With the Memogate dud finally fizzling out and the hearing on contempt charges against the PM not set until next week, it promised to be a slow news week. Right on cue, the old reliable story of corruption is back in the headlines again, at least at one media group. The latest headlines, though, are […]
Is the government corrupt? Which department is most corrupt? How much of your answer to these questions is based on hard facts, and how much is based on what you’ve been told by the media? On 25th December, in a report titled, ‘Military stands at number five among corrupt institutions’, The News reporter Usman Manzoor wrote […]
The following piece by Malik Ayub Sumbal was originally published by European Journalism Centre on 25 March. An excerpt is produced below. For the full article please visit http://www.ejc.net/magazine/article/the_curse_of_yellow_journalism_in_pakistan/ The rise of sensationalist media and yellow journalism in Pakistan has led to the emergence of a debate in various circles in the country about the […]
We have posted several times over the years that the solution to irresponsibility and unethical behaviour in media lies not with any government interference, but within media itself. Better training, better oversight by editors and industry associations, hiring of ombudsmen, and the type of self-policing that is exemplified by Matiullah Jan’s show Apna Gareebaan on […]
Nevermind that militants have begun using young girls as suicide bombers to kill innocent Muslims, or the fact that lawyers – the very people who are supposed to uphold the laws of the country – are making the most curious arguments to protect a man who admits to cold-blooded murder. No, the biggest problem with […]
It was only two days ago that the IMF approved a nine-month extension of Pakistan’s Stand-By Arrangement. Which means that it took The Nation less than 36 hours to invent a new conspiracy to explain how the decision is a tool of American hegemony and government corruption. The Nation makes several accusations against both the […]
Reporting on court proceedings and legal matters is an important and legitimate duty of the media. But in doing so, journalists should be fair to both sides of a complaint. After all, it is up to the court to decide the outcome – not a reporter. For Ansar Abbasi, however, that restraint appears to be too […]
The News today includes an article that claims, “Every constitution requires men of character to qualify as legislators.” While this seems like an unsurprising claim, the article gets several facts wrong. The article, by Sabir Shah, claims that: “…lawmakers in every country of the world are required to have crime-free life history in order to […]
The Nation’s editorial, “A democratic attitude,” says that “the practice almost unexceptionally followed by successful democracies in the world” is for everyone accused of corruption to resign and present themselves to a court. This is not true. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of taking kickbacks from arms dealers when he was a government minister […]