Great expectations

It’s usually a bad omen when your mobile starts buzzing as early as 7:00am on Monday. But this particular Monday was different. My buzzing mobile screen informed me that I had dozens of unread text and Whatsapp messages, all giving me the same information: the results of the recently-held Lahore Press Club elections.

While 2015 was the year I voted in the press club elections for the first time in my life, allegations of rigging by both the competing panels resulted in the cancellation of the polls held on December 30. The manner in which these elections were held had troubled a large section of the journalist community. From intense arguments to hushed discussions in newsrooms and office corridors, I witnessed the aftermath. Faith in my fraternity was shaken.

Despite all the chaos, there was a lesson to be learnt. And it was.

The way in which the elections were conducted on January 17 increased everyone's confidence in them. Cordoned-off areas were only accessible to voters or the staff of the commission; a one-point entry and exit system was deployed; entry of candidates was banned around the vicinity of the press club. It took me less than five minutes to cast my vote that Sunday. It made me proud because we had learnt a lesson and made amends. Led by veteran journalists, the process was streamlined and executed in a matter of two weeks.

Faith in my fraternity was restored.

But having voted this time made me question the efficacy of the exercise. Why is it so vital to have this body? What does it stand for? I have to admit I am not so sure of the perception at large. But I am sure of what expectations I hold. I hope that this body does not wait for a working journalist to be murdered in cold blood to act. I hope this body makes a pre-emptive call on media organisations to make much-needed arrangements to ensure security of journalists, especially those who report and operate in conflict areas. I hope this body can make a united call against attempts to curb freedom of expression. I hope they can muster up the courage to protect the rights of journalists, especially when it comes to their financial security.

But, above all, I hope this elected body of working journalists represents the true aspirations of the countless men and women in the news industry, whose loyalties lie with their readers and viewers.

The expectations are great, the challenges even greater.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th,  2016.