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 much to ask. In today’s The News, Abbasi writes about a complaint filed on Steel Mills that reads like a plea for the prosecution.

Abbasi’s column, “SC asked to intervene immediately,” reports that Watan Party has moved and application saying that the Steel giant is on the verge of collapse. While it may be true that a political party has filed some application with the court, Abbasi appears to have failed to do any independent research, and merely repeats the claims of the complaint.

Abbasi even goes so far as to suggest that the problem is one of political interference:

The PSMC, it is said, has the potential to meet the steel requirements of the country as per installed production capacity of the plant, provided it gets adequate supply of required material, an efficient, honest and professional management and is saved from the political interference.

But even Abbasi is forced to admit that the government has been acting only to remove administrative corruption from the industrial giant.

In August last year, the prime minister sacked the then chairman PSMC Moeen Aftab Shaikh on corruption charges and directed the Interior Ministry to investigate the affairs of the PSMC and to submit a report.

Watan filing a complaint on Steel Mills is a newsworthy story. But it is not proper to take this story as an opportunity to use the media to influence the public or the court to support one side or the other. Abbasi’s writing, unfortunately, does a disservice to the ideal not only of a fair media, but of a fair judiciary as well. How can anyone believe that they will get a fair hearing when they have to defend not only against the prosecutor, but the news media as well.

Please, Mr Abbasi, let the lawyers make the speeches and you only report the facts.