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Dialogue:

Pakistani Media (Electronic) and Its Impacts

Scenario:
Usman is sitting in his room watching News on TV. He turns off the TV angrily
with murmuring something. His friend Huzaifa comes to his room and says:

Huzaifa: Assalam-o-Alaikum !
Usman: Waalaikum-assalam.
Huzaifa: What’s up?
Usman: I was watching TV.
Huzaifa: Why you turned it off?
Usman: Because of depressive news. Whenever I switch on the TV, I can hardly find news,
showing some development or positive aspect of the society. The most, annoying part is
repetition of some bad news with little gap. Watching depressive news every time
creates a feeling that everything is going wrong everywhere, which in-turns creates
hype among the people.
Huzaifa: It seems that you are very pessimist about media.
Usman: Yes that’s right as those channels are acting as big fat pipes pumping raw information
from one end and whatever comes out through them on the other end. The focus is on
being the first one to “get it out” rather than what is worth getting out.
Top subject of every talk show, news, or comedy is criticism on politics, policies and
politicians; everyone in the country is a political analyst from a carpenter to a judge.
News about target killings and terrorism. Where how many got killed. News about
foreign aggression and drone attacks, violence, injustice, family murders, suicides,
kidnappings, robberies and other street crimes. And the list goes on…

Huzaifa: O wait a minute, media is not such bad as you are picturing it. In today’s fast moving
era, media is playing a major role in creating awareness among the people, regarding
every field of life. In other words, it has turned the whole world into a global village
and no one can deny its role in making or breaking a society. Media is not only a source
of information, but it also educates and entertains the people.
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Usman: What type of awareness? , what type of information? , wrong information! In race for
breaking news channels don’t bother to confirm reports. Unqualified people are sitting
at high posts, who don’t know anything about strategy, IR and effect of media on
public. The already frightened nation of the country gets even more frightened when
bomb blasts are sensationalized by showing dead bodies of people and the dramatic
background music.
Huzaifa: You are right but there are many good aspects as well. Media, whether print or
electronic, has achieved paramount importance in the modern world and is widely
considered as the fourth pillar of the state. Because of its undeniable importance, it has
a powerful influence in the opinion shaping of people.
Usman: Media has a significant role to play in the country’s success. Its duty is to show the truth
but it should not always portray the negative aspects of the country. It can change
opinions because it has access to people and this gives it a lot of strength. This strength
can either be used constructively or destructively by misleading the innocent people;
the media in Pakistan is playing negatively. Working on American agenda, for few
dollars, corrupt anchors and TV channels are propagating the negative image of country
in front of outer world.
Huzaifa: Yes this is a problem with some channels of Pakistani media but the role of Media is
very important in the development of any country if it works according to the true
spirit. It can educate people on certain important issues and it can also help people in
getting awareness of what is going on around them in this country.
Usman: But Pakistani media is not working with true spirit.
Pakistani media is following the saying, ‘We have no obligation to make history. We
have no obligation to make art; we have no obligation to make a positive statement, to
make money is our only objective.
Media seems to play a partial role and also tries to create hype just to get higher ratings
among the competitors and in this way mislead people as it is quite disapproving.

Huzaifa: Situation is not too bad; think optimistically that the media has contributed
significantly towards political awareness. It is playing its role as a gatekeeper of
democracy in line with the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah . Media is
essential to the health of democracy.

Usman: Yes this is true, as mobilization of public opinion in support of a cause is the
prominently known feature of the electronic media in Pakistan as we saw in Cheif
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's termination by the former President Musharraf, created a
storm in media scene as well, the media supported the movement and played a vital role
in creating a favorable public opinion for the movement, they mark this struggle for the
sake of democracy and reinstatement of Cheif Justice.

Huzaifa: Before the general elections, it was a dictatorial rule of Gen Parvez Musharraf. He
freed the electronic media to the extent he could. It is in his regime that a lot of new
television channels cropped up. And this is what he had been crediting himself of. But
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fortunately or unfortunately, this freedom backfired on him. The newly aired channels
held talk-shows along with the hourly news bulletins. And the topic of the talk-shows
used to be the present and prevailing political scenario.

Usman: But nowadays media in Pakistan is currently not playing its role in the true sense of
journalism as almost every channel is supporting someone in order to fulfill some
hidden agendas.
Huzaifa: What do you mean?
Usman: I want to say that news channels in Pakistan are biased as they support one political
party or the other in order to gain materialistic benefits in the form of commercial ads.
If we want our country to make rapid progress, then we have to educate general masses
by telling
them truth, which is the basis responsibility of media

Huzaifa: You are right to some extent but all channels are not biased. In Pakistan, media has
gained wonderful power but it is still under the influence of those who want to show a
one-sided picture of events to the general masses. The people of Pakistan,
unfortunately, are not educated enough to read the international media’s news about our
country that reveal many shocking things which out channels always try to hide.
Usman: Also media organizations in the country always try to create hype on a matter which has
no significance at all. All newspapers and news channels create sensationalism which
put a common man in disappointment and he starts thinking that there is nothing
positive left in this country.
Huzaifa: This is a negative point of Pakistani media. Media is supposed to deliver information
that makes people aware of happenings but these media organizations should avoid to
create sensationalism just to get more viewership and higher ratings.
Usman: Our media anchors often divert the attention of the people from the real issues to non
issues on behest of the people they are working for. The media is focusing more on
sensationalism than truth creating a negative world view and only highlights the
individual sort of issues that disrepute the society.
Huzaifa: This is true, the media is spoiling the picture of Pakistan. The people, who watch these
channels in foreign countries, are for sure constrained to think that Pakistan is full of
ill-cultured, fraudulent and dishonest people who always involve in crimes etc.
Usman: Yes media shows negative picture about Pakistan. The perception of Pakistan that
media has built abroad over last few years is that Pakistan is like a jungle, filled with
violence, crime, corruption, lack of tolerance and respect and where human life is the
cheapest commodity.
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Huzaifa: The problem is that there is no filtration process that filters a local street crime news
that the people living in that community need to know about from a news that needs to
become a national news or a news that needs to make and international headline. It is
all being flooded at the same time to everyone and anyone turning on the TV. There is
no logical separation of the audience.
Usman: I wish that I would probably start a channel called “Positive Pakistan” – which will only
pick the best things happening in the society and report those. It would try to influence
people positively rather than negatively. It would leave people more optimistic about
the future of Pakistan and get up much less depressed when they turn off their tvs at
night.
Huzaifa: Yes the media should be like your positive Pakistan channel. Another credit of
Pakistani media is that it has exposed several major corruption cases and scams such as
The Pakistan Steel Mills Rs.26 billion scam, corruption in Pakistan’s International
Airlines that caused losses of $500 million.
Usman: Also the Hajj corruption case and corruption in rental power projects.
Huzaifa: Yes, Media is developing social consciousness and actions that are essential to develop
and promote social accountability.
Usman: Media should play public accountability role by monitoring and investigating
the actions of those who are granted public trust and who may be tempted to abuse their
office for private gain.
Huzaifa: Media has played very important role in reshaping, and changing the people in
Pakistan. It has revealed the facts to the people about crimes and social issues and also
informed the people about the issues outside their country and most importantly, media
has shown the behavior of other countries to the Pakistan.
Usman: Sometimes media besides spreading the root causes of any issue contributes to multiply
wordings over some issue and crises Pakistani. Media channels are spreading a feeling
of disappointment among the general masses through sensationalizing the petty issues,
which are not directly associated to the problems of common people.
Huzaifa: Yes but, The media is defending the cognitive frontiers of humanity. It is a sign of
hope, a symbol of freedom and an island of optimism in Pakistan. Certainly, the media
must do away with the ills attached to its operational methodology, but they pale into
insignificance when viewed on the larger map of its role.
Usman: Yes you are right.
Huzaifa: Another object of media is entertainment. Pakistani media relates dramas, movies,
sports, news and entertainment and so many features to the people. Its dramas reflect
society and happenings and issues in the society. Sports and entertainment are huge
aspects of the media package.
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Usman: But our TV dramas and films are not representing our culture, the way they should be.
A moral vacuum has been created through the dramas ,programs  etc. shown on media
which  glamorize everything they depict and our younger generation is going away
from religious, social values. Media is nowadays going against the Islamic teachings.
Huzaifa: That’s right Movies that depict filthy rich thieves who don’t bat an eyelid before
killing someone or extorting someone and then getting away with it give entertainment
to people. But at the same time, they encourage them to act in a way that promises
adventure and thrill in life. This way, the media glorifies certain negative and forbidden
acts.
Usman: Another thing is that media is a big industry of Pakistan.
Huzaifa: Yes the media is a domain of opportunity for many Pakistanis. With some $4 billion
investment, the electronic media employs more than 0.2 million people. Print media
and the cyber domain have an equally significant contribution.
Usman: Another negative point is that the Media is nowadays going against the Islamic
teachings. Open issues are being discussed which should not be openly discussed.
Media is spreading vulgarity.
Huzaifa: Yes you are right our media should follow ethical and religious values. Media is also
harmfully affecting the minds of innocent children. Children are exposed to things that
they should not necessarily be exposed to yet.
Usman: Yes it is also affecting youth culture. The media executives are quick to defend their
role in youth violence and bullying while selling millions of dollars in ads focused on
youth. Meanwhile they continue to spend millions on special effects and marketing
geared to increase appeal to youth markets.
Huzaifa: That’s right, Sometimes young boys keep long hair and say, “it is fashion”, a very
negative influence of media.
Usman: Wasting time on surfing different channels of Television is the biggest negative point of
peoples. We remain fixed to TV screens at the cost of socialization.  We are not giving
time to our kids, parents, etc because we are glued to TV etc. This is developing
a generation gap.
Huzaifa: Yes excess of everything is bad, so we should not watch TV very much.
Huzaifa: So, the Pakistani media’s main problems are destroying the National Image,
Sensationalism Exaggeration, Competition for Rating and Westernization.
Usman: What is the solution?
Huzaifa: The solution is very simple. It may result in at least improving the image of Pakistan
and Pakistanis among the international community. Media should adopt the policy of
Prevention of Negativity. Filter unnecessary and irrelevant news as they go outbound
the circle. Make anchors at least look and talk like matures. Invite only sensible people
to talk shows.
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Usman: Also media should induct the positivity. If there is 1/4th negative news , mix 2/3rd of
positive news to be reported. So if media paints the true picture of the society, it should
be a balanced picture.
Huzaifa: Yes Besides spreading exaggeration, Pakistani media should resolve the matters with
positive attitude. Media is supposed to be responsible for the present society, trends,
norms, values and so on.. Media reflects the society and it is the responsibility of media
to expose the country to the whole world. It’s the requirement of time that our media
should work for the positive and real soft image of Pakistan.
Usman: Also Media should not use negative tools to increase their viewership. There are times
when they should put their personal interests at the back of their mind and show or
write things that could be beneficial for the country and please stop this race of
breaking first news just be original.
Huzaifa: That’s right, By following the true principles of Journalism, media can put the country
on the right track by highlighting the wrong doings of the government and by making
people enlightened about every problem in Pakistan. If it happens, we will also become
a well educated
and well informed nation and will definitely find the right path that leads towards
prosperity.
Usman: Yes enough for today, we have talked about media very much. I have learned many
things from it. What about you ??
Huzaifa: Same here, now I have to go. It has been great talking to you. Okay see you then take
care Allah Hafiz.
Usman: Thanks, Allah hafiz.