By Sikander Hayat
This is just a harmless rendition of what is becoming a really serious problem in Pakistan. Electronic media is emerging as another institution in Pakistan which does not know its own boundaries. By constantly telling an elected government on finer points of running a country, channels like Geo are crossing the fine line between responsible and reckless journalism. It is true that media has played a role in some good events in recent Pakistani history but by playing a partisan role for too long, it will lose all credibility that it has built with a lot of hard work and perseverance. There is a need for it to devise a self regulation mechanism for a continued support of all people of Pakistan.
This is just a harmless rendition of what is becoming a really serious problem in Pakistan. Electronic media is emerging as another institution in Pakistan which does not know its own boundaries. By constantly telling an elected government on finer points of running a country, channels like Geo are crossing the fine line between responsible and reckless journalism. It is true that media has played a role in some good events in recent Pakistani history but by playing a partisan role for too long, it will lose all credibility that it has built with a lot of hard work and perseverance. There is a need for it to devise a self regulation mechanism for a continued support of all people of Pakistan.
i like you blog generally, but i must respectfully disagree with this post.
ReplyDeletei think having a free and unbounded electronic media in a country is key to proper governance. the politicians need to learn how to adapt to the media, not the other way around.
the media is an important check on corrupt politicians. if the politicians can place boundaries on the electronic media, that will curtail its effectiveness in promoting good governance.
and good governance is what pakistan desperately needs more than anything
Hi fahdp,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I very much appreciate the fact that you like this blog. I am a fierce supporter of independent media and would like it to prosper. My only concern; as I mentioned is that media should be reporting the truth so that when time comes people vote for the right people but not whip them into frenzy to take law in their hands.