Pakistani Media: Problems and Potentials

Journalism in Pakistan has developed into a huge industry during the last decade or more. The freedom of electronic media, especially private television, has given it the position of a political player in Pakistan. Media conglomerates are becoming more and more powerful and individual journalists are earning more and more money and power. This has but also given rise to some old and new questions. On the media level it is largely the question of ethics in the age of television. This question directly comes down to the capacity of the individual journalists to deal with the questions of ethics of responsibility in challenging times. Closely related to this question is the one of journalists working conditions. The questions have two main dimensions: 1) media system, 2) and system of journalism. A media system deals with the whole of media, while system of journalism revolves around the activity of newsgathering and the gatherers and presenters. Have the working conditions and the professional skills to gather, package, and deliver information become better along with the rise in the media industry in Pakistan? The answer to the question, unfortunately, is negative. Why is it so? Are the journalists ill equipped to deal with the new freedom and power? Is the media ownership a hurdle in the face of objective journalism? Is the individual journalist partisan by default? Are the challenges too great to fathom and deal with? The answer to all these questions is yes. The present day free media in Pakistan developed out of the state controlled broadcast media and a very vocal free press, the newspaper. The history of newspaper in Pakistan is rooted in the tradition of an anti-Colonial press, which remained a political adversary to the British colonialists. After Independence in 1947 the press transformed this role into that of a social and political responsibility for the betterment of the newly independent Pakistan. While the government controlled the electronic media, the press maintained its freedom against all odds. It was only after the information explosion assisted by the rise of information technology that Pakistani electronic media got the freedom to enter the domain of private television and radio. Besides the technical and legal handicaps this abrupt entry left the journalists grappling with a whole new form of journalism, namely, the transition from the written word and the still picture to the audio-visual, 24/7 business of unending deadlines. The newspaper owners entered into the television news business and even those from outside the journalistic business had nothing but the print workforce at hand. The new journalistic workforce had the new influence tool in their hands, which made them literally visible in front of an audience whom they already saw as dependent with their role as guide and educators for the masses. The inclusion of presenters, anchors, in the business was decided mostly on face value and not journalistic skills. This new genre has replaced the traditional editors, who were supposed to be more skilled in giving final shape to the information given by the reporter. In the new equation the positions were reversed. The presenters were the ones with very little knowledge of the happenings and their backgrounds. There, naturally, were producers to give the final touch to the reporters' information, but the storm of breaking news has made it extremely difficult to sift the information properly before dishing it to an information hungry audience. Pakistan has become the center of world attention in the wake of the events after 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, and more so terrorism in Pakistan. Terrorism not only caught the Pakistani media unaware, it challenged their already feeble capacities to adapt to the changing landscape of everyday journalism. Even the political and social fabric of the country collapsed, bringing in a new, but unwanted, cultural order. This new media system and system of journalism gave more power to the owners and also more exposure to the journalists. But does all this change the working conditions and the working environment. It did and it didn't! It did transform a small number of urban journalists into celebrities, earning in millions a month. But this didn't happen for most of the working journalists. In fact, their influence and chances lessened by the gatekeepers, the anchors. On screen appearance became more important than the quality of information. Salaries didn't increase according to the workload that was now round the clock. Ironically, journalism became a very dangerous profession in Pakistan after 9/11. Terrorism has become the new beat, a beat nobody understood and none could cover without risking personal life and that of loved ones. In a country where regular salaries are a novelty, getting health and hazard coverage is nothing but a mirage. Fear of a lurking large death and the inability to deal with the new challenges of covering news traumatized the working journalists. They did get a lot of foreign visits, though, which added to their exposure to the Western world, but this didn't add up to their capacity to do justice to their profession. Corruption among the journalists and lack of capacity to do justice to the news and the medium of transmitting news (TV and web) are the biggest issues of Pakistani journalism right at present. The power of the media is being abused by most of the workforce, since media in Pakistan has never developed as an institution. It is more a conglomeration of media houses. These were earlier restricted to daily newspapers, but have now taken shape of a print, audio-visual, and at times, radio package. The owners have become part of the power structure and wield enormous influence in political decision-making. The individual journalists are making good use of this power share by exploiting the weaknesses of a corrupt political system, which gives more leverage by taking sides than remaining objective. The present media frenzy and partisanship over political issues is a glaring example of the unprofessional bias, showing the lack of ethical conscience among individuals as well as institutions. The inner strife in the media where media houses and their working journalists launch personal attacks on other media institutions and professionals show how shallow the whole structure is and how easily it could be manipulated. Despite the weak and vulnerable ethical base, Pakistani journalists could not be blamed of unprofessional practices to the extent of claiming the whole of the fraternity being corrupt or simply being opportunist. The reason for this is that the working environment is by no means comparable to the Western media system and the security, both financial and physical, offered to work within a Western media system. Thus, the difference of yardsticks to measure objectivity. The media needs capacity building and also needs to develop a code of ethics for self regulation. The former needs national and international support and expertise, while the latter could only be achieved through a process of internal dialogue as well as a dialogue with the audience. It also needs an audience-centered agenda by the media. Since Pakistani media is getting a lot of international support, it is not caring much about its audience or their interests. This need to be thoroughly reconsidered. True, media is a commercial venture and big money is needed to run the big enterprise. But at the same time it should be kept in mind that the whole business revolves around the audience. If there is no audience trust, the interest of the advertiser/donor will also vanish. Here the role of the audience in shaping media agenda is also vital. Audiences have to give their opinion and form forums where media analysis and instant responses to media presentations are given. A free and objective media is the cornerstone of democracy. Pakistani media has all the necessary capacities available. What is needed is the journalists’ commitment to objectivity and social responsibility. A media system based on ethics of responsibility will ensure capacity building that would bring objective journalism to the fore. This, in turn, will engender public trust that guarantees media freedom in the true sense of the word.