid to ensure some security. This is a good move, but insufficient. Authorities as well as the publishers need to do more to ensure safety and to react with greater alacrity to assaults on those performing professional duties. The perpetrators must be punished under the relevant laws. According to international reports Pakistan is becoming one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the field. We have had cases of cameramen and reporters injured in blasts or killed while covering conflict in the northern parts of the country. Others have been targeted because their reports have displeased powerful individuals.

The question is precisely what measures can be taken. The situation is relatively new one for Pakistan. Dangers of the kind we see now have not existed before. It is also a fact that working media people have faced harassment and intimidation from persons in official places. This sets an alarming precedent and encourages others to resort to similar audacious acts of violence. Journalists have a special role in society. Indeed they have revolutionised the lives of people everywhere by bringing news to the doorstep and to the living room on a daily, indeed, on an hourly basis. Today, people are far better informed than has ever been the case before. This has been even more true since the advent of the TV channels. The government needs to take a lead in the matter and ensure that all possible is done to make sure that media professionals are able to perform their vital social duties freely and safely. This task cannot be delayed any longer.

Attacks on journalists are an attack on Pakistan. Those who carry out or encourage these attacks should be held accountable accordingly.

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Father disowns reporter son as “Blackmailer”

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Reporter for The Nation responsible for Hype about Blackwater, US Diplomats

The Peshawar Urdu daily Mashriq has run a notice by the father of the Peshawar/Islamabad based reporter, Syed Fawad Ali Shah, who has recently become prominent as a reporter for The Nation and is also known for  writing blogs about journalists and NWFP government officials and their alleged relations with Blackwater.

The notice by the father describes the reporter son as “a blackmailer”, making one wonder why editor Ms Shireen Mazari allows him to use the columns of her newspaper to pretend to be a reporter.  Shah’s attitude is no different from that of Ahmed Quraishi who has a long history of trying to similarly target and blackmail foreign diplomats in Pakistan.

Following is the translation of the notice appearing in The Mashriq:

“My son Syed Fawad Ali Shah S/O Syed Jamat Ali Shah who lists himself as the Bureau Chief of Daily The Nation, is basically not a journalist. Rather he is a blackmailer.  He has published self-created news stories, based on allegations and unauthentic information against civil, government and the officials of other organizations in different newspapers to mentally torture them and blackmail them for his own interests.  This has now become his occupation.  In addition to this, few years back, he obtained a fake degree of Higher Secondary School and managed to get enrolled in the NWFP Police Department as a constable.  Later, based on charges of stealing official files, harassment of lady police workers, blackmailing officers and on a fake degree, a case was lodged against him in the court.  Consequently, he was sacked and was sent behind bars.  Not only he has stolen important files from the NWFP police department but has also been involved in the misuse of files of other departments in NWFP.  I therefore, announce, while addressing the entire journalist fraternity, owners of newspapers, government and semi-government officials, including police department, FATA Secretariat and other government departments with whom my son Fawad Ali Shah is in contact, that my son is a blackmailer, who is using media as a blackmailing tool and those who are in contact with him or are involved in any kind of dealings with him will be responsible for their own losses.  I also announce that I disown my son and expel him from the ownership all of my transferable and non-transferable property.  I also disown and disinherit my other son Syed Abid Ali Shah for collaborating with Fawad Ali Shah in blackmailing people.  Moreover, they won’t be entitled to own my property even after my death.”

This is not the first time Mr. Syed Fawad Ali Shah has been accused of such deeds, though it is by far the most damning coming from his own father. Last fall, Musarrat Ullah Jan, a journalist for Dunya News TV wrote that Syed Fawad Ali Shah had threatened him for comments he had made in a journalist forum.  Mr. Musarrat Ullah Jan gave application against Syed Fawad Ali Shah to Peshawar Police, Khyber Union of Journalist, and Peshawar Press Club. It is further alleged that Mr. Syed Fawad Ali Shah was expelled from Peshawar police for making the same sorts of attempts at blackmail.

The question for The Nation is why, with all of this evidence against Mr. Ali Shah, they chose to publish his claims of being threatened by Blackwater and American diplomats including the US Ambassador to Pakistan – claims that were presented with no evidence other than his word, and which are immediately suspect given allegation by other journalists and even his own father of his manufacturing stories for attention and personal gain.

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A Better Use For Reporters

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

No, not fetching tea and biscuits. Ayaz Amir penned a column in The News last week that included an interesting aside about media that I think bears your consideration, dear readers. In what is primarily a column about national security issues, Amir observes that, despite being neighbors with both Afghanistan and India, our knowledge of these nations is largely derived from outside sources:

We live in a world of our own, obsessed with self-created problems, and lashing out at windmills which, much of the time, seem wild creations of our own imagination. To real problems we are oblivious. We are not even aware, as keenly as we should be, of our own neighbourhood.

It is nothing short of criminal that our media outlets don’t have full-time correspondents based in Kabul and Delhi. Our knowledge of our two neighbours, to the west and east of us, is largely derived from outside sources — western news outlets — when it should be through our own eyes and ears.

Our better reporters — and reporting is a department in which we are not very good –would be far better occupied covering India and Afghanistan than indulging in the mindless masochism of internal bloodletting.

My Lord the Chief Justice, famous now for his suo moto initiatives, could consider taking notice of this strange proclivity.

I think perhaps Amir is onto something important here. As I have noted before, there is a real danger of media organizations fueling militarism and anti-India populism, thereby hindering the possibility of peace, because war sells better. There is another real danger, too, though, which is that international media are shrinking the size of their reporter pools, and will increasingly be looking to Pakistan’s media for reliable information on the region. If it is true that our media outlets do not have full-time correspondents based in Kabul and Delhi, how will we be able to provide accurate and reliable information? The answer is, we will not.

Instead of sending full-time correspondents to important areas in neighboring Afghanistan and India, our media has enlisted a troupe of lip sync artists who simply parrot the sloganeering of shallow and often dishonest politicians. This results in the double injury of distracting the public from the really important issues as well as leaving the news organizations without their very life’s blood – news.

Pakistan’s media should be known worldwide as the central outlet of reliable information about not only Pakistan, but the region. Instead, we are increasingly becoming known as the people who only report conspiracy theories.

Our news organizations and media should stop wasting all of their time, money, and talent on chasing the next wild conspiracy. Please leave that to the teledrama writers and directors.

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Nation Lip Syncs To JUI-F Leader’s Tune

Monday, February 8th, 2010

With a sensational headline, today’s The Nation reports today that  Jamiat Ulama -e- Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman says that there are over 9,000 Black Water personnel in Islamabad. The Nation reports these statements without verifying the truth of the JUI-F leader’s claims. As such, The Nation joins the ranks of media outlets acting more like political stooges than legitimate news organizations.

The report, published in the Politics section, simply parrots the words of the JUI-F leader without any comment as to the reliability of the claims, easily leading some readers to accept that they are true. But despite their 7 seats in the National Assembly, JUI-F is not an intelligence organization and has not, as far as I know, actually determined the number of Black Water personnel (if any) in Islamabad.

The sensational claims of the JUI-F leader do fit with the general tone and political stance of The Nation, but they are not a subjective opinion open for debate. If The Nation would like to only be a political propaganda paper, then it should advertise truthfully as such.

Individuals can have an open and honest debate about whether or not foreign security contractors should be allowed to operate in Pakistan. This is a good topic for opinion pages and editorials. What is not open to debate, however, is the number – if any – of foreign security contractors actually in the country. This is an objective fact that is verifiable with proper research. The Nation failed to do their jounralistic duty and conduct any investigative research to verify the politician’s claims. Instead, they simply repeated what the politician said with no question.

If our media is going to serve the public and be a service to our democracy, they are going to have to do more than repeat the unverified claims of politicians and conspiracy theorists. Investigative research and fact checking is hard work, but it is a vital part of a healthy news media. This is a lesson The Nation still needs to learn.

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What Sells Better? Peace or War?

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Newspaper Sales

On this blog we ask the question, “Pakistan’s media is free…but is it fair?” Mostly we try to answer this question by fact checking the news and correcting the misinformation that is promoted by some media organizations that think they can fool the public. But there is another aspect of media that must also be addressed, and that is by looking at how the media is influencing public opinion, and if that influence is being used responsibly or irresponsibly.

Today’s Dawn editorial makes an important point about how the media fuels militarism and anti-India populism, thereby hindering the possibility for peace.

The editorial, “Quest for Peace,” discusses the ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India, and the struggle to establish a working dialogue between the two nuclear powers to settle differences and misunderstandings without resorting to violence. One of the obstacles to this, however, is the media.

There is a media which is still not sure what sells more: peace or war? There is this tendency in the governments on either side to periodically raise the bogey of a hostile neighbour, for a cheap populist slogan overrides all other matters.

Obviously, when money is the only motive for determining what the editorial line of the newspaper will be, there will be a tendency to move towards more sensational themes. Everyone wants peace, but also everyone wants to read about war. It is more dramatic.

But the responsiblity of the media is not to be dramatic. Please let that be the job of film directors and playwrights. The responsibility of media, on the other hand, is to inform the people so that they have the facts about what is actually happening. In matters of war and peace, what could be more important?

We have already seen how the media has almost started a nuclear war in the past. As we said then, “when it comes to the delicate peace between two nuclear powers, the stakes are too high for the media to play to the gallery and exaggerate…” Already this has been a problem in the past. It must not be continued.

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Credibility, and how to lose it

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Hajrah Mumtaz wrote an excellent piece in Dawn over the weekend about media credibility and how news organizations risk losing this vital piece of their business. Threats to media credibility are certainly not unique to Pakistan, but neither are these same threats missing. Also, our media is vulnerable to some of these threats at a time when the stakes are especially high.

Mumtaz mentions two ways that media can lose credibility. The first is when news organizations reduce the size of their staff and resort to ‘outsourcing’ the material for their reports. This can easily result in biased or propaganda pieces getting used in the place of actual reporting.

The second, which Mumtaz says is a more direct threat to Pakistan’s media is manipulated by political agents:

There is another way in which the issue of news credibility crops up, however, and that lies is in the influence and biases of the owners of news organisations, and their political links. Media and politics have become intertwined in the past decade: in terms of some media outlets, both print and broadcast, a consistent stance for or against a certain government, or political party, or leader, or even an issue, can clearly be identified. Matters are not helped by rumours that journalists have or can be bought, or not, or put in planted stories, or end up presenting as ‘objective’ news material that is little more than an official press release.

This is fairly clearly a problem already. This blog has found examples recently of major newspapers parroting political talking points without verifying the claims and printing anonymous opinion pieces as ‘news.’ While FOX News has already gained the reputation of a political propaganda machine in the USA, our own Shireen Mazari has made quite a reputation for herself at home and in the world, even being called the “Ann Coulter of Pakistan.”

Unfortunately, the two problems mentioned by Mumtaz are possibly working together for to the detriment of the nation.

The shrinking size of international media organizations makes it more likely that these agencies will look to the news reported by Pakistan’s media for stories and facts. So there is a problem if the stories are politically manipulated and the facts are not verified.

The result will be confusion in the world about what is happening in Pakistan. Eventually, people will stop trusting any information that comes out of our media as tainted by the reputations of these irresponsible media talking heads. Our media, as a result, will not be trusted in the world and people will not know what the real situation in Pakistan is. How would it be otherwise?

Pakistan’s media has many good journalists and excellent editors. These individuals have the ability to prevent this course by continuing to provide quality reports, but also by putting positive pressure on their colleagues to act responsibly and professionally, and to self-police the media and criticize their colleagues when they act outside the lines.

Together, we can make sure that the world not only gets the true story about Pakistan, but that they can believe it.

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