Editorial

When a leak is not a leak

The whole sorry business should remind newsrooms not to allow themselves to be used.

Editorial December 10, 2010

Apparently there is conviction among intelligence agencies that Pakistani newspaper readers will believe almost anything. The extraordinary attempt to fabricate WikiLeaks documents marks the latest twist in the saga. News items carried by at least four national newspapers, including this one, claimed the publication of cables stating that US diplomats had affirmed Indian involvement in Waziristan and Balochistan, while describing top Indian generals as ‘geeks’ or persons linked to Hindu fundamentalists. This startled many readers on the morning of December 9. In contrast, Pakistan’s military top brass was praised in glowing terms.

This detail alone points to the direction from where the fabricated documents may have come. The news agency which released the item is seen as lacking credibility and has been associated with intelligence networks. The Guardian, which ran a detailed account of the attempt to use WikiLeaks cables to serve specific interests, said it found no trace of documents containing details of this nature on the organisation’s website. Newspapers which carried the planted material are conducting their own inquiries and this paper has apologised to its readers. Had they existed, the content of the cables would have created a sudden change in the nature of ties between the US and India.

The attempted fraud offers an insight into the desperation of elements behind it. It seems this is the best they could come up with to try and tarnish an ‘enemy’ country and shine up their own standing. It is worth noting that while documents speaking of the weaknesses or wrongdoings of Pakistani politicians have been given much publicity in the country, those that direct attention towards the doing of the military or the dangers posed by activities of groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba have been virtually suppressed. The ‘self-censorship’ of the media plays some part in this; continued agency influence in press circles is a factor too. The whole sorry business should remind newsrooms not to allow themselves to be used. We hope it will also convince those involved in the attempted deception that the Pakistani public does indeed possess some grey matter and is quite capable of recognising efforts to fool it.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (12)

Vishal | 13 years ago | Reply Dear Editor, At the outset, I appreciate your bold acceptance of a mistake. It was really courageous of you to write a plaine straight forward apology blasting the source of this news. The appreciable thing here is this gives a hope that newspapers like you will help in educating the sofar misinformed citizens of pakistan. People in Pak are fed with wrong information all the time by the vested interests, and this is one of the main reasons for its peoples' misunderstanding of its neighbour, and also for creating anti India obsession in their minds. It is news papers like you that change this for good. A news article shoud always carry the truth, with out any compromise, and to that extent you had faltered in rushing to publish this popular peice of leak (or not a leak as you say) You media can make a differene in bringing peace to this region. p.s I am using the workd bold and courageous because you are a newspaper in Pakistan writing some thing that may not be liked by your army or the intelligence agencies. Elsewhere, this would have been normal

Raqib Ali | 13 years ago | Reply May I suggest that you check the contents of a WEB only English newspaper. It is not known to have any credibility and its journalists are not known. It is very much rightwing and is the one that invented these 'leaks'. Always compare your news contents with their website. If they appear similar, they are bound to be wrong. ONLINE news agency claims that it 'scanned' the internet and was fooled by that website and it 'forgot' to give credit. In fact, the story was so juicy that everyone wanted to make it their own!

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Topak Khan | 13 years ago | Reply No going into the victim/not victim debate, one thing is clear that your editors clearly did not work as professionals, any sane soul would rush to wikileak website to check authenticity of a news which is so much in contrast with official position and sounds exactly like the propaganda that conspiracy thoerists would like us to believe

Amar Akbar Anthony | 13 years ago | Reply Heartfelt thanks from India. One can surely be cynical and intelligent all the time. But it is this kind of quick action and show of character that prevents things from going wrong. A stitch in time indeed saves nine. We always seem to forget that Indian and Pakistani people don't really want to fight or kill each other. We surely want to win good cricket matches, but we are quite aware of history and the tricks of the British Empire. We also remember East and West Germany, North and South Korea, Ireland and UK, Israel and Palestine, and now Iraq and its factions. We all know who pulls the strings. Just a few powerful or connected opportunists on both sides try to polarise public opinion for personal gains from the leading currency of the world. So if the rest of us merely react patiently and thoughtfully, these few people on both sides will not be able to do much damage. Once again, this display of character and/or foresight, is much appreciated.

omar.quraishi | 13 years ago | Reply Mahvesh -- the point of the editorial is that the taking the story was not done maliciously -- it was a mistake -- not sure how you got the impression that we were presenting ourselves as victims -- we did say that newspapers should not allow themselves to be used and that is a fair comment Regards, Omar R Quraishi Editorial Pages Editor The Express Tribune

Cautious | 13 years ago | Reply Maybe it's human nature to believe in things that fit your bias - and if that applies in this case it's something the Editors should ponder. It really wasn't very hard to determine that the leaks in question were obviously fake. Further - whats the next step. One of the observation I have made about Pakistan is that people complain but never do anything to root out the problem. Anyone want to bet money that no one takes the time to track down the people who planted this false evidence.

Mahvesh | 13 years ago | Reply So someone feeds you a story and you don't verify it? Sorry, but I don't buy that you're the victims. A newspaper should know the difference between reliable and unreliable sources, those run by 'intelligence setups' and those independant. Indeed the Pakistani public does possess grey matter, since blogs had the brilliant idea of checking recent Wikileaks news on affiliated papers. A retraction and apology would have sufficed - trying to justify and twisting it around to present yourself as a victim for the public is just in poor taste. Maybe you should've taken a page out of another publication which DID NOT run the story and has a history of waiting for verification instead of jumping on the bandwagon.

Manoj | 13 years ago | Reply ET one of the best new paper in India + Pakistan. Straightforward, honest, bold and couragious editorial team makes this new paper the best. Keep it up. Regards

vasan | 13 years ago | Reply I would like to know what the Pakistani Urdu newspapers did. Did they publish this story at all. AFter it was exposed, did they publish the denials. It is very difficult to erase all the negative feelings about India, created by this article, by the denials alone. I am sure Pakistani people have been fed on poisonous potions like this about India and about wars with India demonising India. How long will it take to remove the mist and when will Pakistan be at peace with India.

ani | 13 years ago | Reply You were taken in. But you have the courage to own up to it. It will win you credibility, more readers and revenues. Good job! We want you and us to win the peace. Objective writings will go a long way to create a democratic Pakistan that is free from the clutches of misinformation and tentacles of the army and theocracy.

kumar | 13 years ago | Reply Kudos to you guys to accept with magnanimity the mistake .

anon | 13 years ago | Reply you know, my respect for this paper suddenly increased quite a bit.

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